The Battle for L.A. is the latest documentary from director Darren Doane. Not a name you're likely to have heard before, as the most mainstream of his projects have been music videos for Blink 182. However, Doane switches genres here, as he takes a look at the underground world of battle rap. That should tell you right there if you'll be interested in reading further.

Anyway, there's not a terrible lot of detail on here---both in the main feature itself and the overall promotion of it. I couldn't dig up tons of background info (heck, it's not even listed on his filmography at the Internet Movie Database), so I'll be brief. Basically, while the effort wasn't half bad, this just screamed "cash in on the success of 8 Mile". There might be some that would argue that assumption, but you'll probably agree if you check this out. Basically, there's little more here than typical documentary footage---no voice-over narraration, no background story---just the footage itself. While that may be acceptable in some cases, it seems a little thrown-together here. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the footage is pretty entertaining, but it won't really tell you anything new. The main feature's brisk running time of under an hour doesn't allow enough time to really go as "in-depth" as the packaging would have you believe. In fact, nowhere on the packaging is any indication of the brief running time...hopefully that was more of a simple oversight than a cover-up.

Most of the rappers, dancers, and other folks on this documentary are very talented---there's a few scenes that you'll want to rewind---but, once again, there's simply not enough material here to place The Battle for L.A. high on your list. I wasn't bored during the presentation, but it never really challenged me, or made me want to learn more about the subject matter. It wasn't a terrible documentary, just a little thin. Still, fans of the genre will want to check this out and decide for themselves, but it didn't convince me that this battle was an important one.

This new DVD might be a little hard to find, making it even tougher to recommend. Incidentally, it carries the tagline Footsoldiers Vol. 1, so this may be a continuing saga. It comes to us from the good folks at Ventura / Redline Entertaiment, and proves to be little more than an average release for the genre. Here's the details, yo:

Video:
As with most documentaries, the video quality is a mixed bag. The Battle for L.A. is presented in 1.33:1 (as far as I know, the original aspect ratio), and looks decent. The footage was shot on camcorder (both regular and digital), and looks clean and clear for most of the daytime footage. The problem is, a good bit of this was also shot at night, which can be a bit on the grainy side. Occasionally, the green "night-time lighting" is used, not unlike the infamous Paris Hilton video which I may or may not have seen recently. For the most part, the video is good and shouldn't prove to be unwatchable, especially given the gritty subject matter.

Audio:
The audio fares slighty worse here, presented in 2.0 stereo. Seeing as how this documentary focuses on words and music, you'd expect a quality sound presentation. The problem is, a lot of the voices and raps sound a bit on the muffled side. I know the situations didn't warrant studio-quality sound---most of these were recorded on the fly---but some words are a little hard to make out. Subtitles would have really helped, but unfortunately weren't included. Overall, this isn't the worst audio presentation around, but it could have been much better.

Extras:
Extras a a little thin, especially given the main feature's short running time. The only bonus features basically consist of extra battles and other footage, and runs under 15 minutes. Not much to choose from, but the extra footage itself isn't half bad.

Menu design and presentation:
The menu designs were pretty good---better than I expected, in fact. They have a gritty feel and fit the subject matter well. Appropriate music also plays in the background, and really makes for a nice presentation. Although this only counts for a small portion of the release itself, it was nice to see some effort in this department. The packaging itself was similar to the menus, but sadly no insert is included here. Oh well...there probably wasn't too much more to explain anyway.

There should have been more meat to this release. The footage itself is good, but it could have been more in-depth. Some of these artists may have a future in the music business, so it would have nice to see more of what goes on behind the scenes. Too much of music in general is all show and no realism, so I would have liked to see more stories about the artists themselves...not just their "stage attitudes". Still, it's much more honest than most of what passes for MTV programming. In any case, there should have at least been optional subtitles, as indicated in the Audio section above.

This wasn't a bad release, but there's not enough meat here to earn a solid recommendation. The Battle for L.A. does a decent job of presenting the information, but seems to be holding back in some respects. I'd advise any interested parties to Rent It first, as this one really isn't worth a blind purchase unless you're a die-hard fan. If battle rap isn't of any interest to you at all, I really doubt The Battle for L.A. will change your mind.