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** However, there are occasions where a marine's armor/helmet protects them from a glancing blow that might otherwise have been lethal.
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It\'s not just about any Spanish character, but a very specific Zorro-like archetype.
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* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
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Mmmmmmmmmmmyestheydo.
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* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
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* CarFu: Aliens, meet a Marine LAV armed with a Bushmaster and a hell of a lot of momentum.
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* CarFu: CarFu:
** Aliens, meet a Marine LAV armed with a Bushmaster and a hell of a lot of momentum.
** Aliens, meet a Marine LAV armed with a Bushmaster and a hell of a lot of momentum.
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* InferredHolocaust: The aliens are launching a worldwide invasion of every major coastal city, and they shoot to kill indiscriminately.
** Actual Holocaust in the film. Dead civilians are literally everywhere.
** Those mushroom cloud-shaped explosions seen early on in the initial flyover of LA? Those are gas stations being lit on fire, likely wiping out entire city blocks.
** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army, AKA the Chinese Army]] only has 4.5 million standing troops, and half of them are reserves. Against a force with an enormous technological advantage and quite possibly the ability to call for more reinforcements at any time, the outlook, while not completely pessimistic, is also not necessarily pleasant.
** Actual Holocaust in the film. Dead civilians are literally everywhere.
** Those mushroom cloud-shaped explosions seen early on in the initial flyover of LA? Those are gas stations being lit on fire, likely wiping out entire city blocks.
** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army, AKA the Chinese Army]] only has 4.5 million standing troops, and half of them are reserves. Against a force with an enormous technological advantage and quite possibly the ability to call for more reinforcements at any time, the outlook, while not completely pessimistic, is also not necessarily pleasant.
to:
* InferredHolocaust: The aliens are launching a worldwide invasion with 30 million troops of every major coastal city, and they shoot to kill indiscriminately.
** Actual Holocaust in the film. Dead civilians are literally everywhere.
** Those mushroom cloud-shaped explosions seen early on in the initial flyover of LA? Those are gas stations being lit on fire, likely wiping out entire city blocks.
** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army, AKA the Chinese Army]] only has 4.5 million standing troops, and half of them are reserves. Against a force with an enormous technological advantage and quite possibly the ability to call for more reinforcements at any time, the outlook, while not completely pessimistic, is also not necessarily pleasant.indiscriminately.
** Actual Holocaust in the film. Dead civilians are literally everywhere.
** Those mushroom cloud-shaped explosions seen early on in the initial flyover of LA? Those are gas stations being lit on fire, likely wiping out entire city blocks.
** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army, AKA the Chinese Army]] only has 4.5 million standing troops, and half of them are reserves. Against a force with an enormous technological advantage and quite possibly the ability to call for more reinforcements at any time, the outlook, while not completely pessimistic, is also not necessarily pleasant.
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** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army]] only has 4.5 million, and half of them are reserves. Victory is far from assured, and even if humanity wins, it's going to make WorldWarII look like a hostage crisis.
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** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army, AKA the Chinese Army]] only has 4.5 million, million standing troops, and half of them are reserves. Victory is far from assured, Against a force with an enormous technological advantage and even if humanity wins, it's going quite possibly the ability to make WorldWarII look like a hostage crisis.call for more reinforcements at any time, the outlook, while not completely pessimistic, is also not necessarily pleasant.
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natter
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*** It is still not hopeless either, assuming weapons industry survived - in Homeland War, Croatia, despite having lost a third of territory and having population of approximately 4 million people, managed to raise 200 000 troops. With 7 billion people on planet in 2011, that would translate into possible worldwide armed forces of over 300 million, a 10:1 advantage over aliens. Also, in World War II, United States managed to raise military of 15 000 000 men; Germany had 6 000 000.
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*** It is still not hopeless either, assuming weapons industry survived - in Homeland War, Croatia, despite having lost a third of territory and having population of approximately 4,5 million people, managed to raise 200 000 troops. With 7 billion people on planet in 2011, that would translate into possible worldwide armed forces of over 300 million, a 10:1 advantage over aliens. Also, in World War II, United States managed to raise military of 15 000 000 men; Germany had 6 000 000.
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*** It is still not hopeless either, assuming weapons industry survived - in Homeland War, Croatia, despite having lost a third of territory and having population of approximately 4,5 4 million people, managed to raise 200 000 troops. With 7 billion people on planet in 2011, that would translate into possible worldwide armed forces of over 300 million, a 10:1 advantage over aliens. Also, in World War II, United States managed to raise military of 15 000 000 men; Germany had 6 000 000.
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*** It is still not hopeless either, assuming weapons industry survived - in Homeland War, Croatia, despite having lost a third of territory and having population of approximately 4,5 million people, managed to raise 200 000 troops. With 7 billion people on planet in 2011, that would translate into possible worldwide armed forces of over 300 million, a 10:1 advantage over aliens.
to:
*** It is still not hopeless either, assuming weapons industry survived - in Homeland War, Croatia, despite having lost a third of territory and having population of approximately 4,5 million people, managed to raise 200 000 troops. With 7 billion people on planet in 2011, that would translate into possible worldwide armed forces of over 300 million, a 10:1 advantage over aliens. Also, in World War II, United States managed to raise military of 15 000 000 men; Germany had 6 000 000.
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*** It is still not hopeless either, assuming weapons industry survived - in Homeland War, Croatia, despite having lost a third of territory and having population of approximately 4,5 million people, managed to raise 200 000 troops. With 7 billion people on planet in 2011, that would translate into possible worldwide armed forces of over 300 million, a 10:1 advantage over aliens.
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They don\'t fit the trope description
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* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
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Someone explain why this was removed?
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* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
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* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
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* AttackItsWeakPoint: The aliens only vulnerable point is some sort of water sac to the left of where the heart would be on a human. They can shrug off most anything else, headshots included. Grenades do the trick in a pinch.
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* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: While not a reproductive example, Elena Santos gets a faceful of alien guts - even in her mouth, causing the Marine riding shotgun to joke about "getting a faceful on the first date".
** Harris comments [[ReallyGetsAround "You let him do you on a first date."]] In such a serious film, it actually approaches CrowningMomentOfFunny status.
** Harris comments [[ReallyGetsAround "You let him do you on a first date."]] In such a serious film, it actually approaches CrowningMomentOfFunny status.
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* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: While not a reproductive example, Elena Santos gets a faceful of alien guts - even in her mouth, causing the Marine riding shotgun to joke about "getting a faceful on the first date".
** Harris commentsjoke, [[ReallyGetsAround "You let him do you on a first date."]] In such a serious film, it actually approaches CrowningMomentOfFunny status."]]
** Harris comments
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** [[CharacterDevelopment He arguably becomes this]] by the film's end.
*** Who's arguing? They already HAD BREAKFAST.
*** Who's arguing? They already HAD BREAKFAST.
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*** Who's arguing? They already HAD BREAKFAST?
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*** Who's arguing? They already HAD BREAKFAST?BREAKFAST.
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*** Who's arguing? They already HAD BREAKFAST?
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* JitterCam: TONS of it. Best to take some Tylenol before watching.
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changing Namespace, yeah
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* AttackDrone: The aliens make use of "Wedge Ships" that can combine to form {{Flying Saucer}}s.
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* AttackDrone: The aliens make use of "Wedge Ships" that can combine to form {{Flying Saucer}}s.
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* GovernmentConspiracy: Hinted at. The tie-in website and trailers indicate that the government has ''some'' prior knowledge dating all the way back from WorldWarTwo (though far too little) about the aliens. [[spoiler: Tech Sergeant Santos' original mission to find an enemy C&C asset and knowledge of the alien drones is another indicator.]]
* HeroicBSOD: A couple of the Marines, particularly Martinez, have these when the aliens bring their drones into the fray.
* HeroicBSOD: A couple of the Marines, particularly Martinez, have these when the aliens bring their drones into the fray.
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* GovernmentConspiracy: Hinted at. The tie-in website and trailers indicate that the government has ''some'' prior knowledge dating all the way back from WorldWarTwo (though far too little) about the aliens. [[spoiler: Tech Sergeant Santos' original mission to find an enemy C&C asset and knowledge of the alien drones is another indicator.]]
]]
* HeroicBSOD: A couple of the Marines, particularly Martinez, have these when the aliens bring their drones into the fray.
* HeroicBSOD: A couple of the Marines, particularly Martinez, have these when the aliens bring their drones into the fray.
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* HollywoodTactics: Averted. The marines use real tactics. Notably, the alien soldiers also act like, well, soldiers, and use tactics as well, such as [[HandSignals hand signals]]. It's also subverted and invoked in the beginning - the aliens initially have no air support and the US military attempts to exploit this by arranging for a carpet bombing of the coastal neighborhoods of LA. This plan changes once the aliens get their drones in the air.
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* HollywoodTactics: Averted. The marines use real tactics. Notably, the alien soldiers also act like, well, soldiers, and use tactics as well, such as [[HandSignals hand signals]]. It's also subverted and invoked in the beginning - the aliens initially have no air support and the US military attempts to exploit this by arranging for a carpet bombing of the coastal neighborhoods of LA. This plan changes once the aliens get their drones in the air.
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* HopeSpot: In the middle of the highway battle, Lockett takes control of a .50 caliber machinegun in an abandoned Humvee and uses that to blow up the alien troops on the upper highway that have been shooting up the rest of the squad. Enemy fire drops off, and the Marines start cheering. Then the WalkingTank shows up.
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* HopeSpot: In the middle of the highway battle, Lockett takes control of a .50 caliber machinegun in an abandoned Humvee and uses that to blow up the alien troops on the upper highway that have been shooting up the rest of the squad. Enemy fire drops off, and the Marines start cheering. Then the WalkingTank shows up.
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* TheLoad: The civilians that the Marines are sent in to evacuate. Unlike most examples, they generally avoid getting in the way, and the two adults try to help as best they can. One of them is a veterinarian and helps dissect the wounded alien in the police station, and the other helps in combat by dragging the wounded to safety, at one point [[spoiler: picking up a dropped assault rifle and shooting one of the aliens.]]
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* TheLoad: The civilians that the Marines are sent in to evacuate. Unlike most examples, they generally avoid getting in the way, and the two adults try to help as best they can. One of them is a veterinarian and helps dissect the wounded alien in the police station, and the other helps in combat by dragging the wounded to safety, at one point [[spoiler: picking up a dropped assault rifle and shooting one of the aliens.]] ]]
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* MoreDakka: If it doesn't have six barrels and can't shoot missiles, it's probably not in the alien armory.
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* MoreDakka: If it doesn't have six barrels and can't shoot missiles, it's probably not in the alien armory.
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--->''"It's not dead. They don't die. I've hit it a hundred times. They don't die!"''
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--->''"It's not dead. They don't die. I've hit it a hundred times. They don't die!"'' die!"''
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* XMeetsY: ''BlackHawkDown''s gritty cinematography meets ''IndependenceDay''s plot. Massive forces hovering over major cities? Check. Alien locusts who want out natural resources? Check. Unlikely hero finds and exploits aliens' achilles heel? Check.
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* XMeetsY: ''BlackHawkDown''s gritty cinematography meets ''IndependenceDay''s ''Film/IndependenceDay''s plot. Massive forces hovering over major cities? Check. Alien locusts who want out natural resources? Check. Unlikely hero finds and exploits aliens' achilles heel? Check.
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Been long enough that we don\'t need this anymore
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%%Quit adding DidNotDoTheResearch, that goes to Headscratchers and you really need to take a look at the backstory before you complain.%%
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* AlienAutopsy: Inverted. They're cutting the alien open, but its still alive, and they want to know what kills it ''quickly''.
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The 4th ID troops are visibly shown getting killed during the freeway battle. One crushed under the car launched by the missile barrage, one thrown off the freeway and killed on hitting the ground, and the third getting killed when the aliens sprayed the bus.
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* WhatHappenedTotheMouse?: The two U.S Army soldiers who accompany Tech Sgt Santos, disappear after their intro.
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* WhatHappenedTotheMouse?: The two U.S Army soldiers who accompany TSgt Santos, disappear after their intro.
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* WhatHappenedTotheMouse?: The two U.S Army soldiers who accompany TSgt Tech Sgt Santos, disappear after their intro.
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* WhatHappenedTotheMouse?: The two U.S Army soldiers who accompany TSgt Santos, disappear after their intro.
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then fix it!
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* NoNameGiven: Hector's father is just "Mr. Rincon."
** When he introduces himself, he gives his name as "Joe Rincon."
** When he introduces himself, he gives his name as "Joe Rincon."
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** Harris comments [[ReallyGetsAround "You let him do you on a first date."]] In such a serious film, it actually approaches CrowningMomentOfFunny status.
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** When he introduces himself, he gives his name as "Joe Rincon."
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* XMeetsY: ''BlackHawkDown'''s gritty cinematography meets ''IndependenceDay'''s plot. Massive forces hovering over major cities? Check. Alien locusts who want out natural resources? Check. Unlikely hero finds and exploits aliens' achilles heel? Check.
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* XMeetsY: ''BlackHawkDown'''s ''BlackHawkDown''s gritty cinematography meets ''IndependenceDay'''s ''IndependenceDay''s plot. Massive forces hovering over major cities? Check. Alien locusts who want out natural resources? Check. Unlikely hero finds and exploits aliens' achilles heel? Check.
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* XMeetsY: ''BlackHawkDown'''s gritty cinematography meets ''IndependenceDay'''s plot. Massive forces hovering over major cities? Check. Alien locusts who want out natural resources? Check. Unlikely hero finds and exploits aliens' achilles heel? Check.
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As the screenplay was completed before the actors were cast, these are not Actor Allusions. The first two are coincidences, the Michelle Rodriguez thing is type casting.
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* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Noel Fisher (Lenihan) has played [[ThePacific a nervous young Marine]] [[spoiler:who gets killed.]] To say nothing of MichelleRodriguez, who plays her [[TypeCasting usual]] BadassSpaniard fare [[spoiler:but doesn't get herself killed]]. Also, Aaron Eckhart is never gonna get used to [[TheDarkKnight people he cares about getting blown up]].
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Nah, there\'s no real relationship beyond havng the same number of people.at one point.
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* MagnificentSeven: [[spoiler: By the end of the film, only five Marines, a Sailor, and an Airman make it to the final battle.]]
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[[quoteright:301:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Battle_Los_Angeles_8973.jpg]]
''Battle: Los Angeles'' is a science fiction film directed by Jonathan Liebesman. It was released March 11, 2011.
Meteors rain into the ocean a couple of miles off of major coastal cities - one being Los Angeles. Within minutes an alien army marches out of the surf. The suntanning populace on the beach is shredded as the aliens march into the city proper. With the arrival of their aircraft, the aliens quickly establish ground- and air-superiority.
As Los Angeles is evacuated, Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz leads his new platoon and an inexperienced lieutenant against the attackers. Their main goal is to evacuate civilians ahead of a planned bombing offensive, but matters are complicated when they must destroy the enemy's command and control center. Meanwhile, similar battles are waged across the world in other cities.
Not to be confused with the RageAgainstTheMachine album '''''The''' Battle '''of''' Los Angeles,'' nor with the similarly-titled [[DirectToVideo direct-to-video]] ''[[TheMockbuster Battle of Los Angeles]]'' released the same year. However, both films are inspired by the real-life Battle of Los Angeles.
%%Quit adding DidNotDoTheResearch, that goes to Headscratchers and you really need to take a look at the backstory before you complain.%%
----
!!''Battle Los Angeles'' provides examples of:
* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Several, but the most notable after they finally arrive at the FOB.
* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Noel Fisher (Lenihan) has played [[ThePacific a nervous young Marine]] [[spoiler:who gets killed.]] To say nothing of MichelleRodriguez, who plays her [[TypeCasting usual]] BadassSpaniard fare [[spoiler:but doesn't get herself killed]]. Also, Aaron Eckhart is never gonna get used to [[TheDarkKnight people he cares about getting blown up]].
* AlienInvasion: Of the "All-Out Attack" variety. All major cities near a coast are being attacked.
** A scientist seen on TV during the movie surmises that the aliens are there to colonize Earth, which explains them shooting anything that moves instead of just concentrating on military targets like they would if they had any other plans.
* AliensAreBastards: The aliens open fire on everything -- civilian or otherwise -- and are speculated to be here to [[PlanetLooters steal our water]].
* AllThereInTheManual: There's a site out there called "unidentified enemy" that details a few things about the aliens, their technology and operations. It can be accessed by visiting the American version of the interactive attacks/sightings map and entering 031111 in the "Restricted Access" field.
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The aliens are there to ''colonize'' Earth. They need liquid water for their technoloy, and it will take a long time to gather it all.
* AnachronicOrder: Just a little bit, with the initial jittery helicopter flying into combat scene backtracking to the morning before the day of the alien invasion.
* AnyoneCanDie: Not very many of the Marines make it out of Los Angeles. [[spoiler: None of the Army personnel that joined up make it out alive. [[MichelleRodriguez Tech Sergeant Santos]], the lone Airman, however, does.]]
* ArmCannon: The aliens have their weapons surgically grafted to their arm.
* ArmorIsUseless: The aliens' weapons consistently go through Marine body armor like it's not even there, being advanced alien technology. Their portable incendiary rocket-grenade launchers also appear to go through the armor on a M1 Abrams tank without much trouble.
* AttackDrone: The aliens make use of "Wedge Ships" that can combine to form {{Flying Saucer}}s.
* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The Marines use an LAV to get from the Santa Monica Airport to the extraction point. Though the .50 cal is used, we sadly don't get to see the Bushmaster in action.
* BackedByThePentagon
* BadassBystander: Mr. Rincon, who grabs a rifle and kills an ambushing alien without hesitation [[spoiler: and gets mortally wounded in the process]].
* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
* BayonetYa: At one point, the protagonists fight the aliens hand to hand with bayonets mounted on their rifles.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Sure, the tide seems to be turning against the aliens, but millions of people -- if not more -- are still dead worldwide, and numerous cities have been completely destroyed. And the Los Angeles command ship may have been destroyed, but there's one in every major coastal city and there's no word on the two attacking the East Coast, or the rest of the world. The humans have won the battle, not the war. Not to mention that the aliens will defend their centers even more viciously...]]
* BizarreAlienBiology: The invaders look humanoid, but they seem aquatic at the same time, and their bodies seem to be held up and shaped by some form of cybernetic endoskeleton, with weird turbines. They have no real brain as humans understand them (the head area seems to contain no vital organs) and the only way to kill them beyond using massive force to blow them apart is to target a orb-like organ/machine part located to the immediate left of where the heart would be on a human.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: There are three black protagonists, and they're [[spoiler:all still alive at the end. The few that do die do so in extremely quick fashions, one on the helicopter that gets taken down, the other smooshed by a car.]]
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: More understated than most examples, but the aliens' weapons consistently hit with enough force to knock humans over. Glancing hits consistently knock Marines off their feet unless the shot goes completely through their bodies.
* BookEnds: The overhead shot early in the movie overlooking Los Angeles [[spoiler: before LA gets pummeled to the ground]] is reshot in the end [[spoiler: when marine reinforcements fly in a battle-torn LA ready to retake the city.]]
* BossBattle: [[spoiler: The final battle of the film with the command center is similar, with [[OneWingedAngel the boss having to be badly wounded before unleashing its final form]] while sacrificing [[{{Mooks}} drones]] so that the Boss won't get hit.]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Averted -- the chaingun is explicitly stated to only have 250 rounds before they even use it, and one of the soldiers mentions being low on ammo. The humans also frequently have to throw magazines to each other. Unlike the aliens, the humans avoid MoreDakka.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Ironically, most of it was filmed in Louisiana.
** From the BonusMaterial segment called "Filming L.A. in LA":
-->"In the words of our production designer, 'A palm tree and a telephone pole go a long way'"
* CarFu: Aliens, meet a Marine LAV armed with a Bushmaster and a hell of a lot of momentum.
** The aliens do it effectively during a battle on a freeway, sending rockets to make cars smash some unfortunate Marines.
* CatScare: The first firefight begins with a dog...
** Shortly afterward, the dryer going off right behind Lenihan.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Nantz has to deal with the guilt and memory of several Marines he led to their deaths in Iraq before the alien invasion. Martinez has to deal with the stress of this being his first combat deployment, particularly when [[spoiler: the casevac helicopter carrying four of his wounded Marines is shot down.]]
* CombiningMecha: The aliens have wedge-shaped hovering gunships which can link up to form roughly saucer-shaped aerial battle platforms.
* CoolOldGuy: Staff Sergeant Nantz. 20 long years in the Corps, and the first scene we see him in plays up him starting to slow down compared to the young guys. Once the aliens land in downtown LA, he turns into a SergeantRock.
* CurbStompBattle: The initial alien attack only becomes a curb stomp once the [[AttackDrone Attack Drones]] show up and steal air superiority from the humans. [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, after Nantz's team takes out the drone control center, the battle turns in humanity's favor]].
* TheDeadHaveNames: Nantz was responsible for the deaths of four marines in Iraq, one of whom was the brother of one of the men under his command. At one of the most quiet and dramatic moments in the movie, he lists off the names, ranks, and serial numbers of each of those men, showing that their deaths still haunt him.
* DeadlineNews: A journalist covering the aliens' landing is the unfortunate victim of the first rocket barrage along with her cameraman.
* DeathBySex: {{Lampshaded}} as one of the Marines is stated to be a virgin. After he survives a firefight his squadmates remark:
--> "I told you, until we get him some tail, he ain't never gonna die!"
** [[spoiler:And then averted; he dies on the evac helo.]]
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: A less typical example, where a couple of Marines are shown partying, getting way too drunk and otherwise playing the trope straight, others are picking out flowers for their wedding, trying to retire with some dignity, or having a quiet goodbye with a loved one at their grave.
* DuelingMovies: With ''Film/{{Skyline}}''. There was a lawsuit over it and everything, primarily due to the same [[{{Hydraulx}} special effects guys]] doing work on ''Skyline'' while this movie was in postproduction.
* EnsignNewbie: Lieutenant Martinez has just graduated from Officer Training. In his first engagement he freezes up, unable to act, and when the casevac helicopter is shot down he goes into a HeroicBSOD. It isn't until Nantz delivers a sharp, confidence-boosting lecture to him that he shapes up. By the time of the highway battle, he's confidently giving orders and deploying his men.
* EveryBulletIsATracer: For the aliens, anyway, since their guns fire incendiaries.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: While not a reproductive example, Elena Santos gets a faceful of alien guts - even in her mouth, causing the Marine riding shotgun to joke about "getting a faceful on the first date".
* FastRoping: Notably, two children have to do it in order to escape a slowly approaching walking tank.
** Two of the Marines spotting from the top of a building employ this to get to an evacuation vehicle fast.
* FantasticCasteSystem: The aliens have a minor example of this, with several different biological variations on their soldiers depending on roles. You've got your basic soldiers, very tall, floating, and gangly leaders, and smaller troops dedicated to operating support weapons and scouting.
* AFatherToHisMen: Sgt. Nantz strives to be one. A few of his men aren't so sure, especially since there's been rumors that he purposefully got his entire team killed in Iraq.
** [[CharacterDevelopment He arguably becomes this]] by the film's end.
* FreezeFrameBonus: If one looks closely during the scene where Lenihan is shooting the alien emerging from the pool, one of his shots hits the alien's ArmCannon, causing it to spark and malfunction. When the alien emerges from the pool again, it appears to actually fire its gun right at Nantz, but the weapon misfires, throwing up a cloud of blink-and-you'll-miss-it sparks.
** During a CNN broadcast, we see that even in the midst of an alien invasion the network still bothers to include the Dow Jones Industrial Average in their graphics. Not surprisingly, it's taken a bit of a hit.
* GlassCannon[=/=]FragileSpeedster: The Drones are easily taken out, but the tie-in website states they can go Mach 7 - far faster than human jets - and they pack a punch. They can join up to form some sort of hovering weapons platform, which makes them a bit less vulnerable.
* GovernmentConspiracy: Hinted at. The tie-in website and trailers indicate that the government has ''some'' prior knowledge dating all the way back from WorldWarTwo (though far too little) about the aliens. [[spoiler: Tech Sergeant Santos' original mission to find an enemy C&C asset and knowledge of the alien drones is another indicator.]]
* HeroicBSOD: A couple of the Marines, particularly Martinez, have these when the aliens bring their drones into the fray.
* HeroicSacrifice: After being wounded during the shootout on the freeway, [[spoiler: Lieutenant Martinez]] crawls into a bus and detonates a bag of C4, taking out a group of aliens and their WalkingTank in the process.
** [[spoiler:Hector's father]] takes a bullet to the gut after picking up an M16 to kill an alien trying to surprise the Marines rappelling down a child to safety.
* HopelessWar: The war against the aliens appears to be this way when they quickly gain air superiority and make massive headway in tearing Los Angeles apart.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: Experts being interviewed during some news transmission surmise that the aliens are here to steal our resources due to their tactics (complete eradication instead of a proper occupation). Indeed, the water level ''drops'' half-way through the film.
* HollywoodTactics: Averted. The marines use real tactics. Notably, the alien soldiers also act like, well, soldiers, and use tactics as well, such as [[HandSignals hand signals]]. It's also subverted and invoked in the beginning - the aliens initially have no air support and the US military attempts to exploit this by arranging for a carpet bombing of the coastal neighborhoods of LA. This plan changes once the aliens get their drones in the air.
** The aliens also appear to take out all human anti-aircraft weapons, since none of the ones firing at the beginning of the invasion are firing on the drones.
** The Sea Knights fly down along the beach toward the FOB because artillery is being fired into the urban areas in Santa Monica. Helicopters in general are routed around areas where artillery is being fired to avoid being hit by airborne shells.
** The plan to carpet-bomb Santa Monica is actually based on real-life emergency plans in case of a West Coast invasion of LA.
* HopeSpot: In the middle of the highway battle, Lockett takes control of a .50 caliber machinegun in an abandoned Humvee and uses that to blow up the alien troops on the upper highway that have been shooting up the rest of the squad. Enemy fire drops off, and the Marines start cheering. Then the WalkingTank shows up.
* HoverTank: One makes a brief appearance in the end before getting blown up.
* HumanoidAliens: Despite the major physiological differences between the alien invaders and humans (see StarfishAliens, below), their body plans are still basically human-like, with two arms, two legs, an upright torso, a chest with a heart in it, and a head on top where the ranged sensory organs are located. The fact that Sergeant Nantz could say that their AchillesHeel is "to the left of where the heart would be" says as much about their general similarities to us than their specific differences.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Lacking in any real anti-air capability, Nantz has to take out an alien drone by [[spoiler: luring it to a gas station and blowing it up, taking the drone with it.]]
* InfantImmortality: Played straight - on-screen, at least.
* InferredHolocaust: The aliens are launching a worldwide invasion of every major coastal city, and they shoot to kill indiscriminately.
** Actual Holocaust in the film. Dead civilians are literally everywhere.
** Those mushroom cloud-shaped explosions seen early on in the initial flyover of LA? Those are gas stations being lit on fire, likely wiping out entire city blocks.
** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army]] only has 4.5 million, and half of them are reserves. Victory is far from assured, and even if humanity wins, it's going to make WorldWarII look like a hostage crisis.
* [[ItsRainingMen It's Raining Aliens]]: The aliens and their equipment land just offshore after an atmospheric insertion in giant asteroid-like ships.
* KillAllHumans: The aliens take no prisoners and leave no survivors, although killing all humans isn't an end unto itself - they are slaughtering us because we are keeping them from [[PlanetLooters grabbing some resources]].
* KillItWithFire: The aliens favor incendiary rounds in their weapons, and one can see blackened burns on every Marine who gets wounded. Their flying saucers also like to take massive incendiary grenade/rocket launchers and sweep them over neighborhoods.
* TheLoad: The civilians that the Marines are sent in to evacuate. Unlike most examples, they generally avoid getting in the way, and the two adults try to help as best they can. One of them is a veterinarian and helps dissect the wounded alien in the police station, and the other helps in combat by dragging the wounded to safety, at one point [[spoiler: picking up a dropped assault rifle and shooting one of the aliens.]]
* MacrossMissileMassacre: Walking Guns fire missile-like plasma projectiles in swarms that occasionally home in, to devastating effect.
* MagnificentSeven: [[spoiler: By the end of the film, only five Marines, a Sailor, and an Airman make it to the final battle.]]
* ManlyTears: When Nantz recites the names of the men who died under his command and ends with Lockett's brother, Lockett starts weeping.
* MonsterDelay: It's a while before we ever get a clear look at any of the alien beings, and even when we do, the camera does everything it can to avoid lingering on them.
* TheMothership: Each city being attacked has one massive Command and Control center that commands all the drones.
* MoodDissonance: Leading up to the character squad's first encounter. There's smoke from weapons fire, abandoned cars, charred corpses, the sounds of distant explosions, not a living being in sight. The squad hears something, gets to cover with weapons trained on the direction the sound comes from, waiting for an alien to pop out of the smoke...And up runs someone's pet dog. Cue about half a minute of relieved comments, relaxing, joking about the dog's name (Glenn), soundtrack's calmed down, viewers think it'll be another five or ten minutes of walking to the fight, maybe with an animal sidekick... Explosions, shots raining down from multiple rooftops as well as the direction the dog ran in from, dramatic music and screaming both start up, and one of the Marines gets dragged off into the scenery.
* MoreDakka: If it doesn't have six barrels and can't shoot missiles, it's probably not in the alien armory.
* MyGreatestFailure: Nantz is still haunted by the loss of his entire squad during a botched mission in Iraq.
* NoNameGiven: Hector's father is just "Mr. Rincon."
* NotSoDifferent: Discussed in-universe when some Marines spot an alien commander spotting for two alien snipers on top of a roof. One surmises they may be just like them -- grunts with families and a home who no idea what's really happening and just get told to go fight.
** Displayed as well -- several scenes show downed enemy aliens being dragged away back into cover by their squadmates, with the others providing covering fire. Just like what human soldiers do. The directors made it a big deal that the aliens used human tactics.
** A subtle case of this pops up when the scientist discusses how the aliens are using "colonization" tactics on humanity. Though not outright stated, there's an implication that we know the aliens are using colonization tactics because mankind used them too.
* NotSoStoic: Nantz's controlled demeanor cracks three times. The first is when he blows up the drone in the gas station, where his fingers tremble uncontrollably afterward. The second is when [[spoiler: Martinez is about to blow himself up]], where he flips out and starts screaming at him that he won't let more people die again like he did back in Iraq. The third time is when he confronts Lockett and explains to him that he memorized the names and numbers of every man who died under his command.
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: By a veterinarian who helped them find the right spot to shoot the aliens, and in the process averting OpenHeartDentistry.
-->'''Michele:''' You should have someone look at that
-->'''Nantz:''' I thought you were a doctor.
-->'''Michele:''' Animals and aliens only.
* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The sequence where Nantz [[spoiler: stabs, cuts, and tears at a still-living alien to figure out where to hit it to kill it.]] Unlike most such scenes, there's no accompanying moral commentary on the action; the viewer is left to decide themselves between whether or not Nantz's are cruel or justified.
** It's an interesting case, given that [[spoiler:Nantz actually is trying to kill the alien efficiently without torturing him first; it just takes him awhile to figure out how to do that, exactly.]]
* OpenHeartDentistry: Averted. See NotThatKindOfDoctor.
* PlanetLooters: Seems like the aliens are out of water.
* PointOfView: The movie only follows the Marines. We get glimpses of what else is happening to the world, but the movie is merely concerned with this specific group.
* PrecisionFStrike: Nantz: "Let's show these bastards who they're fuckin' with."
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: The above mentioned PrecisionFStrike is delivered just before the final assault [[spoiler: on the drone control center]].
* PreMortemOneLiner: Not quite one line, but [[spoiler: Martinez]]'s last bit of dialogue before his HeroicSacrifice still qualifies:
--> "This is [[spoiler: Second Lieutenant William Martinez]], Echo Company, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. Ooh-Ra!"
* ProductPlacement: Being funded by Sony, the film features a number of Sony products, such as Marines using Sony laptops, and a billboard advertising ''[[ResistanceFallOfMan Resistance 3]]''.
** The squad passes by a RE/MAX real estate office before they get to the police station.
** There's a pristine Pepsi Max sign that can be seen in the background around that time as well.
** The drop-off point where the street-by-street deployments are laid out is in a Domino's Pizza shop.
* RadioSilence: The Marines have to turn off their radios once they realize that even making a short transmission allows enemy drones to home in on their position.
* RasputinianDeath: This happens twice; the first alien soldier to be successfully shot down rises back up a minute or two later, only to be shot down by the whole squad ''again'' and a grenade dumped on it just to be sure. The second time is when they're forcibly vivisecting a wounded alien to try to figure out what part of it they have to shoot to make sure it stays dead.
** The first instance is lampshaded by a delirious Lenihan.
--->''"It's not dead. They don't die. I've hit it a hundred times. They don't die!"''
* {{Reconstruction}}: The movie takes many of the old cliches of war movies: the old SergeantRock who is just about to retire, the NewMeat lieutenant, the scared private, TheLadette, and so on, and makes them ''work''.
* RecycledInSpace: It's ''BlackHawkDown''... with ALIENS!
* {{Retirony}}: Nantz is two days from retiring from the Marines when the movie starts. [[spoiler:Subverted, in that he survives the events of the movie and goes right back into the war without hesitation at the end. In fact, it's precisely because he's about to retire that he is able to cope with the deaths of others and adapt quickly, whereas the younger troops aren't ready for so gruesome a battle.]]
* RousingSpeech: Nantz gives one to his remaining soldiers at the FOB before their last attempt to escape the city.
* SceneryGorn: All over the place... especially the opening.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Thoroughly averted. According to the tie-in website, the aliens are bringing a ''massive'' invasion force numbering well in excess of ''thirty million soldiers.''
* SemperFi: The main characters are Marines, which makes sense since Camp Pendleton, one of the main USMC bases, is less than 100 miles away from the city and the aliens are apparently aquatic in nature; troops trained in amphibious operations are the logical soldiers to use on them.
* SequelHook: The humans may have won the battle in Los Angeles, but not the war. There are still at least 11 other cities getting attacked.
** The international release title was "World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles", one city down...
* SergeantRock: Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz.
* ShownTheirWork: The tactics used by both the Marines and the alien invaders are actually quite competent, and this shows. The invaders use realistic tactics like area-denial barrages with artillery, and set up a highly-effective ambush by herding the Marines into a boxed-in position between houses where they fire on the human troops from the rooftops, using hand-signals and suppressive fire.
** When the aliens emerge from the water, they do so in a loose, staggered formation, with what looks to be a five-meter spread. This is pretty much the best way move from deep water to land on foot while potentially coming under fire, as being that spread out limits the effectiveness of grenades and artillery.
** Tech Sergeant Santos is from an Air Force Wing near [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/61st_Air_Base_Wing Los Angeles]], the soldiers are from a National Guard infantry division with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40th_Infantry_Division_%28United_States%29 many units]] in California.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler: Martinez's wife is shown to be pregnant at the beginning of the movie. He dies.]]
* StarfishAliens: The aliens have a very curious biology, with the majority of their vitals concentrated at an unusual part of their body (right of where their heart would be located) and make heavy use of cybernetics. The odd biology makes it difficult for the Marines to hurt them until they figure out where to shoot.
** If one looks closely at the wounded alien that is being "dissected" one can see that one of its legs is clearly damaged, and a long, rope-like tendril is extending from the creature's body. The same leg is missing the metallic/ceramic "skeleton" structures that the aliens' bio matter seems to be wrapped around, indicating that the aliens' limbs may be far longer than we're led to believe, and their bodies are held in a humanoid shape by all the machinery so they can effectively fight on land. "Doc" also digs around in the "head" area of the alien, and finds that there's nothing in there even vaguely resembling a brain; at one point Nantz even shoots the same alien in the "head" area and it has no visible effect on the creature.
* TheStoic: Nantz's emotions are generally muted; he has a job to do and rarely lets his personal feelings out. Santos even says that he reminds her of her brother, because "He never smiles either."
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: The aliens' tendency towards water allows them to launch deadly surprise attacks from unexpected directions. One tries it early on in the film, only to get shot up... twice.
* ThatsAnOrder: When Nantz refuses to leave [[spoiler:Martinez behind so he can perform his HeroicSacrifice, Martinez]] tells him to get a note to his wife, and ends what he has to say with this. After which, Nantz reluctantly complies.
* TimeToStepUpCommander: Twice.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: In the early parts of the movie, the military believes that the enemy is exclusively ground-based. However, anyone who saw the trailer before coming to see the movie (which is probably everyone), was already well-aware that this belief was going to change in short order. On the other hand, it probably wasn't a major twist as the alien aircraft were shown in the first few seconds of the movie.
** Also, when the helicopter near the police station is lifting off, everyone who's seen the trailer knows it's about to explode.
** A big part of the trailer is the large "something" coming up from underground, along with it being on the movie posters. When they blast the top antenna-thing on the command center, you know it's going to rise up soon.
* UrbanWarfare: As most of the scenes take place in Los Angeles, this is to be expected.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Surprisingly, MichelleRodriguez lives through this one.]]
* WalkingTank: The aliens have a 7-foot tall walking gun that fires missiles. [[MacrossMissileMassacre A lot of them.]] In clusters. Things explode. A lot.
* WeatherOfWar: The movie begins in a crowded urban area choked by smoke and fog, the worst possible condition for fighting short of everything being on fire. It works both ways for both sides.
* WhamLine: For the Marines, while getting briefed.
-->"These objects are not falling at terminal velocity. They are ''slowing down.''"
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Nantz delivers a powerful one to the remaining Marines under his command when they begin to doubt whether he cares about their safety and survival.
* YanksWithTanks: It's a war movie taking place in Los Angeles. You didn't think it'd star BritsWithBattleships, did you?
** Literally, when the Marines run into a friendly tank platoon. [[spoiler: The platoon accompanying it gets massacred, and the Abrams is disabled soon afterwards.]]
** They're trying to avert it by stretching the title to "World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles" for the international market.
** Also notable for featuring every branch of the US Armed Forces; even the CoastGuard makes an appearance, however briefly.
----
''Battle: Los Angeles'' is a science fiction film directed by Jonathan Liebesman. It was released March 11, 2011.
Meteors rain into the ocean a couple of miles off of major coastal cities - one being Los Angeles. Within minutes an alien army marches out of the surf. The suntanning populace on the beach is shredded as the aliens march into the city proper. With the arrival of their aircraft, the aliens quickly establish ground- and air-superiority.
As Los Angeles is evacuated, Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz leads his new platoon and an inexperienced lieutenant against the attackers. Their main goal is to evacuate civilians ahead of a planned bombing offensive, but matters are complicated when they must destroy the enemy's command and control center. Meanwhile, similar battles are waged across the world in other cities.
Not to be confused with the RageAgainstTheMachine album '''''The''' Battle '''of''' Los Angeles,'' nor with the similarly-titled [[DirectToVideo direct-to-video]] ''[[TheMockbuster Battle of Los Angeles]]'' released the same year. However, both films are inspired by the real-life Battle of Los Angeles.
%%Quit adding DidNotDoTheResearch, that goes to Headscratchers and you really need to take a look at the backstory before you complain.%%
----
!!''Battle Los Angeles'' provides examples of:
* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Several, but the most notable after they finally arrive at the FOB.
* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Noel Fisher (Lenihan) has played [[ThePacific a nervous young Marine]] [[spoiler:who gets killed.]] To say nothing of MichelleRodriguez, who plays her [[TypeCasting usual]] BadassSpaniard fare [[spoiler:but doesn't get herself killed]]. Also, Aaron Eckhart is never gonna get used to [[TheDarkKnight people he cares about getting blown up]].
* AlienInvasion: Of the "All-Out Attack" variety. All major cities near a coast are being attacked.
** A scientist seen on TV during the movie surmises that the aliens are there to colonize Earth, which explains them shooting anything that moves instead of just concentrating on military targets like they would if they had any other plans.
* AliensAreBastards: The aliens open fire on everything -- civilian or otherwise -- and are speculated to be here to [[PlanetLooters steal our water]].
* AllThereInTheManual: There's a site out there called "unidentified enemy" that details a few things about the aliens, their technology and operations. It can be accessed by visiting the American version of the interactive attacks/sightings map and entering 031111 in the "Restricted Access" field.
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The aliens are there to ''colonize'' Earth. They need liquid water for their technoloy, and it will take a long time to gather it all.
* AnachronicOrder: Just a little bit, with the initial jittery helicopter flying into combat scene backtracking to the morning before the day of the alien invasion.
* AnyoneCanDie: Not very many of the Marines make it out of Los Angeles. [[spoiler: None of the Army personnel that joined up make it out alive. [[MichelleRodriguez Tech Sergeant Santos]], the lone Airman, however, does.]]
* ArmCannon: The aliens have their weapons surgically grafted to their arm.
* ArmorIsUseless: The aliens' weapons consistently go through Marine body armor like it's not even there, being advanced alien technology. Their portable incendiary rocket-grenade launchers also appear to go through the armor on a M1 Abrams tank without much trouble.
* AttackDrone: The aliens make use of "Wedge Ships" that can combine to form {{Flying Saucer}}s.
* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The Marines use an LAV to get from the Santa Monica Airport to the extraction point. Though the .50 cal is used, we sadly don't get to see the Bushmaster in action.
* BackedByThePentagon
* BadassBystander: Mr. Rincon, who grabs a rifle and kills an ambushing alien without hesitation [[spoiler: and gets mortally wounded in the process]].
* BadassSpaniard: Santos, Martinez, and even Mr. Rincon (see above).
* BayonetYa: At one point, the protagonists fight the aliens hand to hand with bayonets mounted on their rifles.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Sure, the tide seems to be turning against the aliens, but millions of people -- if not more -- are still dead worldwide, and numerous cities have been completely destroyed. And the Los Angeles command ship may have been destroyed, but there's one in every major coastal city and there's no word on the two attacking the East Coast, or the rest of the world. The humans have won the battle, not the war. Not to mention that the aliens will defend their centers even more viciously...]]
* BizarreAlienBiology: The invaders look humanoid, but they seem aquatic at the same time, and their bodies seem to be held up and shaped by some form of cybernetic endoskeleton, with weird turbines. They have no real brain as humans understand them (the head area seems to contain no vital organs) and the only way to kill them beyond using massive force to blow them apart is to target a orb-like organ/machine part located to the immediate left of where the heart would be on a human.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: There are three black protagonists, and they're [[spoiler:all still alive at the end. The few that do die do so in extremely quick fashions, one on the helicopter that gets taken down, the other smooshed by a car.]]
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: More understated than most examples, but the aliens' weapons consistently hit with enough force to knock humans over. Glancing hits consistently knock Marines off their feet unless the shot goes completely through their bodies.
* BookEnds: The overhead shot early in the movie overlooking Los Angeles [[spoiler: before LA gets pummeled to the ground]] is reshot in the end [[spoiler: when marine reinforcements fly in a battle-torn LA ready to retake the city.]]
* BossBattle: [[spoiler: The final battle of the film with the command center is similar, with [[OneWingedAngel the boss having to be badly wounded before unleashing its final form]] while sacrificing [[{{Mooks}} drones]] so that the Boss won't get hit.]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Averted -- the chaingun is explicitly stated to only have 250 rounds before they even use it, and one of the soldiers mentions being low on ammo. The humans also frequently have to throw magazines to each other. Unlike the aliens, the humans avoid MoreDakka.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Ironically, most of it was filmed in Louisiana.
** From the BonusMaterial segment called "Filming L.A. in LA":
-->"In the words of our production designer, 'A palm tree and a telephone pole go a long way'"
* CarFu: Aliens, meet a Marine LAV armed with a Bushmaster and a hell of a lot of momentum.
** The aliens do it effectively during a battle on a freeway, sending rockets to make cars smash some unfortunate Marines.
* CatScare: The first firefight begins with a dog...
** Shortly afterward, the dryer going off right behind Lenihan.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Nantz has to deal with the guilt and memory of several Marines he led to their deaths in Iraq before the alien invasion. Martinez has to deal with the stress of this being his first combat deployment, particularly when [[spoiler: the casevac helicopter carrying four of his wounded Marines is shot down.]]
* CombiningMecha: The aliens have wedge-shaped hovering gunships which can link up to form roughly saucer-shaped aerial battle platforms.
* CoolOldGuy: Staff Sergeant Nantz. 20 long years in the Corps, and the first scene we see him in plays up him starting to slow down compared to the young guys. Once the aliens land in downtown LA, he turns into a SergeantRock.
* CurbStompBattle: The initial alien attack only becomes a curb stomp once the [[AttackDrone Attack Drones]] show up and steal air superiority from the humans. [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, after Nantz's team takes out the drone control center, the battle turns in humanity's favor]].
* TheDeadHaveNames: Nantz was responsible for the deaths of four marines in Iraq, one of whom was the brother of one of the men under his command. At one of the most quiet and dramatic moments in the movie, he lists off the names, ranks, and serial numbers of each of those men, showing that their deaths still haunt him.
* DeadlineNews: A journalist covering the aliens' landing is the unfortunate victim of the first rocket barrage along with her cameraman.
* DeathBySex: {{Lampshaded}} as one of the Marines is stated to be a virgin. After he survives a firefight his squadmates remark:
--> "I told you, until we get him some tail, he ain't never gonna die!"
** [[spoiler:And then averted; he dies on the evac helo.]]
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: A less typical example, where a couple of Marines are shown partying, getting way too drunk and otherwise playing the trope straight, others are picking out flowers for their wedding, trying to retire with some dignity, or having a quiet goodbye with a loved one at their grave.
* DuelingMovies: With ''Film/{{Skyline}}''. There was a lawsuit over it and everything, primarily due to the same [[{{Hydraulx}} special effects guys]] doing work on ''Skyline'' while this movie was in postproduction.
* EnsignNewbie: Lieutenant Martinez has just graduated from Officer Training. In his first engagement he freezes up, unable to act, and when the casevac helicopter is shot down he goes into a HeroicBSOD. It isn't until Nantz delivers a sharp, confidence-boosting lecture to him that he shapes up. By the time of the highway battle, he's confidently giving orders and deploying his men.
* EveryBulletIsATracer: For the aliens, anyway, since their guns fire incendiaries.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: While not a reproductive example, Elena Santos gets a faceful of alien guts - even in her mouth, causing the Marine riding shotgun to joke about "getting a faceful on the first date".
* FastRoping: Notably, two children have to do it in order to escape a slowly approaching walking tank.
** Two of the Marines spotting from the top of a building employ this to get to an evacuation vehicle fast.
* FantasticCasteSystem: The aliens have a minor example of this, with several different biological variations on their soldiers depending on roles. You've got your basic soldiers, very tall, floating, and gangly leaders, and smaller troops dedicated to operating support weapons and scouting.
* AFatherToHisMen: Sgt. Nantz strives to be one. A few of his men aren't so sure, especially since there's been rumors that he purposefully got his entire team killed in Iraq.
** [[CharacterDevelopment He arguably becomes this]] by the film's end.
* FreezeFrameBonus: If one looks closely during the scene where Lenihan is shooting the alien emerging from the pool, one of his shots hits the alien's ArmCannon, causing it to spark and malfunction. When the alien emerges from the pool again, it appears to actually fire its gun right at Nantz, but the weapon misfires, throwing up a cloud of blink-and-you'll-miss-it sparks.
** During a CNN broadcast, we see that even in the midst of an alien invasion the network still bothers to include the Dow Jones Industrial Average in their graphics. Not surprisingly, it's taken a bit of a hit.
* GlassCannon[=/=]FragileSpeedster: The Drones are easily taken out, but the tie-in website states they can go Mach 7 - far faster than human jets - and they pack a punch. They can join up to form some sort of hovering weapons platform, which makes them a bit less vulnerable.
* GovernmentConspiracy: Hinted at. The tie-in website and trailers indicate that the government has ''some'' prior knowledge dating all the way back from WorldWarTwo (though far too little) about the aliens. [[spoiler: Tech Sergeant Santos' original mission to find an enemy C&C asset and knowledge of the alien drones is another indicator.]]
* HeroicBSOD: A couple of the Marines, particularly Martinez, have these when the aliens bring their drones into the fray.
* HeroicSacrifice: After being wounded during the shootout on the freeway, [[spoiler: Lieutenant Martinez]] crawls into a bus and detonates a bag of C4, taking out a group of aliens and their WalkingTank in the process.
** [[spoiler:Hector's father]] takes a bullet to the gut after picking up an M16 to kill an alien trying to surprise the Marines rappelling down a child to safety.
* HopelessWar: The war against the aliens appears to be this way when they quickly gain air superiority and make massive headway in tearing Los Angeles apart.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: Experts being interviewed during some news transmission surmise that the aliens are here to steal our resources due to their tactics (complete eradication instead of a proper occupation). Indeed, the water level ''drops'' half-way through the film.
* HollywoodTactics: Averted. The marines use real tactics. Notably, the alien soldiers also act like, well, soldiers, and use tactics as well, such as [[HandSignals hand signals]]. It's also subverted and invoked in the beginning - the aliens initially have no air support and the US military attempts to exploit this by arranging for a carpet bombing of the coastal neighborhoods of LA. This plan changes once the aliens get their drones in the air.
** The aliens also appear to take out all human anti-aircraft weapons, since none of the ones firing at the beginning of the invasion are firing on the drones.
** The Sea Knights fly down along the beach toward the FOB because artillery is being fired into the urban areas in Santa Monica. Helicopters in general are routed around areas where artillery is being fired to avoid being hit by airborne shells.
** The plan to carpet-bomb Santa Monica is actually based on real-life emergency plans in case of a West Coast invasion of LA.
* HopeSpot: In the middle of the highway battle, Lockett takes control of a .50 caliber machinegun in an abandoned Humvee and uses that to blow up the alien troops on the upper highway that have been shooting up the rest of the squad. Enemy fire drops off, and the Marines start cheering. Then the WalkingTank shows up.
* HoverTank: One makes a brief appearance in the end before getting blown up.
* HumanoidAliens: Despite the major physiological differences between the alien invaders and humans (see StarfishAliens, below), their body plans are still basically human-like, with two arms, two legs, an upright torso, a chest with a heart in it, and a head on top where the ranged sensory organs are located. The fact that Sergeant Nantz could say that their AchillesHeel is "to the left of where the heart would be" says as much about their general similarities to us than their specific differences.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Lacking in any real anti-air capability, Nantz has to take out an alien drone by [[spoiler: luring it to a gas station and blowing it up, taking the drone with it.]]
* InfantImmortality: Played straight - on-screen, at least.
* InferredHolocaust: The aliens are launching a worldwide invasion of every major coastal city, and they shoot to kill indiscriminately.
** Actual Holocaust in the film. Dead civilians are literally everywhere.
** Those mushroom cloud-shaped explosions seen early on in the initial flyover of LA? Those are gas stations being lit on fire, likely wiping out entire city blocks.
** The aliens have 30 million troops, the largest army on earth, the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army]] only has 4.5 million, and half of them are reserves. Victory is far from assured, and even if humanity wins, it's going to make WorldWarII look like a hostage crisis.
* [[ItsRainingMen It's Raining Aliens]]: The aliens and their equipment land just offshore after an atmospheric insertion in giant asteroid-like ships.
* KillAllHumans: The aliens take no prisoners and leave no survivors, although killing all humans isn't an end unto itself - they are slaughtering us because we are keeping them from [[PlanetLooters grabbing some resources]].
* KillItWithFire: The aliens favor incendiary rounds in their weapons, and one can see blackened burns on every Marine who gets wounded. Their flying saucers also like to take massive incendiary grenade/rocket launchers and sweep them over neighborhoods.
* TheLoad: The civilians that the Marines are sent in to evacuate. Unlike most examples, they generally avoid getting in the way, and the two adults try to help as best they can. One of them is a veterinarian and helps dissect the wounded alien in the police station, and the other helps in combat by dragging the wounded to safety, at one point [[spoiler: picking up a dropped assault rifle and shooting one of the aliens.]]
* MacrossMissileMassacre: Walking Guns fire missile-like plasma projectiles in swarms that occasionally home in, to devastating effect.
* MagnificentSeven: [[spoiler: By the end of the film, only five Marines, a Sailor, and an Airman make it to the final battle.]]
* ManlyTears: When Nantz recites the names of the men who died under his command and ends with Lockett's brother, Lockett starts weeping.
* MonsterDelay: It's a while before we ever get a clear look at any of the alien beings, and even when we do, the camera does everything it can to avoid lingering on them.
* TheMothership: Each city being attacked has one massive Command and Control center that commands all the drones.
* MoodDissonance: Leading up to the character squad's first encounter. There's smoke from weapons fire, abandoned cars, charred corpses, the sounds of distant explosions, not a living being in sight. The squad hears something, gets to cover with weapons trained on the direction the sound comes from, waiting for an alien to pop out of the smoke...And up runs someone's pet dog. Cue about half a minute of relieved comments, relaxing, joking about the dog's name (Glenn), soundtrack's calmed down, viewers think it'll be another five or ten minutes of walking to the fight, maybe with an animal sidekick... Explosions, shots raining down from multiple rooftops as well as the direction the dog ran in from, dramatic music and screaming both start up, and one of the Marines gets dragged off into the scenery.
* MoreDakka: If it doesn't have six barrels and can't shoot missiles, it's probably not in the alien armory.
* MyGreatestFailure: Nantz is still haunted by the loss of his entire squad during a botched mission in Iraq.
* NoNameGiven: Hector's father is just "Mr. Rincon."
* NotSoDifferent: Discussed in-universe when some Marines spot an alien commander spotting for two alien snipers on top of a roof. One surmises they may be just like them -- grunts with families and a home who no idea what's really happening and just get told to go fight.
** Displayed as well -- several scenes show downed enemy aliens being dragged away back into cover by their squadmates, with the others providing covering fire. Just like what human soldiers do. The directors made it a big deal that the aliens used human tactics.
** A subtle case of this pops up when the scientist discusses how the aliens are using "colonization" tactics on humanity. Though not outright stated, there's an implication that we know the aliens are using colonization tactics because mankind used them too.
* NotSoStoic: Nantz's controlled demeanor cracks three times. The first is when he blows up the drone in the gas station, where his fingers tremble uncontrollably afterward. The second is when [[spoiler: Martinez is about to blow himself up]], where he flips out and starts screaming at him that he won't let more people die again like he did back in Iraq. The third time is when he confronts Lockett and explains to him that he memorized the names and numbers of every man who died under his command.
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: By a veterinarian who helped them find the right spot to shoot the aliens, and in the process averting OpenHeartDentistry.
-->'''Michele:''' You should have someone look at that
-->'''Nantz:''' I thought you were a doctor.
-->'''Michele:''' Animals and aliens only.
* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The sequence where Nantz [[spoiler: stabs, cuts, and tears at a still-living alien to figure out where to hit it to kill it.]] Unlike most such scenes, there's no accompanying moral commentary on the action; the viewer is left to decide themselves between whether or not Nantz's are cruel or justified.
** It's an interesting case, given that [[spoiler:Nantz actually is trying to kill the alien efficiently without torturing him first; it just takes him awhile to figure out how to do that, exactly.]]
* OpenHeartDentistry: Averted. See NotThatKindOfDoctor.
* PlanetLooters: Seems like the aliens are out of water.
* PointOfView: The movie only follows the Marines. We get glimpses of what else is happening to the world, but the movie is merely concerned with this specific group.
* PrecisionFStrike: Nantz: "Let's show these bastards who they're fuckin' with."
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: The above mentioned PrecisionFStrike is delivered just before the final assault [[spoiler: on the drone control center]].
* PreMortemOneLiner: Not quite one line, but [[spoiler: Martinez]]'s last bit of dialogue before his HeroicSacrifice still qualifies:
--> "This is [[spoiler: Second Lieutenant William Martinez]], Echo Company, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. Ooh-Ra!"
* ProductPlacement: Being funded by Sony, the film features a number of Sony products, such as Marines using Sony laptops, and a billboard advertising ''[[ResistanceFallOfMan Resistance 3]]''.
** The squad passes by a RE/MAX real estate office before they get to the police station.
** There's a pristine Pepsi Max sign that can be seen in the background around that time as well.
** The drop-off point where the street-by-street deployments are laid out is in a Domino's Pizza shop.
* RadioSilence: The Marines have to turn off their radios once they realize that even making a short transmission allows enemy drones to home in on their position.
* RasputinianDeath: This happens twice; the first alien soldier to be successfully shot down rises back up a minute or two later, only to be shot down by the whole squad ''again'' and a grenade dumped on it just to be sure. The second time is when they're forcibly vivisecting a wounded alien to try to figure out what part of it they have to shoot to make sure it stays dead.
** The first instance is lampshaded by a delirious Lenihan.
--->''"It's not dead. They don't die. I've hit it a hundred times. They don't die!"''
* {{Reconstruction}}: The movie takes many of the old cliches of war movies: the old SergeantRock who is just about to retire, the NewMeat lieutenant, the scared private, TheLadette, and so on, and makes them ''work''.
* RecycledInSpace: It's ''BlackHawkDown''... with ALIENS!
* {{Retirony}}: Nantz is two days from retiring from the Marines when the movie starts. [[spoiler:Subverted, in that he survives the events of the movie and goes right back into the war without hesitation at the end. In fact, it's precisely because he's about to retire that he is able to cope with the deaths of others and adapt quickly, whereas the younger troops aren't ready for so gruesome a battle.]]
* RousingSpeech: Nantz gives one to his remaining soldiers at the FOB before their last attempt to escape the city.
* SceneryGorn: All over the place... especially the opening.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Thoroughly averted. According to the tie-in website, the aliens are bringing a ''massive'' invasion force numbering well in excess of ''thirty million soldiers.''
* SemperFi: The main characters are Marines, which makes sense since Camp Pendleton, one of the main USMC bases, is less than 100 miles away from the city and the aliens are apparently aquatic in nature; troops trained in amphibious operations are the logical soldiers to use on them.
* SequelHook: The humans may have won the battle in Los Angeles, but not the war. There are still at least 11 other cities getting attacked.
** The international release title was "World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles", one city down...
* SergeantRock: Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz.
* ShownTheirWork: The tactics used by both the Marines and the alien invaders are actually quite competent, and this shows. The invaders use realistic tactics like area-denial barrages with artillery, and set up a highly-effective ambush by herding the Marines into a boxed-in position between houses where they fire on the human troops from the rooftops, using hand-signals and suppressive fire.
** When the aliens emerge from the water, they do so in a loose, staggered formation, with what looks to be a five-meter spread. This is pretty much the best way move from deep water to land on foot while potentially coming under fire, as being that spread out limits the effectiveness of grenades and artillery.
** Tech Sergeant Santos is from an Air Force Wing near [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/61st_Air_Base_Wing Los Angeles]], the soldiers are from a National Guard infantry division with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40th_Infantry_Division_%28United_States%29 many units]] in California.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler: Martinez's wife is shown to be pregnant at the beginning of the movie. He dies.]]
* StarfishAliens: The aliens have a very curious biology, with the majority of their vitals concentrated at an unusual part of their body (right of where their heart would be located) and make heavy use of cybernetics. The odd biology makes it difficult for the Marines to hurt them until they figure out where to shoot.
** If one looks closely at the wounded alien that is being "dissected" one can see that one of its legs is clearly damaged, and a long, rope-like tendril is extending from the creature's body. The same leg is missing the metallic/ceramic "skeleton" structures that the aliens' bio matter seems to be wrapped around, indicating that the aliens' limbs may be far longer than we're led to believe, and their bodies are held in a humanoid shape by all the machinery so they can effectively fight on land. "Doc" also digs around in the "head" area of the alien, and finds that there's nothing in there even vaguely resembling a brain; at one point Nantz even shoots the same alien in the "head" area and it has no visible effect on the creature.
* TheStoic: Nantz's emotions are generally muted; he has a job to do and rarely lets his personal feelings out. Santos even says that he reminds her of her brother, because "He never smiles either."
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: The aliens' tendency towards water allows them to launch deadly surprise attacks from unexpected directions. One tries it early on in the film, only to get shot up... twice.
* ThatsAnOrder: When Nantz refuses to leave [[spoiler:Martinez behind so he can perform his HeroicSacrifice, Martinez]] tells him to get a note to his wife, and ends what he has to say with this. After which, Nantz reluctantly complies.
* TimeToStepUpCommander: Twice.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: In the early parts of the movie, the military believes that the enemy is exclusively ground-based. However, anyone who saw the trailer before coming to see the movie (which is probably everyone), was already well-aware that this belief was going to change in short order. On the other hand, it probably wasn't a major twist as the alien aircraft were shown in the first few seconds of the movie.
** Also, when the helicopter near the police station is lifting off, everyone who's seen the trailer knows it's about to explode.
** A big part of the trailer is the large "something" coming up from underground, along with it being on the movie posters. When they blast the top antenna-thing on the command center, you know it's going to rise up soon.
* UrbanWarfare: As most of the scenes take place in Los Angeles, this is to be expected.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Surprisingly, MichelleRodriguez lives through this one.]]
* WalkingTank: The aliens have a 7-foot tall walking gun that fires missiles. [[MacrossMissileMassacre A lot of them.]] In clusters. Things explode. A lot.
* WeatherOfWar: The movie begins in a crowded urban area choked by smoke and fog, the worst possible condition for fighting short of everything being on fire. It works both ways for both sides.
* WhamLine: For the Marines, while getting briefed.
-->"These objects are not falling at terminal velocity. They are ''slowing down.''"
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Nantz delivers a powerful one to the remaining Marines under his command when they begin to doubt whether he cares about their safety and survival.
* YanksWithTanks: It's a war movie taking place in Los Angeles. You didn't think it'd star BritsWithBattleships, did you?
** Literally, when the Marines run into a friendly tank platoon. [[spoiler: The platoon accompanying it gets massacred, and the Abrams is disabled soon afterwards.]]
** They're trying to avert it by stretching the title to "World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles" for the international market.
** Also notable for featuring every branch of the US Armed Forces; even the CoastGuard makes an appearance, however briefly.
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