Midway Movie – My Take

 

BLUF – Not awful, but not great. If intent was to “set the record straight” it was only partially successful. Goods and others:
+ Seeing ENTERPRISE and the other famous US and IJN ships brought back from their watery graves and scrappers torch was fantastic. The tight quarters of pre-ESSEX class CVs brought home like it couldn’t be using post-war CVs.
+/- CGI for a/c. Love that the right model of Dauntless was used and flight dynamics (gained from mapping CGI around real a/c) looked much better than earlier attempts. There is still a forced feel that the fluidity of real a/c doing real combat maneuver is lacking, but overall much better. Am still not buying Zeros doing low levels down the street – bit gam is there.
– Where. The. Hell. Were. The Fighters. Jimmy Thach (VF-3) of Tach Weave fame employed that tactic first time morning of 4 Jun facing a grunch of Zeros. Oh yes, he was from YORKTOWN which brings up
– WHERE. THE. HELL. WAS. YORKTOWN. AND. HORNET?? There is a significant story to be told about lack of coordination in the air between the three carriers (and, let’s be frank, HORNET’s air group’s less than stellar performance). YORKTOWN shows up with significant bomb damage and while the miracle of the dry dock was implied (did you know YORKTOWN put to sea with yard workers onboard to continue repairs?) we’re left guessing as to the how of the damage and repairs.
– No Fletcher. Compare/contrast Fletcher and Spruance’s command (and Spruance dealing with a totally unfamiliar staff and tensions/conflict that ensued – Miles Browning in particular). Plays to the decision for the second attack and what to arm the Dauntlesses with.
– Nimitz’s message to his commanders about risk and preservation of the force whilst being aggressive in attacking the enemy. Still has currency today and should be required reading. Oh wait, it is at Naval War College ?
+ Rochefort’s explanation SIGINT to Nimitz. Classic and for the ages (though in reality it was COMINT – communications intelligence that was being used. SIGINT is COMINT + ELINT, but I digress).
+ Woody H’s portrayal of Nimitz was excellent – some of the others a little cardboard cutout.
– Editing. This is tough because the sweep of the arc of the Pacific War from 1939 – 1942 is as huge as, well, the Pacific. It seemed choppy and unless you were already well versed/studied on Midway (and could fill in the blanks on your own) it could get confusing. I think the intent was to provide a few POVs that left the impression of imperfect information and understanding of all the wheels in motion that we, today, have had the advantage of time and history to color in the white space. It was imperfectly done. Contrast with Otto Preminger’s In Harm’s Way which covered the same period, albeit via fictional lot devices, but manages to stitch together a broad theater war via the stories of several participants somewhat seamlessly. Perhaps an additional 30-45 min may have turned the trick. How long was the Avenger’s movie End Game? Audiences will sit through a longer movie if the plot and it’s telling are compelling. We never got that chance. And that ultimately keeps it from being a great story told to a contemporary audience vs a Saturday action matinee. Midway and those that fought and gave their all deserve the former.
My 2-pence worth…

Similar Posts