Claim: Taylor Kitsch is a performer.

Battleship is a 2012 American military science fiction action film about a first encounter with aliens in a naval conflict context . The title refers to the ` hero ' of the film , the iconic but mothballed World War II battleship USS Missouri , and her bewhiskered crew , and indicates the film 's concept based loosely on the Battleship board game . Filming took place in Hawaii and on the USS Missouri . It was released by Universal Pictures , directed by Peter Berg and starred actor Taylor Kitsch .