A bit of entertainment trivia for you to kick off today, folks–you know what a “clip show” is? That’s where they take bits and pieces of a long-running sitcom or other show and cobble them together, with a little bit of new footage to bridge the gaps, into a new episode. That’s kind of what Battle Los Angeles actually is, except in this case, it’s a clip movie.

Battle Los Angeles puts us right into a hellacious firefight that’s raging all over the world. Aliens have landed, and they’re definitely not the “to serve man” crowd. As countries and cities all over the world find themselves getting their hats handed to them by the alien horde, one platoon of marines, in the midst of a mission, finds itself in the unique position of being able to save the world by the most improbable of maneuvers.

Sometimes I get to thinking that summer movie season–with its big, loud, brainless action movies and the like–starts a little sooner every year, and I think they’ve pushed the season clear back to early March if Battle Los Angeles is any indication. And like I said, you’ve seen substantial portions of this movie before, from the grizzled old staff sergeant who gruffly proclaims that he’ll get his men out alive, to the green first lieutenant willing to take one for the team, to the even greener private who’s sufficiently green that he’s–and yes, this is mentioned in the film–a full-on virgin who joined up at seventeen. There are bits of Heartbreak Ridge, Black Hawk Down, a whole lot of Independence Day (right down to the burning wreckage-littered airfield and the vaguely similar alien ship designs!) and I’m sure if you watch this thing, you’ll likely spot bits of your favorite old war movie in here.

The script has so many holes in the plot it looks like it was shot through with the Bushmaster chain gun that they mention but never actually fire in the film (at least not that I saw, and frankly, I was looking forward to seeing that puppy go!), the explanation for the alien invasion is weak at best, and the whole thing feels rushed and poorly put together.

But still, for the action diehard out there, there will be more than enough gunplay and plenty of explosions and a few good tense moments. It’s nothing particularly original, but sometimes, you’re not looking for original, you’re looking for a new twist on an old favorite and if that’s what you want you’ll get it right here, and then some.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Battle Los Angeles a six out of ten, because it does just what it sets out to do, even if that particular goal isn’t anything particularly ambitious.