Audiences can’t get enough of creatures from outer space … even if we’ll never forgive Hollywood for “Mac and Me.”
The latest alien invasion starts Friday with “Battle: Los Angeles,” a summer blockbuster type slipped into the March release schedule. Next week, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost help save an alien in distress in “Paul,” a new comedy from the director of “Superbad,” Greg Mottola.
There’s been chatter about a possible “Independence Day” sequel, and the maligned “Skyline” comes to Blu-ray and DVD March 22.
Perhaps the most underrated alien invasion pic remains “Mars Attacks,” the star-studded romp from director Tim Burton. The movie paid loving homage to ’50s era sci-fi adventures and gave us the funniest aliens in the galaxy.
Ack-ack, indeed.
(Photo: “Battle: Los Angeles” pits the City of Angels vs. a swarm of alien invaders. Sony Pictures)
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
“Mars Attacks!” is such a funny movie. “They come in peace!”
I hope “Battle: Los Angeles” is good, but I’m wondering if maybe we should let creatures from outer space have that city.
The problem with the last slew of Alien Attacks movies is that they never focused on those on the ground fighting the war and dealing with the consequences of losing. Most of the past movies dealt with people removed from the actual combat or focuse on fighting with planes and space ships. This movie shows the gritty in your face tyoe of combat that is missing in the genre.
With V’s second season (and probably series) about to end next Tuesday, gotta take what I can get.
Also nice to see the love for Mars Attacks.
great point about the ground aspects … one of many reasons I found “ID4″ overrated was its glib factor. If memory serves, we were supposed to cheer when a dog is saved … but meanwhile thousands of people are being wiped out. Lame.
Yeah, we have seen it from various POV (survivors, government, president, scientist, etc). The most we can get from Independence Day is some jet fighters, but I didn’t remember them telling it from the angle of military crews that combat the aliens on the ground. They’re the ones that got killed the most, so I think Battle LA’s gonna be intense.
My problem with Independence Day is Emmerich doesn’t just hate the military, he thinks they’re really, really stupid. I mean, how about those fighters firing air-to-air missiles against a ship that’s miles across—and then being surprised it doesn’t do much? Apparently nobody told him the Air Force doesn’t order its guys to waste ordnance that cannot possibly make a difference.
Which, hey, reminds me of another director apology we need: Paul Verhoeven, for Starship Troopers. Deliberately twisting someone’s work like that is despicable anyway, but ironically/hypocritically, it’s even preachier than Heinlein: that movie gets right into Ayn Rand country in terms of its strawman arguments. Besides, when you’d be living under *the Nazis* if not for the American militarism you’re trying to criticize, well, there’s this word called “chutzpah” that comes into play.
We need to pass a law that military SF movies can’t be made by people that hate the military.
Hate to double comment but, RE: ordinary soldiers dealing with losing to aliens, permit me to recommend the Halo games. Those are pretty much all about a losing war with aliens; though the protagonists are various types of super-soldiers (basically Space Navy SEALs and Space Para-troopers), all the guys around them are fairly ordinary soldiers. The way those ordinary soldiers view their enemy, and their freakishly powerful allies, is a major part of the story—for instance, those super-soldiers, the Spartans, are never reported KIA, but only MIA, in order to keep up morale.
The later Halo games (Halo 3, Halo 3:ODST and Halo: Reach) are basically “the best war movie you’ll ever play”.
How tough can aliens actually be? This summer cowboys of 110 years ago are going to fight them and win.
@MikeB
Lol good one dude, but remember one of those “Cowboys” has a nanotech band on his arm that can fire pulse blasts strong enough to strop an alien ship.
I have to agree with a lot of the comments here, we seriously need a god squad oriented SciFi movie that shows how effective humans can be against other worldly invaders. Since Hollywood is too entrenched in the lose mentality of Iraq and Afghansitan, perhaps the setting can be transferred over to another planet but show Humans in a good light and trying to make our world a better place.