This Midway movie succeeded in getting me more interested.
I felt induced to prep for it by re-reading the First Team and Walter Lords Incredible Victory.
For those interested, here's my opinion of the Movies Historical accuracy.
They covered a bit of pre-war US , Intelligence work, and Pearl Harbor. The Enterprise's raid on the Marshall islands on Feb 1 with the twin-engine bomber attack ,and Bruno Gaido's roll in it, was excellent. It appears they also showed the attack , March 10th, on some Harbors in New Guinea . This seems to be represented by the torpedo attack on ships at anchor, with Mountains in the back ground and a fictitious Kongō-class BB in the foreground. The Doolittle Raid got the expected coverage followed by a bit of Coral Sea. As for the Midway battle, they did pretty darn good in not confusing the Audience with the multitude of attacks against the Invasion force and the Mobile Striking force.
We got B-25's , B-26's, SBD's, TBD's, PBY's, and even a Kingfisher. Yes, I missed seeing F4F-4's and the armaments carried by many of the planes was dead wrong. But we did get a John Ford scene and a surprising group of actors who did pretty darn good. Best part for me was a representation of the USS Nautilus. Somebody cared enough to add her in. Wow.
So, I wish the B-25 wing insignia had been correct. Red circle in the Roundels is another issue along with tail stripes. I did not see the 2-20mm guns on CV-6 stern at the Deck edge corners, And I wish Jack Fletcher and Yorktown, (especially CV-5's repair work during the battle), had been better represented. I really missed seeing a good CGI of Lexington and I sure wish the movie was longer with scenes showing the Japanese side. There's a bunch of other "rivet" details, but none of that or my "wishes" matter. The Movie works.
At the Theater I talked with a family of 3, Grandfather, Son and Grandson, all of whom loved it and the Grandson wants to Know More! Yea!!!!!
My impressions:
The Japanese CGI ships were fantastic . CGI of Yamato was fine and Akagi superb, even showing the CAP positioned on the deck. Some scenes seemed "over-acted" but I did like the McClusky representation. Woody 's Nimitz surprised me. He pulled it off.
Thanks to those who added in the suggestions for other reading. All good stuff.
Although it's not a Star Wars, I will definitely see it again with my Grandkids and buy it on DVD. Would love to re-edit it with some footage from other Movies, YouTube stuff, and a few real WW2 film clips.
Final thought...
It's like getting a NEW, never before made, plastic ship model from Trumpeter. The forward barbette is positioned wrong, Hull has overdone platting, it mixes 1942 and 1944 versions, etc... So what! At least We Got It. And it's "Workable". Thumbs Up!
Nino
Edit for Rivet Counters: Japanese air attack on Midway Island: The Japanese sent 108 planes. I counted 102 in the opening scene. The staging looked horrible but they got the amount about right on. Much like the hole in the Yorktown's deck at Coral Sea. They made it 20 times too big. Artistic License okay with me. What do you think?