Posted on 11/08/2019 10:58:08 PM PST by 11th_VA
Imagine, you know someone who doesn’t know anything about WW2, and you had to explain how the US was attacked at Pearl Harbor, the significance of Doolittle’s raid, the odds the US was up against the Japanese, how Intel helped us win the battle of Midway, and just how crazy, non-politically correct, and determined the Greatest Generation was - all in 2 hours.
That’s the movie Midway in a nutshell.
“They Shall Not Grow Old” was stunning. It is being re-released in December for 3 special showings, to commemorate its 1-year anniversary. I’m going to see it again.
“The Cold Blue” was superb too. It was made from restored footage shot by William Wyler, who with his film crew flew with the 8th Air Force, and produced the Memphis Belle documentary in WW2. Current interviews and interactions with veterans of the 8th Air Force play a large role in the movie as well. You can see “The Cold Blue” on HBO.
My last was overcomer. It was incredibly good. Watch that in Blu-ray or any platform. It’s the best film of 2019 easily.
” it’s a story the young folks today need to hear”
But they won’t. Unless it has zombies, vampires, or similar evil entities, they won’t bother going.
I couldn't stomach it.
“At the end of WW I, the Germans felt like they were being punished for starting the war....”
“If the Allies had enforced the rules of the Versailles Treaty as soon as Hitler had increased his army, WW 2 would not have happened....”
“The Germans were only taking the land that had been taken from them after WW 1.....”
Not hard to imagine. You're talking about the average recent high school graduate.
Just out of curiosity, did the movie include any mention of the Thatch Weave?
“I think it should be shown in high schools all over America”
LOL! Like THAT’s going to happen. It’s too “America first”, and we can’t have that.
Woody is 58 and playing the part of Nimitz, who was 56 at Midway. I’m always amazed at how young most of those guys were. In my mind I imagine the actors like John Wayne and others playing those roles in the old movies. Or my old man - but in my mind he was ALWAYS old. Not 24 when he signed up.
Average age in WW2 was 26. In Vietnam it was 19.
Whenever I reference something about WW II I use the term “Japs”. A modern reference to them I use Japanese.
e.g. “It is amazing to me how we fought to death with the Japs, and now the Japanese our among our best of allies.”
That movie “They Shall Not Grow Old” about WWI was made in conjunction with additional materials to be shown in schools in England.
That was an amazing film - and the amount of detail they put into it.
I am hoping for further shows. They processed all of the old film into black and white. Then realized that they could only focus on one aspect of the war. So they picked the army.
There are still hundreds of hours of naval, air, domestic and manufacturing films that they could go through and turn into movies.
Looks amazing (((Ping)))
None of tell me how it ends.
I recall seing trailers for it while I was at the theater, and thought it would be good to see. We just never got around to it.
Rotten Tomatoes can be a fun site for reviews.
Midway was given a 40% by critics, 91% by audience scoring.
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That sort of critical split between the elites and the public is telling. Trust the public.
My general rule about movies is that if the critics pan it I will enjoy it.
I think it also had sort of a limited time for seeing it in the theaters. I sent my daughter in college some money for her and a friend to go see it. My son wasn’t too interested in it until he found out the producer of “Lord of the Rings” produced it. My son said his favorite part was at the end of the film when they are explaining how they did all the technical aspects. (That was my favorite too - simply amazing!)
The amount of detail the producer went into. Some commandeer is giving a speech to his troops. (The original film is all silent).
One example recalling from memory:
“So we knew from the patches that they are the 4th regiment from Scotland. So I went to the 4th Regiment archives and figured the speech must have been given in the spring of 1916. All the stuff is there by date. I’m going through and find a piece of paper about the size of what is in the commander’s hand.
So I read it aloud into my phone, and send it to the crew. They track it with the film and think it might be a match. The following day they get a Scot to read it with his accent - and it’s a match. So that piece of paper in the film is the same one I found in the archives. The Scot also does the reading in the film so we have the right accent.”
It was that level of detail throughout the film.
“They allowed us to record at the artillery training grounds in New Zealand. We had our sound equipment sitting on various hills and would record the sounds of the artilary passing overhead during their training exercises.”
Thanks very much for this headsup.
Saw “They Shall Not Grow Old”. It was EXCELLENT!
But now can’t wait to see Midway. Grew up watching Victory at Sea and Navy Log, and read many books about the Second World War
Breaks my heart to see how much the descendants of the “greatest generation” have come to be so scornful of their own country, and those who honor patriotism!
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