American Warships is a 2012 science fiction war film directed by Thunder Levin and distributed by The Asylum. It premiered on the Syfy Channel on May 15, 2012. In the tradition of The Asylum's film catalog, the film is an extremely low-budget mockbuster of the Hasbro Studios/Universal Pictures film Battleship.[1]
| American Warships | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Thunder Levin |
| Written by | Thunder Levin |
| Produced by | |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Stuart Brereton |
| Edited by | Karl Armstrong |
| Music by | Chris Ridenhour |
| Distributed by | The Asylum |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,000,000 |
Originally the film was titled American Battleship, but Universal later involved The Asylum in a copyright lawsuit over the film due to its resemblance to their film.[2] As a result of the controversy, the name of the film was changed to American Warships.
Plot
editUSS Iowa is on its final voyage before being decommissioned and turning into a floating museum. When USS Enterprise is attacked and destroyed by a mysterious force, World War III looms. The captain of Iowa chases an invisible ship, which they discover to be an alien force waging war on Earth. Only the crew of this last American battleship stands in their way.[3] (The Iowa's outdated technology is immune to the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons of the alien.)
During the fight, in Washington, D.C., General McKraken attempts to steer the high stake game of brinkmanship between the U.S. and other world powers as several coast towns in North Korea were also attacked, in an apparent attempt by the aliens to get the world to destroy itself. McKraken's diplomatic efforts attempt to buy Iowa time to provide proof of the alien incursion.
Cast
edit- Mario Van Peebles as Captain Winston
- Carl Weathers as General McKraken
- Elijah Chester as Secretary of Defense Alter
- Johanna Watts as Lt. Caroline Bradley
- Nikki McCauley as Julia Flynn
- Devin McGhee as Lt. Cmdr. Juarez
- Mandela Van Peebles as Lookout Dunbar
- Josh Cohen as Weapons Officer Clancy
- David Polinsky as Admiral Hollis
- William Sudbrock as Helmsman
- Robin Dale Robertson as Major
Reception
editThe Geek Twins rated the film 2 1/2 out of five stars.[3]
References
edit- ^ Anything Horror – The Asylum Answers Battleship with Their American Battleship... and Guess Who Has the Better Cast??
- ^ Patten, Dominic. "'American Battleship' Lawsuit – Global Asylum Thanks Universal For It". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "A Review Of The Other Battleship Movie 'American Warships' [Review]". thegeektwins.com. May 21, 2012.