When the US Navy's top brass decides to sit across a boardroom table from Hollywood mogul types to collaborate on a project, the results have been pretty noteworthy.
For 1988's Top Gun, Hollywood was given unprecedented access to Naval assets including carrier groups, air bases, and, of course, aircraft. Pertinent actors also received extensive training in multiple aspects of Naval aviation, including envious amounts of flight time in the cockpits of F-14 fighters.
Hollywood bankrolled the costs of certain filming sequences. Mainly, these were aerial combat scenes, but there was one exception. This shot had an F-14 on deck and backlit by the sun. When the captain ordered a change in course, it ruined the spectacular lighting the director was trying to capture. When he requested that the captain resume his original heading, the skipper, predictably, laughed. He explained a course change for the massive vessel would cost the taxpayers $25,000. The story was the director paid out of pocket in order to get the iconic shot.
In the end, Hollywood had a blockbuster, earning $357 million on a $15 million budget. For its part, Naval Aviation got a 500% jump in recruitment.
To see if lightning would strike twice, the Navy threw its support behind 1990's The Hunt for Red October. Once again, tight collaboration produced a thoroughly engrossing thriller that reaped dividends.
It was another Hollywood blockbuster, earning $200 million on a $30 million dollar budget. Apart from the recruitment boost similar to Top Gun, the Navy was able to showcase the capabilities and technical prowess of the crews of the secretive submarine service.
2012's Battleship was different. Rather than taking on Soviet era adversaries, this movie took on alien invaders. The hero vessel was none other than the storied battleship, USS Missouri (BB63). While it didn't bomb at the box office, it barely broke even, making back $303 million from a budget of $220 million. In spite of the less than stellar box office performance, this holds a special place for me because who doesn't want to see the battleship Missouri cutting through the water at flank speed and firing a full broadside in anger? And did I mention AC/DC provides the soundtrack?
If this movie wasn't enough to sate your need for a "Mighty Mo" fix, to quote Master Yoda, "There is another." In this instance, Missouri has a role on the "small" screen.
Cher released the single, "If I Could Turn Back Time", in 1989. It went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and finished the year in the number 21 spot. Lyrically, the song is an apology to an ex-lover for unfortunate words and actions during their relationship. For reasons known only to artistic types, it was decided that the best showcase for this plot line in the accompanying video was the deck of none other than the Missouri.
Unfortunately, no broadsides were fired during the video. What it did have was a very large complement of sailors and their very real reactions to Cher and her bombshell wardrobe. Collaboration with the Navy brass was not as tight on this production as Cher's costume choice caught Navy officials off guard. Apparently, the expectation was her attire was going to be along the lines of Navy-type coveralls. I mean, have you met Cher?
For her part, Cher enjoyed the interactions with the sailors during the shoot. Her only reported quibble with the experience was they all kept calling her "Ma'am."
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