Even though it has a blockbuster Hollywood cast, the biggest star of the movie "Aloha" might be Hickam Field.

Nearly half of the motion picture starring Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin was shot at the 2,850-acre military base that is headquarters for the Pacific Air Forces, 13th Air Force and the 15th Wing.

The romantic comedy, which opened Friday, follows a military contractor (Cooper) who returns for a job in Hawaii only to have his heartstrings pulled between his former girlfriend (McAdams), the wife of a C-17 pilot, and a new interest (Stone), an Air Force captain and fighter pilot assigned to babysit him.

During filming in late 2013, the production shot scenes in numerous locales on the base and employed lots of off-duty military personnel as extras. Director Cameron Crowe also used an F-22 Raptor fighter jet and a C-17 cargo plane as props, albeit in stationary, nonactive duty only.

In doing so, Stone accomplished a feat never done before. The actress became the first person not an official pilot or mechanic to be permitted into the cockpit of an F-22, America’s top fighter jet. Permission for that scene took three months to secure in a request that went all the way up the chain of command to the office of the secretary of the defense.

"It was worth it," said Air Force Master Sgt. Chris Stagner, the military adviser on the film. "That scene shows a generation of young ladies some amazing technology and that they, too, can grow up to do whatever they want to do."

For security reasons, the cockpit of the jet was "sanitized" while Stone was in the cockpit, Stagner said. Exactly what was done to modify the instrument panel or controls isn’t known.

"I wasn’t allowed in the cockpit, either," said Stagner, who works in the secretary of the Air Force’s Entertainment Liaison Office.

Before boarding the fighter jet, he said, the actress received special training on how to get in and out of the aircraft using proper Air Force protocol.

In a statement released by the production, Stone was quoted saying one of her fondest memories of her time shooting the movie was getting to meet and work with members of the U.S. military.

"They were just so warm and welcoming," she said. "They were really excited that we were shooting on their base. I got to know some members of the Air Force and it was incredibly inspiring. They’re also the best people to be in a scene with — they go from zero to 60 in a second and back again. It was incredible to see that kind of discipline."

Krasinski, who played a C-17 pilot, prepared for his role by attending flight simulator training sessions with Maj. Chris Ross, a C-17 pilot who appears in a scene with the actor.

Stagner said many of the films his office is asked to support are "boys, toys and noise" movies and war movies.

"This movie has a deeper story," he said. "It’s not just about blowing up things."

As an adviser, Stagner said, he doesn’t interfere with a director’s artistic license, and a few military inaccuracies ended up in the final cut. But one thing Crowe didn’t have any problem accurately portraying, he said, was military home life and the marital and family struggles that can sometimes occur from separation during deployment.

Krasinski’s character, Woody Woodside, is named for former C-17 pilot Woody Woodrows, whom Crowe met on the base back in 2006 while he was researching military family life for the movie. Crowe spent time with Woodrows and his family in their Hickam home.

In a gesture of appreciation, the director named his characters after the family members and gave them similar jobs and ages — although the characters are entirely fictional and the relationships between them are Crowe’s own creation, according to the production.

The traditional neighborhood where the Woodside family resides was filmed at Hickam Field’s historic Fort Kamehameha housing development, a neighborhood of Craftsman-styled houses located on two tree-lined streets near the water. The ramshackle neighborhood was originally built as Navy housing in 1916 but was fully abandoned by 2008 with many of the houses boarded up.

Stagner said the filmmakers restored one of the houses to serve as the Woodside home and brought to life the surrounding lawns and trees.

It wasn’t an easy task. It took two months of growing grass and sprucing up the gardens to get the neighborhood in proper shape, and they hired an archaeologist to monitor the work in case they uncovered bones. For the Woodside house, a historical architect oversaw construction and other modifications, including replacing the cabinetry.

The office of Alec Baldwin’s character, Gen. Dixon, was filmed in the actual headquarters office of Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, the former commander of Pacific Air Forces and highest-ranking officer at Hickam at the time. The office featured the general’s own decor.

The movie also features scenes at Hickam’s historic Officers’ Club and Koa Lounge, where base personnel are known to drink, socialize and play the billiards-like game of Crud, which is popular in the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

Stagner said there were multiple casting calls on the base to secure several hundred background performers — and inactive or off-duty personnel, plus their spouses and kids, populated many scenes.

"We were filming a movie that is in some ways about the Air Force and everyday life in the Air Force, and I think they were happy to be a part of that," production designer Clay Griffith said.