James Cameron has given us some fantastic science fiction blockbusters There is his Alien sequel and the first two Terminator films, not to mention the box office high-flyer Avatar. Since the late 1990s, the visionary filmmaker has been working on a similarly ambitious project: Alita: Battle Angel.
Based on the manga of the same name, this is an exciting story about the relationship between Man and machine in a dystopian world – the perfect Cameron material. Nevertheless, Alita: Battle Angel languished in development hell for almost two decades. When the film finally hit theaters in 2019, the box office did not meet the studio’s expectations.
Alita: Battle Angel: A great science fiction film
With a budget of 200 million US dollars, Alita: Battle Angel only managed to earn around 400 million US dollars worldwide. That is of course a lot of money, but clearly not enough for a science fiction blockbuster of this magnitude, especially since Alita: Battle Angel should start a whole franchiseBut please don’t let that put you off: the film is absolutely brilliant!
You can watch the trailer for Alita: Battle Angel here:
Alita: Battle Angel – Trailer 2 (German) HD
The story takes us to the year 2563, 300 years after a devastating event known as the “Great War”. The world as we know it no longer exists in Alita: Battle Angel. Here, the rich have fled to clinical sky cities and the poor live on the polluted surface of the earth, where the unusable remains those castles in the air are unloaded.
Alita, Scrap Heap and the legendary Motorball
In one of these scrap heaps, scientist Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) finds the Remains of a cyborgwhich he takes home and patches back together. At that moment, Alita (Rosa Salazar) is born and an exciting science fiction adventure begins – including one of the most powerful action scenes to be seen on the big screen in recent years.
Within the Alita universe there exists a Racing called Motorballwhich is a mixture of baseball and Formula 1. In a gigantic stadium, cyborgs race through a labyrinthine track and try to get each other out of the way. Alita also takes part in one of these races. It is a sequence full of breathtaking movements and unleashed energy.
20th Century Studios
Alita: Battle Angel
Alita: Battle Angel impresses with its magnificent special effects, which catapult us directly into this fascinating and dangerous world. The most astonishing effect, however, is not specifically connected to an action scene, but runs through the entire film. It is the huge eyes of Alita – the most lively digital eyes since Gollum in The Lord of the Rings.
Alita: Battle Angel and a look into the soul of a cyborg
On set, Rosa Salazar wore a motion capture suit so that all of her movements could be recorded and later edited on the computer. Alita is therefore an exciting mixture of man and machine, and not only in the film. Creation of the figure combines Salazar’s acting with the possibilities of digital technology. In the eyes, both halves merge perfectly.
Alita: Battle Angel gives us a glimpse into the soul of the titular cyborg and cleverly grounds the great sci-fi spectacle in interpersonal moments. Along with the bombast, there are many inconspicuous moments full of precious discoveries, especially when Alita gets to enjoy oranges and chocolate. That is just as phenomenal as the breathless Motorball.
Sci-Fi epic: When is Alita: Battle Angel on TV? Alita: Battle Angel is on tonight on July 19, 2024 at 10:25 p.m. on ProSieben. The broadcast will run with advertising until 00:55. The repeat will follow on the night from Sunday to Monday at 01:30. Alternatively, you can watch the film on Disney+ with a streaming subscription.
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