Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas

We had been filming for several weeks on an aircraft carrier alongside thousands of young people trained to do difficult and dangerous jobs. I was deeply moved by their skill and commitment, their raw courage. I wanted to do something very special to honor them, so they could send their families to the IMAX theatre to show them what an incredible job they are doing. But I wasn’t exactly sure at first how to focus the film as there had been an awful lot of aircraft carrier films made in the past.

Luckily, our ship’s exercises were in preparation for “Rim of the Pacific” naval exercises off Hawaii. One way or the other, it was not going to be just another carrier film. There were fifty-five ships from twenty-seven nations; two hundred aircraft; twenty-five thousand sailors and pilots participating in the month long operation—the single largest military exercise on earth. At some point, all the ships were assembled into a giant armada, lined up into long rows sailing closely together. I was given four navy helicopters to use for nine hours to film this incredible spectacle. Quite the honor.

Very few people have ever witnessed such a thing from the air. Within the first few seconds, as we climbed off the carrier, the film came into sharp focus for me. This stunning canvas sprawled before us evoked surprising emotions, inspired by scenes I had only read about.

With a little imagination and some squinting, what lay below could have been a merchant convoy in the North Atlantic about to encounter a pack of U boats; or the Battle of Midway in the Pacific; perhaps Jutland, Trafalgar or the Battle of Salamis or Actium in the Mediterranean. Rim of the Pacific was the modern metamorphosis of the great battles of naval history.

I wanted to fit Rim Pac into the context of the great battles of world history. First of all, for the thousands of people who laboured on these ships and secondly, for their families and friends, to help them feel emotionally what I felt in that helicopter. To better appreciate the sacrifices that young people make (and always have) for their families and countries. And finally, for the general public who must finance these great ships and aircraft and elect leaders wise enough to use them only as deterrents.

Rim of the Pacific may evoke what we now see as the heroic, romantic past. But there is nothing romantic about the weapons on the ships of modern navies.

And that is a message none of us should be allowed to forget.