15 Years Later, This Forgotten Sci-Fi War Movie Is Perfect for 'War Machine' Fans

3 weeks ago 11

Alan Ritchson carries another soldier over his shoulders in War Machine

Published Mar 11, 2026, 4:29 PM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

While audiences flock to Alan Ritchson's new Netflix movie War Machine, it seems like another military sci-fi title is attracting the spillover viewers. War Machine opened to mostly positive reviews last week, and promptly claimed the Netflix streaming crown. It remains the streamer's most-watched title globally, thanks mainly to Ritchson's stature — both literal and metaphorical — as a streaming star. The film combined the gritty realism of Black Hawk Down with the large-scale sci-fi thrills of Independence Day, which could also describe a film released 15 years earlier. The movie in question earned poor reviews and drew particular ire from the late Roger Ebert. But it is now regaining steam on home video.

The film followed a platoon of soldiers tasked with defending Los Angeles during an alien invasion. It was headlined by Aaron Eckhart, who was just coming off a memorable supporting role in The Dark Knight. This was the era when Eckhart starred in movies such as Olympus Has Fallen and I, Frankenstein. His presence pushed the film in question past the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office, and although Eckhart received positive reviews for bringing gravitas to the project, it wasn't enough for the movie to avoid being panned for its silliness. It now holds a 37% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus described it as "overlong and overly burdened with war movie clichés."

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Ebert wasn't as kind. He began his half-star review by calling the movie "noisy, violent, ugly and stupid." The film in question is, of course, Battle: Los Angeles. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, it was produced on a reported budget of $70 million, grossing $212 million worldwide. Ironically, it made more at the worldwide box office than Black Hawk Down, which ended its run with $172 million against a reported budget of $92 million. Battle: Los Angeles also featured Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Michael Peña, and the singer Ne-Yo. The movie also inspired a tie-in video game, as was the norm in those days for studio tentpoles. In fairness, this might have been the most organic use of this marketing tactic, considering the film's Call of Duty aesthetic. Battle: Los Angeles was among the most-watched movies on the domestic Tubi charts recently this past week. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.