Filming took place primarily in Hawaii and aboard actual U.S. Navy vessels. The production was granted unprecedented access to military assets, shooting on the USS Missouri (now a museum ship at Pearl Harbor) and active destroyers. To ensure realism, director Peter Berg embedded himself with Navy SEALs and visited ships in the Middle East.
Battleship was a critical flop. It holds a 34% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it "loud," "predictable," and a "transformative mess." The common critique was that it felt like a feature-length recruitment video with a generic alien script stapled onto a board game brand. Battleship -2012-2012
Financially, it was considered a disappointment in North America, earning roughly $65 million domestically. However, like many big-budget action films, it was saved by the international market. It grossed over $237 million overseas, pushing its total gross to $303 million worldwide. While this was technically a profit on paper, marketing costs likely meant the film barely broke even or took a loss, effectively killing plans for a franchise. Filming took place primarily in Hawaii and aboard actual U
NASA, using a deep-space communication array on Hawaii, has been sending signals to a planet in the Gliese 581 system. The aliens respond by sending five warships to Earth. They crash into the Pacific near Hong Kong and then head for Hawaii. To ensure realism, director Peter Berg embedded himself
During the RIMPAC exercises, the alien ships arrive, disabling global communications with an energy pulse. The aliens erect a massive, indestructible dome-like force field that traps three U.S. Navy destroyers (USS John Paul Jones, USS Sampson) and one Japanese destroyer (JDS Mikuma) inside Hawaiian waters, cutting them off from the rest of the fleet.
The aliens attack, and Commander Stone Hopper is killed trying to save his crew. Grief-stricken, Alex assumes command of the USS John Paul Jones. The aliens’ technology proves superior – they have shield systems, powerful projectile weapons, and massive rolling “wheel” ships that devastate the Navy vessels.
Inside the dome, help arrives from an unexpected source: the WWII museum battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), which happens to be docked nearby. A group of elderly veterans, led by Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales (a double amputee), volunteer to reactivate the ship.