I guess it would be too much to ask that it be historically accurate.
I watched Tora, Tora, Tora, last night. A good but not great movie. It did strike me as being right on the money unlike the recent “Pearl Harbor” movie.
I have watched Tora Tora Tora about a dozen times, second only to a great western, The Outlaw Josey Wales which I have watched 15 times or so.
I agree with your observation that it is a good movie. The actors played the actual participants in the Attack.
As an aside there are a lot of Josey Wales fans at FR.
We once had a series of posts about how many times Josey spit tobacco on his dog! :) I was off by one.
I am hoping it is at least somewhat historically accurate. I am willing to forgive some literary license in the pursuit of good story telling as long as it is overall true to history. I mean we know the history of Catherine the Great but what was said and done in private, behind closed doors, as in any historical movie or novel, is always pure conjecture. But I will watch it hoping it is well done. Helen Mirren is an amazing actor. I’ve loved her since Excalibur and her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and as the older Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth I and of course in Prime Suspect. She was also a complete bad ass in Red and Red II.
I love history but so few movies get it right.
For anyone interested there is a YouTube channel History Buffs. It is hosted by a Brit, Nick Hodges and he reviews movies for historical accuracy. While I don’t agree with every review in every aspect, overall he does a very good job.
For instance, he absolutely loves, loves, loves Master and Commander as do I and has nothing but high praise for Gettysburg and The Ghost And The Darkness and Apollo 13, but hated Braveheart and truth be told, so did I because it was just so historically inaccurate.