Battle: Los Angeles

In Battle: Los Angeles, a U.S. Marine squadron fights off hostile alien invaders bent on colonizing our planet. As people everywhere watch the world's great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant (Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they've ever encountered before in the battle for Earth's survival. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the following featurettes: Behind The Battle (HD 06:44), Directing The Battle (HD 06:33), Aliens In L.A. (HD 17:57), Preparing For Battle (HD 05:15), Boot Camp (HD 10:18), Creating L.A. In L.A. (HD 05:46), and The Freeway Battle (HD 05:18); Command Control picture-in-picture Bonus View; up-front previews; and BD-Live functionality.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture is dominated with grays and greens and heavily dosed with smoky exterior and interior scenes, which are dim or dark during nighttime sequences. Color accents are seen in fireballs, but otherwise the imagery is muted in tonal appearance. Still, fleshtones are rendered natural. Resolution is superb and reveals fine details in facial features, clothing, and object textures. The picture is clean and pristine throughout and exhibits a you-are-there presence. Contrast is well balanced with deep, solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. While the camera movements are hand-held and generally jerky throughout, the picture is naturally cast to enhance the threatening realism. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1 channel soundtrack sounds dynamic throughout, with an aggressive soundfield presence that is excitingly directionalized at every channel vector. The sound is often loud and fully SPL energized in every channel, with the surround channels often at the same level as the front channels. Effectively, the soundtrack puts the viewer in the midst of the battle, with sonic intensity exhibited in gun fire, rocket blasts, and explosions during the alien weapon and Marine interchanges. Bass extension is deep and powerful in all channels. The LFE channel is quite active and energized to below 25 Hz during intense battle sequences. Sound effects and atmospherics sound articulated, never muddy or indistinct. Even the backgrounds are filled with articulated distant weapon fire and explosions, which intensifies the realism. Brian Tyler's dynamic orchestral music score is generally background-focused, with a wide and deep soundstage presence that is also prominent in the surrounds. At times the music rises effectively to forcefully loud levels, which combined with the atmospherics and sound effects really engages the soundfield, for an impressive holosonic® experience. Dialogue throughout is intelligible and generally integrated well, except for some instances of far-forward ADR. This is an engaging soundtrack experience that will challenge every home theatre system, but the result is reference-quality sonics throughout. (Gary Reber)