San Diego Comic-Con 2010: Battle: Los Angeles Press Conference Coverage and New Stills
Heather Wixson
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During the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, Dread Central was in attendance for the Battle: Los Angeles press conference. On hand were producer Neal H. Mortiz, director Jonathan Liebesman, and the film’s stars Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez, who chatted with the press about what we can expect to see with their vision of hostile alien forces invading Earth and one battalion’s struggle with the insurgency that takes over the Los Angeles streets.
Liebesman, who directed off of a script written by Chris Bertolini, discussed why Battle: Los Angeles should resonate with today’s audiences.
“There is definitely a feeling of a loss of security these days for people everywhere,” Liebesman said. “Battle: Los Angeles is a very black and white protagonist/antagonist type of film, and I think audiences are very receptive to that kind of story right now. Our aliens represent the unknown we all face every day.”
Eckhart, who plays a Marine Staff Sergeant in the film, went on to discuss the message he found within the film from his character’s perspective. “I think what makes Battle: Los Angeles so powerful is that our alien invasion ends up unifying not only the Los Angeles people, but also the human race. We have a Staff Sergeant ready to retire in the film and a platoon of young Marines where everything is not simpatico between the two. So when it comes time to pull together and fight the aliens, you see us become unified so that we can take them on.”
Rodriguez, who’s known amongst many genre fans as a specialist in playing tough chicks, portrays an Air Force Tech Sergeant in Battle: Los Angeles. The actress described how she adjusted to playing a different type of badass.
“I actually felt relieved that I didn’t have to be one of the brute force characters,” said Rodriguez. “Battle: Los Angeles was a little bit different experience for me as an actress because my character is a little more delicate than I am used to playing. I think my character has to rely more on her survival instincts to survive the invasion so it was a breath of fresh air. I get to kick some ass but definitely in a geeky way.”
Liebesman, who is a South Africa native promised fans that Battle: Los Angeles wouldn’t become Independence Day 2, where the entire focus of the aliens would be on taking down Hollywood landmarks.
“Since I’m not from here, I wouldn’t even have known what landmarks to blow up,” joked Liebesman. “I wanted the movie to be more about urban combat and what you’d see happening in the LA area sprawl of communities. That’s how I really think it would go down if a hostile alien invasion were to happen. It’s not about the landmarks. It’s about the realism for me.”
That determination to keep Battle: Los Angeles feel authentic to audiences made producer Moritz sing the praises of Liebesman’s work on the project.
“Jonathan is the hardest working director I have ever worked with. With the amount of visual effects shots that a movie of this size requires, he’s been working non-stop to keep everything about this project to feel as real as you can get inside a movie theater. This has been one of the best experiences as a producer that I could ever hope for,” Moritz said.
Battle: Los Angeles invades theaters on March 11, 2011. For more from Dread Central’s coverage of the SDCC press conference, check out our video highlight reel below!
Battle: Los Angeles – SD Comic-Con Press Conference
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