The sequence of the Missouri awakening is the film’s undeniable masterpiece. A retired veteran, who served on the ship in the 1980s, sneaks aboard to help. As the alien warships close in, the veterans start the engines. The camera pans over the massive 16-inch (406 mm) guns. An old sailor, played by real-life veteran and actor Gregory D. Gadson (an Army colonel who lost both legs in Iraq), orders: "Load the guns."
After the modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS John Paul Jones and USS Sampson are sunk by alien projectiles, the surviving crew—led by Hopper and a group of scrappy veterans—must find a way to fight back. Their solution? Reactivate the Missouri , a decommissioned museum ship moored at Pearl Harbor.
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. Battleship -2012-2012
For five uninterrupted minutes, Battleship stops being a board game adaptation and becomes a love letter to naval history. The Missouri ’s nine Mark 7 guns swivel and fire. The shells—weighing as much as a small car—fly in slow motion. The aliens do not know what hit them. It is loud, patriotic, and genuinely moving. If you watch the film for one reason, it is to see a World War II veteran cry as he fires a gun he last touched forty years ago. Let us address the most surprising element: Rihanna. The pop superstar made her feature film acting debut as Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, a weapons specialist. Critics expected a disaster. What they got was a surprisingly stoic, physically capable performance. Rihanna underwent three months of Navy SEAL training for the role. Her line, "I ain’t no fucking singer, I’m a gunner," became an instant meme. Within the context of "Battleship -2012-2012" , her performance remains a fascinating curio—a pop star who took the role deadly seriously while the script frequently devolved into silliness.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go watch the Missouri ’s big guns fire on a loop. You sunk our pride, aliens. But you didn’t sink our battleship. Battleship -2012-2012, USS Missouri, Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna Battleship, Peter Berg, alien invasion naval film, board game adaptation. The sequence of the Missouri awakening is the
Why excluding the year reveals the true story of Hollywood’s most expensive board game adaptation.
The core mechanic of the game is blind deduction. There are no characters, no story, no conflict beyond a grid. Screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber faced a Sisyphean task: turn "You sunk my cruiser!" into a two-hour alien invasion epic. The camera pans over the massive 16-inch (406 mm) guns
It also predicted the rise of "veteran-led action." The climax where elderly veterans take control of the Missouri feels prescient in a post- Top Gun: Maverick world (which, ironically, was delayed for years). Battleship walked so Top Gun: Maverick could run. By searching for "Battleship -2012-2012" , you are performing a critical act of media archaeology. You are saying: I don't care when it came out. Tell me what it is.