Battle: Los Angeles opens early next month, and yesterday we were given some early insight into what to expect from this latest version of an alien-invasion tale from the film's star Aaron Eckhart, at the Los Angeles press junket.

Eckhart stressed that it was vitally important to both he, and director Jonathan Liebesman, to infuse the film with a sense of realism saying that, “The goal was: this is a war movie, a documentary style war movie – with aliens in it.”

The actor went on to make a comparison to director Chris Nolan's approach to the Batman franchise, and The Dark Knight in particular. He takes note of how the film utilizes intimate physical locations as a backdrop, rather than falling back on extensive CGI destruction of more archetypal vistas (like the Hollywood sign) to tell the story. He feels that the local feel helps to ground the film in the real world:

"It's the same thing with The Dark Knight, you know Chris (Nolan) uses green screen, but the movie doesn't rely on green screen, so you always get that feeling from Chris that this movie is real, and that's why it adds that depth and texture. I think that it's the same thing with this film."

Jonathan Liebesman agrees that the raw, stripped down, filmmaking techniques help to heighten the stakes for both the actors - as well as the audience. It is a style that the director found extremely effective for this film and one he plans to utilize, to varying degrees, in his future projects.

"I learned a lot from doing it, it's great because it gives the actors freedom. Again, it helped me elevate what was on the page. It's a style I am going to take forward into my next movie (Wrath Of The Titans, the sequel to last years Clash Of The Titans) but definitely tweak, because the next thing will require different things. I mean this is embedded footage with a Platoon, that's the vibe of this movie."

As a mythological tale, Wrath of The Titans, will likely require a scope and majesty that would have been inappropriate for Battle: Los Angeles. Read more on Liebesman's plans for Wrath of The Titans, including how he plans to adjust his shooting techniques for a scheduled 3D post-conversion, HERE.

As for Battle: Los Angeles, look for an article on the “real” battle Los Angeles (a UFO siting on the coast of Santa Monica at the onset of WWII) early tomorrow - as well as continuing coverage of the film in the weeks to come.

In the interim, take a look at the most recent poster for Battle: LA below. The image gives the viewer a sense of how this film works as a hybrid war/alien-invasion movie.

Battle: Los Angeles One Sheet Poster

Battle: Los Angeles opens in theaters on March 11th.

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