Key climactic moments:
The "old men" who help the crew in the final battle were actually retired US Navy personnel who served on the USS Missouri during its years of service. Battleship -2012-2012
It began on a routine Pacific training exercise, June 7, 2012. The USS Missouri , a relic from a war his grandfather fought in, was being towed to its final resting place in Pearl Harbor. Cruz, a young naval officer with a chip on his shoulder, watched the old battleship’s gray hull slide past his destroyer. “Goodbye, old girl,” he muttered. Key climactic moments: The "old men" who help
The year was 2012—not once, but twice. At least, that’s how Lieutenant Alex Cruz would remember it for the rest of his haunted life. Cruz, a young naval officer with a chip
The result was audacious. Instead of a period naval drama, Battleship became a modern-day Independence Day on the high seas. The plot involves NASA scientists (in a prologue that feels like a different movie) sending a signal to a planet in the Gliese 581 system. That planet, it turns out, is inhabited by hostile aliens who send five warships to Earth. They land in the Pacific Ocean during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise near Hawaii.
Ultimately, Battleship is a cultural punching bag that deserves a second look not as a “good” film, but as an effective one within its narrow, niche context. It failed at the box office, effectively killing any chance for a Hasbro “cinematic universe” (which would have included Candy Land and Ouija spin-offs). In doing so, it became a cautionary tale about the limits of brand adaptation. However, judged on its own terms, Battleship is a triumph of high-concept, low-expectation cinema. It is a film that understands exactly what it is: a loud, proud, and visually inventive tribute to the game of guessing where the other guy’s fleet is hidden. It may not be a classic, but for those willing to lower their periscopes and engage on its level, Battleship offers a surprisingly enjoyable voyage—a stormy, illogical, but never boring trip through the summer blockbuster season’s most fascinating wreckage.