HBO and WWII

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: Apollo11


Where did you get this info from?

P.S.
I found just one tiny bit of info regarding this:

One bit of promising news is that HBO have green-lit Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make their third epic mini-series, this one called ‘Masters of the Sky’ which will be about the 8th Air-Force over Western Europe in WW2.

I first read about it last week. I think it was on IMDB, but I don't remember.

I found out yesterday that a movie about the harrowing story of an Enterprise TBD crew lost in January 1942 is coming to the big screen this year. Apparently it stars the guy who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

They ditched a bit west of Pearl Harbor on a search mission and drifted in a life raft for over 30 days then ended up on an island in the South Pacific. It could be very good or it could be dreck. Hard to tell with the movie business these days.

Bill

My wife and I listened to the audio book. It was a B-24.
http://laurahillenbrandbooks.com/

No clue if the movie will be any good or, after reading the book, whether I will care to see it.
http://www.unbrokenfilm.com/

The book was good, but the story is one you don't want to read twice.

[geofflambert]

Well that's just great, witpqs. What are those of us who can't read anything once supposed to do? I keep emailing Ben Affleck to tell me what to see, but I get no response. [:@]

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I first read about it last week. I think it was on IMDB, but I don't remember.

I found out yesterday that a movie about the harrowing story of an Enterprise TBD crew lost in January 1942 is coming to the big screen this year. Apparently it stars the guy who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

They ditched a bit west of Pearl Harbor on a search mission and drifted in a life raft for over 30 days then ended up on an island in the South Pacific. It could be very good or it could be dreck. Hard to tell with the movie business these days.

Bill

ORIGINAL: witpqs
My wife and I listened to the audio book. It was a B-24.
http://laurahillenbrandbooks.com/

No clue if the movie will be any good or, after reading the book, whether I will care to see it.
http://www.unbrokenfilm.com/

The book was good, but the story is one you don't want to read twice.

Different story/movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2557276/?ref_=nv_sr_1

There were a number of stories like that from the war. I've read that Eddie Rickenbacker was also set adrift in the Pacific after a plane crash along with an USAAF crew.

Bill

[Thayne]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Five hundred million? That's in catastrophic flop territory. Say it ain't so.

Well . . . "Pacific" had a budget of $200 million

And "Masters of the Air" is going to require hours of CGI that was not required for either "Pacific" or "Band of Brothers".

And, to be honest, the airplane scenes in "Band of Brothers" struck me as video game quality - not nearly what I would hope to see in "Masters of the Sky".

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Where did you get this info from?

P.S.
I found just one tiny bit of info regarding this:

One bit of promising news is that HBO have green-lit Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make their third epic mini-series, this one called ‘Masters of the Sky’ which will be about the 8th Air-Force over Western Europe in WW2.

I first read about it last week. I think it was on IMDB, but I don't remember.

I found out yesterday that a movie about the harrowing story of an Enterprise TBD crew lost in January 1942 is coming to the big screen this year. Apparently it stars the guy who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

They ditched a bit west of Pearl Harbor on a search mission and drifted in a life raft for over 30 days then ended up on an island in the South Pacific. It could be very good or it could be dreck. Hard to tell with the movie business these days.

Bill

Good news Bill!

Lets hope that both movie and series will be historically accurate and as good as "Band of Brothers" and "Pacific" (I really really couldn't stand "Red Tails" and other Hollywood-esqe fantasyland movies)... [;)]


Leo "Apollo11"

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: Thayne

My mistake . . . The title is "Masters of the Air"

Reported budget . . . $500 million.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... ies-413632

Great news Richard!

The $500 million could buy great special effects (and lets hope they follow historical accuracy as in "Band of Brothers" and "Pacific")...

[Yaab]

I misread the Hollywood Reporter link and thought they were filming "third ww miniseries". Chilling...

[LargeSlowTarget]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I found out yesterday that a movie about the harrowing story of an Enterprise TBD crew lost in January 1942 is coming to the big screen this year. Apparently it stars the guy who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

They ditched a bit west of Pearl Harbor on a search mission and drifted in a life raft for over 30 days then ended up on an island in the South Pacific. It could be very good or it could be dreck. Hard to tell with the movie business these days.

Bill

Interesting. I have read the book ("The Raft" by Robert Trumbull - based on interviews with the crew) not long ago.

The three landed on Pukapuka atoll (hex 157, 158) 34 days after ditching.

Fascinating story - let's see what Hollywood has made of it.

[TOMLABEL]

ORIGINAL: Big B

That is awesome that you got to visit this memorial to CA38. I've seen many pics from a Google search of this site. I've always wished I could visit it but it has always seemed too far away.

ORIGINAL: wdolson
I found out yesterday that a movie about the harrowing story of an Enterprise TBD crew lost in January 1942 is coming to the big screen this year.
Bill

Yes, this is quite a good story. The book is called THE RAFT. I read it about 4 years ago. You can still get it from Amazon. It is written by one of the survivors. It tells an incredible story of the crew's survival against impossible odds. It would make a good movie, but won't become a new-age classic I don't think.

I would really like to see a remake of the movie Midway, but if it is going to be like the MOVIE THAT SHALL NOT BE MENTIONED, then forget it.


TOMLABEL

[Big B]

Kelly, The U.S.S. San Francisco Memorial was special for me - as I indicated above. The fact that it worked out I got to visit on the actual Memorial day was icing on the cake after 50 years of interest.
The memorial was unique and I had no idea they actually preserved her shell riddled navigation bridge wings.
The overall description of the ship, and that fateful Friday the 13th Nov 1942, is well represented there. And as a special tribute (in my mind) - the entire memorial is aligned looking out across the Pacific directly at Iron Bottom Sound....at Lands End, San Francisco Bay.
It's moving.

Edit: one point of interest - this is THE only naval battle where a US Navy admiral was killed in action ...(2 admirals here - Scott on Atlanta, and Callaghan on San Francisco)

[TOMLABEL]

Wow! I've seen pictures of the bridge wing section as displayed and seeing the shell penetration points brings out the incredible violence of the engagement. However, I did not know until you mentioned it that it is aligned directly at Iron Bottom Sound. Fantastic!!!

TOMLABEL

[Big B]

One point of note that has bearing on this game regarding the 1st Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (11/13/42), is that many historians have written for years that it was a confused action that led to a blundering of forces becoming unintentionally entangled in opposing formations.
This is not true at all.

Admiral Callaghan is well documented as regarding his orders (prior to engagement) as a suicide mission, and subsequently deliberately corrected course twice during the early stages of the engagement to ensure knifing through the known Japanese formation at point blank range.

His reasoning was that his two Heavy Cruisers stood no chance against two known Japanese Battleships - unless they closed to 0 range - to assure damage on the Japanese battleships.

Unfortunately, this has been taken as a clue by many that night actions were always confused uncoordinated affairs that could go down unintentionally to ramming range.
This is historically untrue - and a bit of a dis-service to the men that participated in that particular surface action.

Equally untrue, but has acquired the status of "urban knowledge" is the fact that the San Francisco confused the Atlanta for an enemy ship and fired into her.

The truth is that upon a second course correction ordered by Callaghan, the Atlanta with a smaller turning radius than the San Francisco, and the next ship in line and ahead of the San Francisco, turned sharper and drifted into the San Francisco's field of fire while she was engaging the Japanese Battleship Hei...with the result of her rounds drifting into the Atlanta. That was unfortunate friendly fire - but not confusion of targets per-say...

My point being - that unlike WitP/AE, surface actions were not confused point blank affairs. Confusing - as all battles are - yes. Unintentionally drifting to ramming range - you won't find one in the Pacific.

[geofflambert]

That sort of thing is typical. There's an extent to which strategy and tactics are best designed if they take into account these sort of things but prevail anyway. Also in the CW ships that had minimal firepower (cannonwise) were sometimes the most deadly, namely rams. I'm thinking the lore from those CW battles still infuse the Navy College. You would want your DD commanders especially and your cruiser commanders to be aware of this "option" when the circumstances warrant. Guadalcanal was a close run thing, and also a wake-up call.

[joey]

Why does such a HBO series have to based on a surface ship?
I wonder how a miniseries about a submarine would play out?
Perhaps a series based on Dick O'Kane in the Wahoo and later in the Tang.
The events concerning the non functioning torpedoes as a backdrop would certainly add to the suspense.

[pmelheck1]

I think Dick O'Kane would be great with a bit of info on Dudley Morton to show some of the folks who didn't see the end of the war similar to what was done with John Basilone in the Pacific. Another idea would have been interesting to me would have been to follow a sub sailor, a Naval aviator and a cruiser or battleship sailor with skips between them especially with gaps in combat between the folks being followed.

[joey]

I think following three individuals could cover the entire Pacific theater and be quite interesting.
Too bad no one will ask us. j

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: Big B

One point of note that has bearing on this game regarding the 1st Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (11/13/42), is that many historians have written for years that it was a confused action that led to a blundering of forces becoming unintentionally entangled in opposing formations.
This is not true at all.

Admiral Callaghan is well documented as regarding his orders (prior to engagement) as a suicide mission, and subsequently deliberately corrected course twice during the early stages of the engagement to ensure knifing through the known Japanese formation at point blank range.

His reasoning was that his two Heavy Cruisers stood no chance against two known Japanese Battleships - unless they closed to 0 range - to assure damage on the Japanese battleships.

Unfortunately, this has been taken as a clue by many that night actions were always confused uncoordinated affairs that could go down unintentionally to ramming range.
This is historically untrue - and a bit of a dis-service to the men that participated in that particular surface action.

Equally untrue, but has acquired the status of "urban knowledge" is the fact that the San Francisco confused the Atlanta for an enemy ship and fired into her.

The truth is that upon a second course correction ordered by Callaghan, the Atlanta with a smaller turning radius than the San Francisco, and the next ship in line and ahead of the San Francisco, turned sharper and drifted into the San Francisco's field of fire while she was engaging the Japanese Battleship Hei...with the result of her rounds drifting into the Atlanta. That was unfortunate friendly fire - but not confusion of targets per-say...

My point being - that unlike WitP/AE, surface actions were not confused point blank affairs. Confusing - as all battles are - yes. Unintentionally drifting to ramming range - you won't find one in the Pacific.

I never knew any of this, but I find it eminently plausible. I always wondered why this action was so 'confused'. Thanks for the education [;)]

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Apollo11


One bit of promising news is that HBO have green-lit Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make their third epic mini-series, this one called ‘Masters of the Sky’ which will be about the 8th Air-Force over Western Europe in WW2.

[/quote]

So it's going to be a combination of 12 O'clock High and Memphis Belle?

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

ORIGINAL: Big B

One point of note that has bearing on this game regarding the 1st Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (11/13/42), is that many historians have written for years that it was a confused action that led to a blundering of forces becoming unintentionally entangled in opposing formations.
This is not true at all.

Admiral Callaghan is well documented as regarding his orders (prior to engagement) as a suicide mission, and subsequently deliberately corrected course twice during the early stages of the engagement to ensure knifing through the known Japanese formation at point blank range.

His reasoning was that his two Heavy Cruisers stood no chance against two known Japanese Battleships - unless they closed to 0 range - to assure damage on the Japanese battleships.

Unfortunately, this has been taken as a clue by many that night actions were always confused uncoordinated affairs that could go down unintentionally to ramming range.
This is historically untrue - and a bit of a dis-service to the men that participated in that particular surface action.

Equally untrue, but has acquired the status of "urban knowledge" is the fact that the San Francisco confused the Atlanta for an enemy ship and fired into her.

The truth is that upon a second course correction ordered by Callaghan, the Atlanta with a smaller turning radius than the San Francisco, and the next ship in line and ahead of the San Francisco, turned sharper and drifted into the San Francisco's field of fire while she was engaging the Japanese Battleship Hei...with the result of her rounds drifting into the Atlanta. That was unfortunate friendly fire - but not confusion of targets per-say...

My point being - that unlike WitP/AE, surface actions were not confused point blank affairs. Confusing - as all battles are - yes. Unintentionally drifting to ramming range - you won't find one in the Pacific.

I never knew any of this, but I find it eminently plausible. I always wondered why this action was so 'confused'. Thanks for the education [;)]

I think it was covered well in Hornfischer's Neptune's Inferno. I also read Frank's Guadalcanal around the same time and I forget if it had some mention there as well. Recommend both, by the way.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

Semi Off-Topic on this Off-Topic thread... [:D]


Yesterday I watched "The Monuments Men" with wife at home (she wanted to watch it in the cinema but we couldn't make it them)...

Oh my... my wife constantly asked me why I was swearing... [:@]

I simply can't watch Hollywood fantasy historic movies... when I see wrong uniforms with wrong ranks and cars with wrong registration plates and wrong weapons I simply can't be stay silent... [8D]

It is beyond me that big budget movies can't get proper advisors for their movies - it should be so simple... ahh... [8|]


Leo "Apollo11"