A batch of photos from the Louisiana set of Jonathan Liebesman’s Battle: Los Angeles have been discovered online. The photo features Aaron Eckhart as a Marine staff sergeant, and was taken on base in Camp Horno in the 53 area of Camp Pendleton on December 17th 2009 by Jonathan Hoffon. For those of you who don’t know, Battle: LA is an alien invasion story, which is presented as an intense real-time war movie from the perspective of a group of Marines. It has been described by some as “Blackhawk Down” meets “Independence Day”. See more from these photos after the jump.

The photo below was taken by manwithscaryspouse (via io9), who said that the “Mushroom cloud of fire” was caused by a bus explosion. The sequence was shot in Shrevesport, LA (the other L.A.) in September, before production switched to “more pyrotechnics in Baton Rouge neighborhoods in October, including  areas downtown, the Perkins Overpass District and the Garden District and City Lake area, where filming under banks of lights lasted into the wee hours of the morning.”

Here is the official plot synopsis:

When unknown forces put the City of Angels under attack, it’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to come to the rescue. As the invasion hits the streets of L.A., the Marines become our first and last line of defense against a highly powerful enemy. Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) and Michael Peña (World Trade Center) co-star alongside an ensemble cast including Ramon Rodriguez and Ne-Yo.

Liebesman is probably best known as the director a couple mediocre horror films, Darkness Falls and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. His single-room thriller, The Killing Room premiered at Sundance in 2009 to mostly positive reviews, and proved to me that he was a talented up-and-coming filmmaker that just hadn’t been given the right opportunity to shine. Could Battle: Los Angeles be a redemption for Liebesman?