Universal Pictures Presents Battleship - Film Review from West Coast Midnight Run

BATTLESHIP
Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating PG-13
(strong violence and language)

By Barry Steinbaum

The movie is basically a variety of the old Godzilla Japanese movies only this Godzilla is an advanced mechanical monstrosity drawn directly from The Transformers SFX library of let's blow 'em up and save the day … or rather The Earth and the Human Race.

This is basically Independence Day, The Transformers, Skyline, Battle Los Angeles, War of the Worlds, Signs, They Live, Star Trek First Contact and shades of Stealth.

An original bite that may have escaped reviewers is that despite being derivative for many of the film critics, there is an original angle that may have escaped most.

Most Earth invasions films deal with the filmmaker's lens, or the narrative chair, firmly planted in the middle of how everyday civilians deal with an advanced and deadly alien force out to wipe us out.

In Battleship however, the movie is SLIGHTLY different in that First Contact with deadly advanced alien race is made with the most powerful military on our planet equipped with the most advanced and deadliest of weapons and technologies.

So the vibe of the entire movie should be a little different than most of the preceding films that have tackled this topic - except for Star Trek dealing with the Borg.

Even for Star Trek, in the far off future, they are outmatched and out-distanced in terms of technology and capabilities when face to face with the Borg. However Star Trek could never resonate as strongly in a film where our heroes are in the now and

here on Earth Prime as opposed to in the Tomorrow and Far Away.

Even though Stealth is not really about aliens invading our planet, the cinematic feel and the topic dealing with advanced weaponry in the hands of artificial intelligence rings true to Battleship - and the Talon warplanes in the movie look as if they were designed by the aliens themselves.

And of course with the current crop of SFX films the visuals are frightfully more realistic further enhancing what little believability the setting of the story presents and further engaging the viewing audience in enjoying the adventure unfolding on the big screen.

Maelstrom (not to be confused as Male-Storm) by Taylor Anderson is a sci-fi naval derring do account of a WWII destroyer that crosses over, while at sea, into a parallel universe of Aliens at war with each other and the destroyer is the most advanced piece of technology and hardware on that planet of aliens.

It's basically Battleship flip flopped for your entertainment and it was developed years before Hasbro created Battleship, possibly drawing inspiration directly from Anderson's novel.

If after leaving the theater your appetite remains open for more excitement, grab Maelstrom from your local friendly library shelf or order it from your nearest bookstore.

And should you still be interested in good old fashion fun on your vacation or during a break the board game from Milton Bradley is now an electronic game from Hasbro.

The game division has spiffed up their aging hardware in anticipation for the release of the motion picture.

We have included an editorial entertainment and informational montage from outtakes and behind the scenes clips, all three movie trailers, interviews and the slick video trailer for the game from Hasbro and some content from the US Navy on the fleet that protects us 24/7, 365 days a year.