[US Navy Vet]

I thought that this Midway Move was MUCH better that the 1976 Midway Movie.

[US Navy Vet]

Thoughts..

[setter]

From previews and trailers the CGI anti aircraft fire looked overdone.

[Gay State Conservative]

I have a good friend who's Korean. Stories he's told me...combined with many other things I've seen,heard and read...indicate that the Japanese richly deserved to be demonized

[vigilence]

This is the first movie I can recall where they mentioned Japan’s failure to destroy our oil reserves on Hawaii as being a major issue. Had they done so it would have given them an additional year to further expand and consolidate their control in the Pacific and directly threaten our West Coast and the Panama Canal before we could redeploy resources from the East Coast. The domino effect would have jeopardized our support for England and delayed a second front with the potential to force Stalin to make another deal with Hitler. So this failure was huge.

[TomServo]

I just couldn’t stand the Heston version. Blechhh...

[FlipWilson]

I saw it the first night out and was wondering why I had not seen a Freeper comment on it.

I could not believe what I was seeing. A movie, from Hollywood, that was straight forward patriotic, celebrating courage and raw masculinity of the American Fighting MAN without somehow injecting a “woke” aspect to the film. What?!?! I kept expecting the other shoe to drop. It never did. Man, someone in Hollyweird is getting canned or banned over this one.

Overall I found the movie to be the kind of entertainment that I used to enjoy in movies. From a historical accuracy standpoint, it left some things out. I would have liked Thatch to have had a role in the movie since his fighter tactics were so innovative.

Having said that, it had to cram a lot of history into two hours (Pearl-Doolittle-Coral-Sea-Midway) and I understood why some of the detail had to make the cutting room floor. But what it did tell was very accurate. The casting was good (Harelson as Nimitz was weird. Half expected ole Chester to break out the bong). But still, Woody did a good job.

[LS]

Thanks much. Looking forward to seeing this.

BTW, you would like my book “Halsey’s Bluff.” It’s a counterfactual where the Japanese win the battle of Midway, seek to envelop Halsey’s carriers (yes, Halsey, not Spruance in my book) and all hell breaks loose.

https://www.amazon.com/Halseys-Bluff-Larry-Schwweikart/dp/0996365737/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Halsey%27s+Bluff&qid=1573396620&sr=8-1

[SkyDancer]

It was mentioned that the fighting was individual rather than a continuing action; in the actual battle it was continually ongoing. See:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo

[TXnMA]

Saw it yesterday, too (82nd birthday present). Studied the battle in detail, well in advance -- including good timeline videos. Was able to pick out each flight (Midway and carrier-based) and, follow it to its conclusion -- but, it wasn't easy. (As expected, the drama didn't maintain a consistent orientation WRT N-S, but the movements of ships and planes appeared to be authentic.

IMO, the vertical dives onto the carriers overemphasized the concentration of AA fire/tracers -- but, I never dive-bombed a carrier, either. I did, however, apprectiate the faithful depiction of how ineffective the torpedo attacks were, versus how a few dive bombers devastated the carriers (due to penetration into fuel / ordnance-loaded hangar decks.

In particular, I found the carrier-deck depictions to be outstanding -- even down to the quivering RF antennas on the planes.

Like others, I was disappointed in the cursory coverage of the Yorktown, and felt the antiquated nature of the Buffalos and Wildcats from Midway was glossed-over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

All in all, though, simply making such a complex 4-D melee was extremely difficult; I felt they did about as comprehensible presentation of it as could be expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bottom line: Good Movie! I'll buy the DVD/Blu-Ray when it's available -- so I can study the overwhelming details.

TXnMA
  

[big'ol_freeper]

I’m looking forward to seeing it.

[romanesq]

“I thought that this Midway Move was MUCH better that the 1976 Midway Movie. “

Cool.

[lodi90]

Awesome to hear it’s good. I was dreading another Hollywood WW2 fubar. Going to go see it today with my family.

[Coronal]

As I understand it, the post-Marshalls scene where Bruno Gaido shot down an attacking bomber from the backseat of his plane aboard the Enterprise actually happened. It seems like the kind of thing that would have been fabricated to pump up the drama, but it was real.

[seawolf101]

[Fiji Hill]

I thought the 1976 movie would have been one of the greatest war movies of all time but for the attempt to turn it into a chick flick by inserting a soap-opera subplot.

[Kickass Conservative]

Hard to believe the same Roland Emmerich guy who Directed this made that stupid Climate Change Movie and destroyed his own Independence Day Franchise with that idiotic Sequel.

Come to think of it, even Ridley Scott screwed the pooch with his last two Alien themed Movies. James Cameron wrapped it up so well with Aliens.

[IndispensableDestiny]

Was kind of disappointed the they didn't cover the Sinking of the USS Yorktown very much.

Probably because she didn't sink until June 7, after taking torpedos on June 6. The last Japanese carriers went down on June 5.

[Cloverfarm]

Glad to read everyone’s thoughts. I think my uncle was on the Yorktown, so wondering if my dad and older brother would like this one.

[W650]

Thank you for posting this, I plan to see the movie.

My father was in the US Navy prior to WWII. He graduated from Pearl Harbor Submarine Base School in Dec of 1940 and was then assigned to the Yorktown. He never talked about it, but how much he loved the Navy.

I went to visit him one night just after he had finished reading Robert Ballard's book on discovering the Yorktown which describes the battle very well in detail. He was choked up and emotional as I had never seen him. He handed the book to me and said to take it and read it. I browsed through it briefly and then ask him about what he did. He said his job was to arm and mount the torpedo to the plane. He knew he was out of a job when most didn't return. He said they lined his group up and ask for volunteers. He said he stepped forward and didn't have any fear while some men prayed and some cried as they knew they were going to be attacked. He said he ended up in the crows nest where they mounted a gun and helped with the ammo, He said one of the Jap planes flew right by them and the men were shaking their fist, yelling and swearing, and as the pilot few by he waved to them.

After Midway he was sent back to the states and assigned to a new destroyer and which was sent to Guadalcanal and was in the pacific for the duration on the war which has a great story in of itself as a highly decorated ship, USS Saufley DD 465.

[blueunicorn6]

The Japanese fighters protecting their fleet were forced into a tough decision.

How many planes should they send down after the American torpedo bombers?