The new Midway film (my opinion after watching it)

[MrsWargamer]

Soooo I recall watching the first one in the theatre with my dad way long ago.

I was expecting a lot from this film.

It has some neat sequences, but, I think they could have been better.

There were lots of action sequences, but they seemed to lack 'flow'.

No in your face romance stuff. There was some, but it wasn't over played.

I thought the acting was kinda flat.

I think the worst part of the film, was the directing seemed uninspired, bordering on lame.

I'll let you guys tackle the historical accuracy. But for me, the film lacked the one aspect that matters. I don't think I'll care if I see it again. It lacked 'magic'.

[RFalvo69]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

I don't think I'll care if I see it again. It lacked 'magic'.

I don't know if it is Magic. I used to call it the Shining...

[Erik Rutins]

I just saw it today and actually enjoyed it more than I expected I would. Much more historical accuracy than I've come to expect from Hollywood, though with the usual movie visuals. It didn't focus as much (given the title) on Midway as I expected, but gave a visual summary of events from Pearl Harbor through to Midway in the first hour.

I would recommend it to folks who are interested in WWII in the Pacific.

[ringoblood]

I enjoyed it, it stayed on point, didn't go into personal stories, and stayed historical accurate. Good war movie, Balance between blood gore and family friendly scenes, and most of all it honored the troops and man who dies in the Pacific on both sides.

[JamesM]

Well Australian film distributors do not think much of the film. It is scheduled to show in Australia on 30 January 2020. The blu-ray will most likely be out before it is shown in Australia!

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: JamesM

Well Australian film distributors do not think much of the film. It is scheduled to show in Australia on 30 January 2020. The blu-ray will most likely be out before it is shown in Australia!

warspite1

I read it was 28 November 2019 - have they put it back? If so that seems an awfully long time, why would they do that?

[wodin]

Considering some Hollywood movies it sounds good.

Though the films touted directed previously didn't give me much hope for it.

[JamesM]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: JamesM

Well Australian film distributors do not think much of the film. It is scheduled to show in Australia on 30 January 2020. The blu-ray will most likely be out before it is shown in Australia!

warspite1

I read it was 28 November 2019 - have they put it back? If so that seems an awfully long time, why would they do that?

Well this would not be the first time that I have brought films on video before their Australian release date. All seasons of Downton Abbey were available for purchase from the UK before the Australian TV release.

[JudgeDredd]

I went to see this on the back of some posts over at Grogheads.

It was ok. Nothing special but not terrible. It was almost 2.5 hours long and didn't seem like it so that's normally a good sign.

Cons
1. I think it tried to fit too much in (Pearl Harbour to Doolittle to Coral Sea to Midway)
2. It was messy - in between these there was lots of wee bits that kind of didn't need to be there
3. CGI was horrible in places
4. Dialogue was horrible
5. Acting was horrible apart from a few exceptions
6. Anyone who didn't know about the battle would've came away with a vague idea of how it came about - though a fair idea of how it went down
7. How did a) an experienced pilot like Dick Best or b) the flight deck of the aircraft carrier allow a flight to take off when it wasn't going fast enough


Pros
1. They fitted a lot in - people would have a fair idea leaving the film of the first couple of years of the key battles of the Pacific conflict
2. CGI was bloody good in places
3. Acting from Quaid as Halsey was superb as was Harrelson as Nimitz and Etsushi Toyokawa as Yamamoto gave a great presence
4. Battle scenes were, for the most part, very good. It was very pleasing to the eye to see SBDs, Zeros and Devastators
5. There was alot of action


That's it. Honestly, I know the cons outweigh the pros in numbers, but the pros had more weight to them...the battle scenes were very good for the most part as was some of the CGI - it really did look like real flights of SBDs and Devastators...it was worth the admission fee.

[JudgeDredd]

Mark Kermode did not like it at all

Mark Kermode - Midway

I agree with some of his points. But in no way was this worse than Bay's Pearl

[wesy]

This was copied from Jon Parshall's facebook post about the movie. If your not familiar with Jon Parshall, he's the author of "Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway" It's a great read. It's the definitive account of the Battle of Midway which dispels myths about the battle. I didn't post all of his comments but a good sampling. I hope he doesn't mind

"...Yes, the Pearl Harbor attack sequences were laughably Star Wars-esque, with Japanese Zero fighters nimbly zipping between the masts of American battleships as they strafed Battleship Row. And the Arizona sinking sequence couldn't seem to make up its mind about whether she wanted to go down by the bow (sorta accurate) or capsize (not)...

...Oh, and the script perpetuates the myth that the Japanese should have bombed our fuel tanks, because That Would Have Lengthened The War By At Least A Year(tm). (To those not in the know: they never planned to, and it wouldn’t have anyway.) So mark one up for Mitsuo Fuchida, whose durable lies live on in American cinema. Bonus prize for Admiral Yamamoto repeating his quip about fearing Japan has "awoken a sleeping giant," thereby cadging a line from "Tora! Tora! Tora!" that was never actually uttered by Yamamoto, but was instead the product of a very clever 1960s screenwriter. (Is it plagiarism if the line was never actually said by the guy in the previous movie that you’re stealing it from?)..."

"...There's no discernible reason for the Doolittle Raid sequence following, except that it gives us an excuse to watch yet another overloaded plane (this time a B-25) taking off from a carrier and Avoiding Near Disaster(tm) whilst still Barely Clipping Her Wing on the Water(tm)--a trope that we witness about four times in this movie--three of them with our exceedingly virile, gum-chewing hero, Dick Best. (By the way, for those of you not in the know, Clipping Your Wing(tm) on the water, when flying a 200-knot airplane, in actuality leads to Instant Death(tm).)..."

"...The Battle of Coral Sea is covered in about thirty-seven seconds. We get a glimpse of a burning and sinking American Yorktown-class carrier, which was kinda confusing, because either 1) they were trying to show us the burning and sinking Lexington (in which case, they were too cheap to use their special-effects budget to model Lexington,) OR 2) they were trying to show us how badly damaged Yorktown was at Coral Sea (in which case they bungled the extent of her damage, because any ship which was taking the licking this puppy was taking on-screen, wasn't going to be limping back anywhere, let alone back to Pearl Harbor)..."

"...Which brings us (finally) to Midway. All I can say is that if the Japanese actually had been able to generate that volume of anti-aircraft firepower, they might have had a shot at winning the war. The ship models aren't bad. There are some weird glitches with various American attack sequences--too many planes in general, coming in wrong, and dropping the wrong ordnance. They almost invariably come in low, thereby necessitating flying through a veritable maze of Japanese warships (Star Wars death star canyon scene again, anyone?), all of which show a distinct predilection for steaming practically adjacent to each other, at really high speed, but always in a completely straight line, while still puking out ungodly quantities of anti-aircraft fire..."

"...(For those not in the know, the Japanese formation of 21 ships was, in fact, spread across about a 20-mile diameter circle of ocean--you couldn't have flown over more than two of them even if you had tried. And the number of American aircraft actually lost to anti-aircraft fire that whole day, you ask? One. Just one--a dive-bomber shot down over Kaga. But whatevs... none of that makes for a Cool-Looking Battle Sequence(tm), now does it?)..."

"...Other pet peeves: they made Eugene Lindsey, commander of the Enterprise torpedo planes, out to be broadly incompetent (which he wasn't). They also tried to create some weird personal tension between our Hero, Dick Best, and his back-seater, Jim Murray (which there wasn't, that I know of). And finally, of course, our Hero himself was portrayed as a gum-chewing, order-disobeyin’, clench-jawed, cowboy jockey kinda pilot...when in fact Lt. Richard Halsey Best was highly analytical, somewhat reserved, and calmly confident. Think “professional,” not “rebel.”..."

[RFalvo69]

Good! It seems that we finally got a Star Wars movie that is better than the current crop! [:D]

[Chickenboy]

I saw it today. Yeah, I could pick nits like several other experten out there and suck the joy right out of this-or any other war movie for that matter. I was willing to set aside my grognard self and *try* to think about enjoying it. Or at least not hating it.

And it worked! I didn't think the movie was bad at all. Yes, I saw some of the nitpickery so bandied about. But I didn't let it ruin an otherwise serviceable movie about the first 7 months of the Pacific War. I give it a B-.

It's certainly not the effrontery to mankind that was TMTSNBN or Indianapolis: Men of Courage.

So wave off the naysayers and nattering nay-bobs of negativity and go see the movie. It's worth the trip.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: wesy

This was copied from Jon Parshall's facebook post about the movie. If your not familiar with Jon Parshall, he's the author of "Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway" It's a great read. It's the definitive account of the Battle of Midway which dispels myths about the battle. I didn't post all of his comments but a good sampling. I hope he doesn't mind

"...Yes, the Pearl Harbor attack sequences were laughably Star Wars-esque, with Japanese Zero fighters nimbly zipping between the masts of American battleships as they strafed Battleship Row. And the Arizona sinking sequence couldn't seem to make up its mind about whether she wanted to go down by the bow (sorta accurate) or capsize (not)...

...Oh, and the script perpetuates the myth that the Japanese should have bombed our fuel tanks, because That Would Have Lengthened The War By At Least A Year(tm). (To those not in the know: they never planned to, and it wouldn’t have anyway.) So mark one up for Mitsuo Fuchida, whose durable lies live on in American cinema. Bonus prize for Admiral Yamamoto repeating his quip about fearing Japan has "awoken a sleeping giant," thereby cadging a line from "Tora! Tora! Tora!" that was never actually uttered by Yamamoto, but was instead the product of a very clever 1960s screenwriter. (Is it plagiarism if the line was never actually said by the guy in the previous movie that you’re stealing it from?)..."

"...There's no discernible reason for the Doolittle Raid sequence following, except that it gives us an excuse to watch yet another overloaded plane (this time a B-25) taking off from a carrier and Avoiding Near Disaster(tm) whilst still Barely Clipping Her Wing on the Water(tm)--a trope that we witness about four times in this movie--three of them with our exceedingly virile, gum-chewing hero, Dick Best. (By the way, for those of you not in the know, Clipping Your Wing(tm) on the water, when flying a 200-knot airplane, in actuality leads to Instant Death(tm).)..."

"...The Battle of Coral Sea is covered in about thirty-seven seconds. We get a glimpse of a burning and sinking American Yorktown-class carrier, which was kinda confusing, because either 1) they were trying to show us the burning and sinking Lexington (in which case, they were too cheap to use their special-effects budget to model Lexington,) OR 2) they were trying to show us how badly damaged Yorktown was at Coral Sea (in which case they bungled the extent of her damage, because any ship which was taking the licking this puppy was taking on-screen, wasn't going to be limping back anywhere, let alone back to Pearl Harbor)..."

"...Which brings us (finally) to Midway. All I can say is that if the Japanese actually had been able to generate that volume of anti-aircraft firepower, they might have had a shot at winning the war. The ship models aren't bad. There are some weird glitches with various American attack sequences--too many planes in general, coming in wrong, and dropping the wrong ordnance. They almost invariably come in low, thereby necessitating flying through a veritable maze of Japanese warships (Star Wars death star canyon scene again, anyone?), all of which show a distinct predilection for steaming practically adjacent to each other, at really high speed, but always in a completely straight line, while still puking out ungodly quantities of anti-aircraft fire..."

"...(For those not in the know, the Japanese formation of 21 ships was, in fact, spread across about a 20-mile diameter circle of ocean--you couldn't have flown over more than two of them even if you had tried. And the number of American aircraft actually lost to anti-aircraft fire that whole day, you ask? One. Just one--a dive-bomber shot down over Kaga. But whatevs... none of that makes for a Cool-Looking Battle Sequence(tm), now does it?)..."

"...Other pet peeves: they made Eugene Lindsey, commander of the Enterprise torpedo planes, out to be broadly incompetent (which he wasn't). They also tried to create some weird personal tension between our Hero, Dick Best, and his back-seater, Jim Murray (which there wasn't, that I know of). And finally, of course, our Hero himself was portrayed as a gum-chewing, order-disobeyin’, clench-jawed, cowboy jockey kinda pilot...when in fact Lt. Richard Halsey Best was highly analytical, somewhat reserved, and calmly confident. Think “professional,” not “rebel.”..."

Historical stuff aside (I don't know enough about the Pacific theatre) I honestly couldn't disagree with these points. They are all perfectly valid. And yet, oddly, like Chickenboy, I came away thinking it was "alright".

I certainly didn't think it was worse than Pearl.

[MrsWargamer]

So I guess I was correct. Seemed 'ok' to watch, but clearly lacking in technical merits. With the usual offense of "can't they at least get the drawn parts correct?" Why use CGI, if they can't even get it right eh?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer
Why use CGI, if they can't even get it right eh?

Because that's all they have. There are no serviceable Japanese Kates, Vals, Zeroes, Sallies or Nells that are flight worthy at this point in time. Same with SBD, Devastator, B-17E and so forth on the American side of the equation. If'n you want to make a movie about a massive carrier battle with 1942 planes, you've got to create them out of whole cloth. CGI is, alas, the only game in town 80 years after the fact.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer
Why use CGI, if they can't even get it right eh?

Because that's all they have. There are no serviceable Japanese Kates, Vals, Zeroes, Sallies or Nells that are flight worthy at this point in time. Same with SBD, Devastator, B-17E and so forth on the American side of the equation. If'n you want to make a movie about a massive carrier battle with 1942 planes, you've got to create them out of whole cloth. CGI is, alas, the only game in town 80 years after the fact.

What about miniature models? Aren't those an option for anything anymore except maybe for Star Wars?

[Titanwarrior89]

There is so much Green screen in movies now, that its almost like setting there and watching someone play a computer game...like a RPG. Tired of it.[:-]

[Capt. Harlock]

"...There's no discernible reason for the Doolittle Raid sequence following, except that it gives us an excuse to watch yet another overloaded plane (this time a B-25) taking off from a carrier and Avoiding Near Disaster(tm)

Agree with all the points except the above. The Doolittle raid did very little physical damage (although it did score the first hit on a Japanese carrier), but it was a massive shock to the Japanese military. The idea that a bomb could have killed the Emperor, who was literally considered a god at the time, was appalling to them. This was a major factor in the Japanese over-expansion beyond their original objectives -- including Midway. For what my opinion is worth, I thought the movie did a fair job of showing that.

[Mobius]

I thought it was pretty good but it seemed the dive bombers all dived at once in a mob at the Japanese carriers. They didn't radio back 'scratch 3 flat tops" which I thought was a real thing. They did add the Japanese war game where those playing Americans destroyed 3 Japanese carriers and had to replay the game because it didn't go the way the plans had the results.