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Midway

Discussion in 'Movies' started by Morgotha, Dec 5, 2019.

  1. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    First off, let me say that I'm writing this a couple of weeks after seeing the movie, so it's a bit more fuzzy on fine detail, and a bit more clear on overall impressions. I also do NOT claim to be a WWII buff, so if you are, and I'm inaccurate, don't go bananas.

    The Battle of Midway happened after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the shallow view would be that it was "payback" of some kind for that sneak attack. It was much more important than that though, as the Japanese had 4 of their 6 aircraft carriers in the same place at Midway who they were gathered for another attack on American assets. They intended to permanently put the U.S. out of action in the Pacific, and after doing so would be free to do what they pleased, even attacking the mainland United States or looting the West coast for resources.

    At the Battle of Midway though, all 4 Japanese carriers were sunk with the loss of just one U.S. carrier. This enabled the U.S. to eventually win the war, as Japan didn't have the resources to rebuild their fleet, whereas the U.S. could continue to build and resupply. The battles of Midway (destroying the Japanese fleet and stopping their expansion) and Guadalcanal (the first US attack on Japan's territory which we won and held, causing Japan to turn towards defense rather than offense) really were the turning points in WWII of the war in the Pacific and so are important events worthy of a movie.

    The movie starts off with a conversation of American officers in Japan before the war with their Japanese counterparts, and IMO seemed very fair. The Japanese wanted us to butt out of their business as they were attacking other places in the East, which we couldn't do, already having placed embargoes on Japan, stopping sales of gasoline to them (they had little themselves) and freezing their bank assets. The Japanese felt we were pushing them to war with us by "starving" them for fuel, and we thought the sanctions would stop their aggression against their neighbors ... perhaps war was inevitable.

    The movie then shows the attack on Pearl Harbor, which I appreciated, having seen the prior "Pearl Harbor" movie that Hollywood execs managed to turn in to a love story. In any event, things were sudden and gruesome, as they really were. They showed people with welders trying to cut through the hulls of the capsized ships to get to the people inside. As an aside, I remembered in the past talking with an old sailor who said in that situation saving people wasn't really the priority, the priority was getting ready to defend against the next assumed attack, and the rescue attempts were probably limited (which is what the movie showed). Many people didn't come home. Surviving resources were slim in both men and machines, and they somehow had to cobble together a fleet to fight off the superior Japanese navy.

    The next part of the movie is them managing to cobble that fleet together and with limited intelligence decide where the Japanese were likely to be before the Japanese knew where *we* were and try to get their ahead of them and launch our own sneak attack. There's a bit of "Hollywood" in there, but not terribly so. LOL, one thing I thought WAS a Hollywood overdramatization was at the climax of the movie where the American pilots are bombing the Japanese carriers having one pilot bomb and help sink one aircraft carrier, go back, get more bombs and go back and bomb a SECOND aircraft carrier helping sink it as well. Given how many planes were getting blown up by Japanese anti-aircraft fire, it seemed a little too much like plot armor to take seriously. After the movie though, I looked it up, and in truth the pilot "Dusty" Kleiss really DID successfully bomb and help sink an aircraft carrier went back to the US ships, reloaded, and bombed and help sink a second (out of four total) aircraft carrier! Amazing.

    The rest of the movie is like an old war movie with better graphics. At the end of the movie, they show you what happened IRL to some of the characters in the film, which I always like.

    Hmm... Overall, if you don't like this type of movie, you won't like it. OTOH, if you DO like movies about people doing heroic things in time of need, you'll like it just fine. I enjoyed it a lot, especially since overall the events really happened.
     
    #1 Morgotha, Dec 5, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2019
  2. Jama

    Jama Well-Known Member

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    tl;dr ;-)
     
  3. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    "Too little, done right"?
     
  4. Jama

    Jama Well-Known Member

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    total loser, dumb reply. lololololololololol JK
     
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  5. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    Totally loved, daring review?
     
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  6. Jama

    Jama Well-Known Member

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    Fine! You win. I'll go watch this movie. But.... jokes on you, because I wanted to see it anyway. BOOM, roasted!
     
  7. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    LOL, it's a good movie, IMO. And a lot of things, (spoilers ahead)



    like Admiral Halsey's rash getting him removed from command prior to the attack and the "Midway's out of water" ruse are true. Having such a big event seem to be a Hollywood blockbuster when in fact really happened is really ... neat.
     
  8. JEA13

    JEA13 Well-Known Member

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    I've always had an interest in WW2 because my mom dad, and several uncles served in the war. My mother served in the army in North Africa and Italy. My dad was in the navy in the Pacific.
    As much as I've read, I never have understood what the Japanese planners were thinking as justification for a diversionary attack on the Aleutians as a part of the Midway attack plan. Supposedly they wanted to draw our carriers out from Pearl Harbor to attack them . If they had forgone the Aleutians and included those 2 carriers in the Midway force they would have had more scout planes, fighter cover and bombers. Also they could have had the screening escort ships that went with the Aleutian force.
     
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