I’m going either today or monday. My wife even wants to see it. I’m glad to hear they don’t have a sub plot dealing with a love story with a Jap internee. The battle from what I gather turned on an hour window where the Japs were most vulnerable to an air attack. Except for that, it could have turned out differently. Was that portrayed in the movie??
It turned mainly on which fleet spotted the others' carriers first, and got in the first strike. That could have gone either way. The fact that we knew the Japanese were coming and they didn't know we were waiting gave us an edge, but the coin still could easily have landed tails instead of heads.