"Battalion"

Since H.G. Wells wrote "War of The Worlds" and from radio to television, his work and others like him have depicted what mankind would do should life from another world would come with hostile intentions. Usually it's the civilians working with scientist and military to take down the threat, yet its rarely seen from just one side. 

John Blake is your average L.A. yuppie who doesn't have many lifelong goals and is living in the moment which is the exact opposite of his brother Lt. Chris Jackson (Michael Thomson) of the U.S.M.C. who has just returned home to his family. John's real parents died when he was a kid and he was taken in by Chris's family who were close friends and has never felt he really belonged, until the threat of arriving aliens striking the Northeast and showing signs of hostility does John show any interest in doing something to protect others.

In the blink of an eye, Jackson loses his family and finds himself training his adoptive brother along with other recruits like former professor Tracey Gleeson (Ellen Williams). Together they face many missions in Europe, Africa and Australia trying to strike down drone-like aliens and armored bipeds. As the war for Earth wages on, it begins to test the marines showing their true colors. As Blake's hope for humanity seems to grow, Jackson's faith slowly fades as his disdain for Blake grows. And with a chance to gain some ground, these marines must decide whether to fight or roll over and die.

This film left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the emotion from the characters and the struggles they endure are well portrayed from the point of a warfront. Yet with the opening scenes jumping from one place to another before coming together with a steady chain of events made it hard to follow and the lack of knowledge as to who they're fighting and why makes it frustrating not having answers. While those with military background might enjoy this, I feel I can only give it two and a half G.M.Stars for this film. 

⭐⭐½