Introduction

Battleship is a 2012 American military science fiction action film that is loosely based on the board game of the same name. Filming took place in Hawaii and on USS Missouri. In the film, the crews of a small group of warships are forced to do battle against a naval fleet of extraterrestrial origin in order to thwart their destructive goals.

Outline

In 2006, the distant Gliese planetary system is discovered to have a potentially habitable planet and a communications array is built by NASA in Hawaii to send a transmission to contact any intelligent life. Meanwhile, Alex Hopper is arrested while attempting to impress Sam Shane. His brother, naval officer Stone, forces Alex to join the US Navy in order to improve his life.

In 2012, Alex and Sam are in a relationship; Alex serves as a Tactical Actions Officer as a lieutenant aboard USS John Paul Jones while Stone is the commander aboard USS Sampson, but Alex is in danger of receiving a disciplinary discharge. During the 2012 RIMPAC exercise, five alien spacecraft arrive. Their communications ship collides with a satellite and crashes in Hong Kong while the other four land in the waters off Hawaii. Sampson, John Paul Jones, and their Japanese sister ship JDS Myōkō are ordered by Admiral Terrance Shane to investigate, and they discover a floating structure. When it is touched by Alex it generates a force field that encloses the Hawaiian Islands and separates the three ships from the RIMPAC fleet, and jams all radar and communication equipment in it. Three alien warships surface and in the ensuing engagement, the Sampson and Myōkō are both destroyed, resulting in Stone’s death, while the command crew of John Paul Jones are killed. With Alex assuming command of the ship as the ranking officer, they recover the survivors from Myōkō including its commanding officer, Captain Yugi Nagata. The aliens also launch drones to attack Hawaii which cause heavy damage.

On Oahu, Sam is accompanying retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and double amputee Mick Canales on a mountain hike. After becoming aware of the aliens’ presence, they encounter scientist Cal Zapata who informs them the aliens have taken over the communications array, and Mick determines that they are planning to use it to re-establish military communications with their home planet. Aboard John Paul Jones, naval personnel capture a semi-conscious alien. The alien forms a telepathic link with Alex, showing him their history of destroying worlds. Other aliens arrive and retrieve their comrade, but are prevented from sabotaging the ship. Examination of the captured alien’s helmet reveals the aliens are sensitive to sunlight. Ashore, Sam, Nick and Zapata recover his spectrum analyser from the aliens and they use it to radio John Paul Jones to inform them the aliens intend military telecommunication with their home planet in four hours.

As night falls Captain Nagata suggests to use National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s tsunami warning buoys around Hawaii to track the alien warships. This allows John Paul Jones to destroy two of them. At dawn, they lure the remaining warship eastwards as Alex and Nagata shoot out its bridge windows, blinding its crew and allowing John Paul Jones to destroy it, but John Paul Jones is subsequently sunk by alien drones.

The survivors return to Pearl Harbour and commandeer the previously decommissioned World War II battleship USS Missouri with the aid of the retired veterans preserving her, restoring her to battle readiness and confronting the floating structure, revealed to be a giant mothership. Missouri is able to severely damage the mothership and disable the force field, and Admiral Shane scrambles a flight of Boeing F/A-18 fighter jets from aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Meanwhile, Sam, Mick and Cal attempt to stall the aliens at the communications array. As Alex uses their last shell to destroy the communications array, the foundering mothership launches a trio of drones at the Missouri. Just before impact, the drones are intercepted and destroyed by Australian fighter jets, saving Missouri and eliminating the alien threat.

A ceremony is held to honour the military personnel, where Alex is promoted to lieutenant commander and presented with both a Silver Star and his brother’s posthumous Navy Cross. After the ceremony, Alex asks Sam’s father Admiral Shane for her hand in marriage. The admiral refuses, but shortly after, referencing how Alex and Sam met, invites Alex to lunch to discuss the matter.

In a post-credits scene, three teenagers and a handyman in Scotland discover a crashed alien pod. When they open it, an alien hand reaches out, and they run off in terror.

Trivia & Goofs

• Filming took place in the US on the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Oahu, as well as on the mainland where they had to film a few apartment scenes in Sherman Oaks, California, and they had also filmed a driving scene along with a shootout in Playa del Rey, California.
• Further filming was done on USS Missouri.
• Some scenes were also filmed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• The Science & Entertainment Exchange provided science consultation for the film.
• A Kongō-class destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force also appeared in the film.
• Double amputee US Army Colonel Gregory Gadson, who had never acted before, plays Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales. He was cast after Peter Berg saw a picture of him in the National Geographic Magazine.
• US Navy sailors were used as extras in various parts of this film.
• Sailors from assorted commands in Navy Region Hawaii assisted with line handling to take Missouri in and out of port for a day of shooting in mid 2010.
• A few months later, the production team put out a casting call for sailors stationed at various sea commands at Naval Station Mayport, Florida to serve as extras.
• Sailors were also taken from various ships stationed at Naval Station Mayport, Jacksonville, Florida: USS Hué City, USS Carney and USS Vicksburg were some of the ships that provided sailors.

Production & Filming Details

• Director: Peter Berg.
• Producers: Peter Berg, Brian Goldner, Scott Stuber, Michael Bay, Sarah Aubrey, Duncan Henderson, and Bennett Schneir.
• Writers: Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber.
• Music: Steve Jablonsky.
• Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler.
• Editors: Colby Parker Jr, Billy Rich, and Paul Rubell.
• Production: Hasbro Studios, Bluegrass Films, and Film 44.
• Distributor: Universal Pictures.
• Release Date: 0 April 201 (Tokyo) and 18 May 2012 (US).
• Running Time: 131 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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