Los Angeles and other cities around the world are being bombarded by meteors that seem to be slowing down once they hit the earth's atmosphere. The earth is suddenly being invaded by space aliens that have landed off the shore of LA, and who begin killing everybody along the beach. The military is ordered into action. Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who was about to retire, is reassigned to a new platoon. The platoon, flown by chopper to the forward operating base at Santa Monica Airport, is being led by a new 2nd Lt. Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez). They are sent on a mission to rescue some civilians who are trapped at the police station within alien territory. They only have 3 hours to complete their mission and get out before the Air Force bombs that zone. 1 win and 1 nomination
The film is inspired by the real life incident known as the Battle of Los Angeles, during World War II. On the night of 24-25 February 1942, unidentified aircraft were allegedly spotted in the airspace above Los Angeles. Suspecting it to be the Japanese, a blackout of the city was ordered and over 1,440 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition was fired. Upon finding no evidence of the existence of any enemy aircraft, the incident was declared to be a "false alarm". The event has since been chalked up to as being a result of "war nerves", likely triggered by a lost weather balloon and exacerbated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining anti-aircraft batteries.
Very little of the film was actually shot in Los Angeles. Tax incentives brought the production to Louisiana where sets of Los Angeles streets were constructed.
Aaron Eckhart broke his arm while filming a stunt. He never missed a day of work because of it.
Due to script changes, 'Michelle Rodriguez''s character wasn't added until a month before filming began.
The officer referred to by Sgt. Nantz on the bus in reference to the line "Retreat Hell" is Capt. Lloyd W. Williams of the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines.When advised to withdraw by a French officer at the defensive line just north of the village of Lucy-le-Bocage on June 1st, 1918, he is said to have replied: "Retreat? Hell, we just got here!". Captain Williams died 11 days later near Chateau-Thierry.
Factual errors: Public transit buses don't require a key to start, so there is no need to "hot wire" one. Factual errors: The laser used to "paint" the target is depicted as a red laser. Lasers used for this purpose are not in the visible spectrum.
Cpl. Kevin Harris: Santos, you okay? TSgt. Elena Santos: Yeah. I got that nasty stuff all over my mouth, man. TSgt. Elena Santos: Ha ha ha ha. Cpl. Kevin Harris: It's not funny. TSgt. Elena Santos: Ha. You let him do you on the first date.
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent, student at M.I.T. in Boston who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine with the desire to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 for the four to five years of schooling as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor Micky Rosa into a small but secretive club of five. Students Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa of the skill of card counting at blackjack. Intrigued by the desire to make money, Ben joins his new friends on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas where, using their skills of code talk and hand signals, they have Ben make hundreds of thousands of dollars in winning blackjack at casino after casino. Ben only wants to make enough money for the tuition to Harvard and then back out.
Taglines: - Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever. - They proved the Vegas Blackjack System was beatable...by beating the hell out of it.
Continuity: During the first meeting with Ben, the cards that Micky deals alternate from face up, face down, and missing altogether.
Continuity: When Ben's mom is serving birthday cake to Ben and his friends, she serves Cam twice.
Continuity: When Ben is handed his earnings from the first night a five dollar bill is seen on the outside of the bundle. Moments later a $100 is on the outside.
Continuity: During the opening credits, while Ben is riding his bike on the road, you see the same orange PT cruiser go past twice and the same silver Chrysler 300C go past three times.
Continuity: During the opening scene montage, when Ben is riding his bike across the bridge, the position of his backpack changes several times.
Continuity: When Prof Rosa calls Cole, Terry answers the phone and places Rosa on hold. However, when Cole takes the phone from Terry, he does not take Rosa off of hold and proceeds to talk to him.
Continuity: When Mickey and Ben are walking through the park before the first trip, there is no one behind them. The camera changes and there is a woman walking her dog and another man.
Continuity: The first night the group gambles in Las Vegas they are in the Hard Rock Casino, however the table at which Ben gambles says "Red Rock Casino". When he switches tables it says "Hard Rock Casino."
Continuity: When Ben meets with Mickey and the group for the first time, he explains the basic rules of 21 and deals himself a face-up card, then the camera cuts to Ben then back to Mickey and now Mickey's card is face down.
Continuity: In the shot of Ben counting cards on the first arrival in Vegas, Ben's tray is down. If the plane is as close to arriving as the view from the window shows, the trays would have to be in the "up and locked" position.
Continuity: During the chase seen at the end of the movie Kate Bosworth's character alternates between running in heels and running barefoot.
Continuity: When Ben is riding his bike on the bridge, a young guy with a lady are passing in the back stage. After this, when a yellow stripped bus passed behind Ben, that young guy and lady disappeared (it seems, they jumped into water) then another lady in white jacket appears who was absent before in the back stage.
Plot holes: In two separate places in the film, the player is hollering for the dealer to draw a "monkey" (a face card or a ten) when, in fact, a monkey would have given the dealer a winning hand. The first instance is when an Asian woman introduces the main character to the slang. The more egregious of the two instances is when the main character (who, by this time in the film, has established his big player credentials) calls out for a monkey twice when either of those times would have given the dealer a winning hand.
Crew or equipment visible: When Ben leaves the Hard Rock Hotel after their first night in Vegas, the shadow of the Cameraman and Camera on the dolly are visible on the hotel front and security guards in the background.
Factual errors: In the scene were we first see Ben in the casino playing for the first time, the count is +18. We then see a face card (worth 10) appear and Ben wins. Micky then asks him what the count is. He says +18, but it's really +17 because a face card has a value of -1.
Revealing mistakes: All the cards in the casino scenes have rounded corners opposite the index numbers, identifying them as used cards that have since been removed from use on the casino floor and altered so they can never be sneaked back into play.
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Miles shows Ben the source code of the robot, Ben looks at them and immediately says this is very good. Actually, even a highly experienced programmer could not understand a source code just by looking at it for 2 seconds, especially the code of a really complex system such as this robot.
Micky Rosa: Choi, you made five grand last night. So would you stop stealing 9 cent pens and everything you can get your hands on from the maid's cart. It's embarrassing! -- Micky Rosa: [to Ben about card counting] What were going to do is perfectly legal and they can't do a single thing about it. [very next scene: in a concrete room, bare bulb lights, a fist hits a guy who's strapped to a chair: he's bleeding/sweating] Cole Williams: You think you can beat the system? [shows guy his meaty fist] Cole Williams: This *is the system*... *beating you back* Cole Williams: You wanna count cards, you do it in Atlantic City! Get him up. Terry: [growling] Let's go. Get up! On your feet! Cole Williams: Count to five. Count to five! Card Counter: [disillusioned] What? Cole Williams: Count to five so that you don't have brain damage, you can go home. Terry: Start with One. Card Counter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Cole Williams: Good. Now... stop counting! -- Choi: [laughing and taking a video while Ben is goofing off as a new persona in the mirror] No please, keep going, this video's priceless! -- Ben Campbell: [after Jill wakes him up when their plane arrives in Boston] I seem to be waking up to you a lot. Jill Taylor: Don't get used to it. -- Micky Rosa: [while Choi is stealing everything that isn't nailed down in the hotel room] *Hey!* You steal The Bible, you go to Hell. Those are the rules. Choi: Like I'm not going anyway. -- Ben Campbell: [in regards to Mickey Rosa inviting him to the Blackjack team] So why are you telling me? Micky Rosa: Well, let's just say a spot opened up on our roster. Ben Campbell: How? Micky Rosa: Jimmy got a job at Google. Ben Campbell: Jim... Jimmy got a job at Google? Micky Rosa: Yeah, it's catchy, I know. Ben Campbell: Well, if you're making so much money at this then why did he take it? Micky Rosa: Ben, I said Google, not Sizzler. -- Ben Campbell [Last Lines]: I had a 1590 on my SAT, I got a 44 on my MCAT, and I have a 4.0 GPA from MIT. I thought I had my life mapped out, but then I remembered what my non linear equations professor once told me, always account for variable change... I let down my good friends, but as it turns out, they weren't too bad at simple math either. I scored the prettiest girl in school. I got beaten down by an old school Vegas thug who was having trouble accepting his retirement, but I worked out a deal with him that got him a nice pension... And I lied to my mother, but I confessed a lie and well, she still loved me... So my senior year of college I joined this team and I learned this new skill. I went to Vegas 17 times to use it. I made hundreds of thousands of dollars counting cards. And then I had it all stolen from me, twice... How's that for life experience professor? Did I dazzle you? Did I jump off the page? -- Micky Rosa: He says, "Ben, do you want to stay with door number one or go with door number two?". Now, is it in your interest to switch your choice? Ben Campbell: Yeah. Micky Rosa: Well wait, the host knows where the car is. So how do you know he's not trying to play a trick on you - trying to use reverse psychology to get you to pick a goat? Ben Campbell: Well I wouldn't really care. I mean, my answer's based on statistics - based on variable change. Micky Rosa: Variable change? But he just asked you a simple question. Ben Campbell: Yeah, which changed everything. Micky Rosa: Enlighten us. Ben Campbell: Well, when I was originally asked to pick a door, I had a 33.3% chance of choosing right. But after he opens one of the doors and re-offers me the choice, it's now 66.7% if I choose to switch... So yeah, I'll take door number two and thank you for the extra 33.3%. Micky Rosa: Exactly. People, remember - if you don't know which door to open, always account for variable change. Micky Rosa: Now see, most people wouldn't take the switch, out paranoia, fear, emotions. But Mr. Campbell, he kept his emotions aside and let simple math [in a game show host voice] Micky Rosa: get his ass into a brand new car!... Which is better than that goat you've been driving around campus...
An alternate ending was shot, where Mickey Rose evaded capture from Cole Williams. After retirement, Cole spots Mickey gambling on a boat and the two trade stories about their past.
Directed by Roland Emmerich Written by Robert Rodat
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 17 nominations Tagline: What would you do if they destroyed your home, threatened your family. Where would you draw the line? Release Date: 28 June 2000 (USA) Runtime: 165 min | 175 min (Extended Version) Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Summary: The movie takes place in South Carolina in 1776. Benjamin Martin, a French-Indian war hero who is haunted by his past, is a patriot who wants no part in a war with Britian. Meanwhile, his two eldest sons, Gabriel and Thomas, can't wait to go out and kill some Redcoats. When South Carolina decides to go to war with Britain, Gabriel immediatly signs up to fight...without his father's permission. But soon, Colonel Tavington, British solder infamous for his brutal tactiks, captures Gabriel and sentences him to be hanged. As Gabriel is taken away, Thomas tries to free him, only to be killed by Tavington, in front of Benjamin. Now, seeking revenge for his son's death, Benjamin leaves behind his 5 other children to bring independence to the 13 colonies...
Sinopsis en español: Al comienzo de la Revolución americana, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) es un veterano de la Guerra de los Siete Años que vive en Carolina del Sur, viudo y con siete hijos. Gabriel (Heath Ledger), el mayor, ansía unirse al ejército para pelear contra Gran Bretaña por la independencia. Conociendo las consecuencias que trae la guerra, Benjamin intenta que su hijo desista, pero no lo consigue.
Gabriel regresa a su hogar dos años más tarde, herido. Al día siguiente, se produce una escaramuza cerca de la granja de los Martin y Benjamin decide curar a los heridos de ambos bandos. Los soldados británicos - la despiadada caballería de los Green Dragoons- llegan y matan a los heridos americanos, incendian la casa de Martin y arrestan a Gabriel como un espía, tratando de colgarlo. El segundo hijo de Benjamin, Thomas (Smith) es asesinado por el líder de los Green Dragoons, el Coronel William Tavington (Jason Isaacs).
Benjamin y sus dos hijos menores, Nathan (Morgan) y Samuel (Chafin) matan a la mayoría de los soldados en una emboscada y liberan a Gabriel. Los niños se horrorizan al ver por primera vez la ferocidad de la que es capaz su padre. Gabriel se vuelve a unir al ejército contra la voluntad de su padre, comenzando su trabajo como soldado. Benjamin decide enlistarse junto con su hijo, dejando al resto de los niños bajo el cuidado de su tía Charlotte (Joely Richardson), la cuñada de Benjamin.
El Coronel Harry Burwell (Cooper), quien había peleado previamente junto a Benjamin, le pide que organice una milicia creada para mantener a los británicos, liderados por el General Cornwallis (Wilkinson) en el sur hasta que el ejército francés lograse llegar para ayudar. El oficial francés Jean Villeneuve (Karyo), se presenta para ayudar a entrenar a los milicianos.
Los milicianos de Benjamin atacan los suministros de los británicos. Para combatirlos, Cornwallis lleva a Tavington hacia la casa en donde se refugia la familia de Ben e incendia las plantaciones. Sin embargo, la familia escapa, y huye a un lugar seguro con Gabriel. Éste se casa con su amiga de la infancia, Anne (Brenner). Poco después Anne, junto con su familia y toda la gente del pueblo, es quemada viva dentro de una iglesia por Wilkins, un traidor americano, bajo las órdenes de Tavington.
Gabriel, enceguecido por su sed de venganza, se separa de los milicianos con un pequeño grupo a buscar a los responsables de la matanza. Durante la feroz pelea, Tavington mata a Gabriel y huye. Ben se siente devastado y decide dejar de combatir, pero pronto regresa con sus compañeros para vengar a sus dos hijos, y finalmente logra acabar con Tavington. Poco después, Cornwallis se rinde.
Martin y su familia regresan a su hogar y encuentran a los milicianos, quienes están ayudando a reconstuirlo. Occam (Jones) le dice a Ben, "Gabriel dijo que si ganábamos la guerra, podríamos construir un mundo nuevo. Decidimos empezar aquí, con tu hogar".
