Battleship (2012 film)

In 2005, NASA discovers an extrasolar planet with conditions similar to Earth. On the chance that it contains intelligent life, NASA transmits a powerful signal from a communications array in Hawaii, which will be boosted by a satellite in orbit. Around the same time, the talented but undisciplined slacker Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) attempts to impress a woman by getting her a chicken burrito, the result of which sees Alex breaking into a convenience store and being tasered by the police. The woman is Samantha Shane (Brooklyn Decker), daughter of United States Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson), who in turn is the superior of Commander Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgard), Alex's older brother. Fed up and infuriated at Alex for lack of motivation and possibly ruining his own career, Stone forces him to join the United States Navy. By 2012, Alex is a lieutenant and the Tactical Action Officer aboard the Arleigh Burke class flight I destroyer USS John Paul Jones, while Stone is the commanding officer of USS Sampson. Alex is also in a committed relationship with Samantha and wants to marry her, but is afraid to ask her father for permission. During the opening ceremony for the RIMPAC naval exercises, Alex brawls with Japanese officer Captain Nagata (Tadanobu Asano), the latest in a string of incidents that could result in his discharge at the end of RIMPAC. Meanwhile, Samantha, a physical therapist, accompanies retired Army veteran and amputee Mick Canales (Gregory D. Gadson) on a hike on Oahu to help him adapt to his prosthetic legs. Five alien ships arrive in response to the NASA signal. One ship collides with an orbital satellite and crashes in Hong Kong, while four others land in the water near Hawaii. Sampson, John Paul Jones, and the JMSDF Kongo class destroyer Myōkō investigate, but are trapped when one of the ships erects an impenetrable force field around the Hawaiian islands. The destroyers attempt to establish contact, but the aliens open fire in response to a warning shot fired by the American destroyers: Sampson and Myōkō are destroyed, killing Stone Hopper. John Paul Jones is damaged with the commanding and executive officers killed. Initially attached to Sampson, Alex, who was one of the few out to take a closer look at the alien vessels, now boards John Paul Jones and takes command as the most senior officer left on the ship. Although initially wanting to attack the alien ships in retaliation for his brother's death, Alex is persuaded by other crew members to break off from attacking and to instead recover survivors from Myōkō, with Captain Nagata among them. This act prompts the aliens to call off another attack. Since the barrier prevents the use of radar and sonar, Nagata reveals that they can use tsunami warning buoys around Hawaii to track the alien vessels' movements. During a night-time battle, the aliens and the humans exchange pot shots, with the John Paul Jones sinking two alien ships but unable to lock onto the third. An alien soldier is recovered from the water; from the brief contact with the alien, the humans determine that the aliens are very sensitive to sunlight. Alex uses his ship to lure the alien vessel close to shore, where he and Nagata shoot out its bridge windows at sunrise, then the John Paul Jones proceeds to fire at the alien vessel with full force. Both ships are destroyed in the ensuing battle. Because the ship that crashed in Hong Kong was their communications ship, the aliens take over the NASA array and begin modifying it to signal their home planet. Samantha and Mick avoid detection and run into a fleeing NASA scientist. Believing that a larger invasion might be imminent, the scientist acquires a radio which Samantha uses to warn Alex of the aliens' plans to use the NASA device as a means of communicating with their home planet to call in more troops. Alex had planned to destroy the NASA array with his ship, but since the John Paul Jones has been destroyed, the survivors are forced to return to base and acquire the only available naval vessel, the USS Missouri. Although a museum ship, Alex and his crew are able to reactivate the Missouri with the aid of the retired veterans preserving her. The battleship engages the alien ship and destroys its barrier but ends up with only one high-explosive shell remaining. Alex uses the last remaining shell to fire on the NASA array to prevent the aliens from using the NASA array to communicate with their home planet. The last remaining alien ship fires at the defenseless Missouri, but before the Missouri is destroyed by alien fire, jet fighters from the RIMPAC fleet (which Admiral Shane ordered into flight to attack the alien ships as soon as the barrier fell) arrive and eliminate the alien fire and the alien ship. The NASA array explodes, destroying the aliens attempting to use the NASA array, and the aliens' equipment. Back on shore, the naval personnel, along with Mick, are honored for their actions in defeating the aliens. After the ceremony, Alex asks Admiral Shane for his daughter's hand in marriage; the admiral refuses, but invites him to talk about the matter. In a post-credits scene set in rural Scotland, three school children and a handyman break open a car-sized object that has apparently fallen from the sky. They run off in terror after seeing an alien hand reach out and grab the opening.