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War is hell, CGI is awful.

"I have seen posts you people wouldn't believe..."

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: rustysi

As an interesting side-thought, if this forum (as a collective) was to direct a war film about the Pacific theatre, it would bomb (no pun intended) at the box office.

No doubt. Who wants to watch an excruciatingly long film with all that history.[8|]

The opening act is four hours long and follows the main Japanese character through his birth, childhood, entrance into the navy, his pilot training.

Act two is also four hours and covers is service in China...

Yuck, even I don't want to see it.[:D]

CGI is awful.

But this is just about the only way to have accurate device models in these movies any longer. If only they took the time to get the characteristics correct I think it could be very well done. I bought a series about the USS Enterprise that was done recently with lots of CGI, Enterprise 360 IIRC. It was not very well done (the CGI), but the price was the attraction.

Heck, back in the day many of these movies were made with models. Not all were good, but some were very acceptable. It all depends on the production I guess, and whose in charge. Not to mention the budget of course.

ORIGINAL: Anachro

Well there is no argument there. Iowa would win the fight, on average of course. [:D]

About what I'd expect an AFB to say! [pounds courtroom desk in an animated fashion] [:@]











[;)]

ORIGINAL: Yaab

Rumour has it, Ben Affleck will land his B-26 Marauder "Susie-Q Bimbo Akimbo" on Akagi, storm the ship's island with his crew, retrieve the latest PURPLE codebook and fly way.

Nah. We'd be screaming at the screen the whole time about lack of arrest wires on B-26s and pan the movie just based on that alone.

I'm holding out hopes for "Greyhound", which stars as Tom Hanks as the Captain of a US Destroyer in the early days of WWII. It was scheduled to be released a couple months ago, but has been pushed back to March 2020.

You could build two Iowas for the price of one Yamato. Iowa wins, not on average but every time.

It reminds me of something I read recently, a German fighter pilot commenting on P-51s and P-47s. He said something like "their guns weren't as good as mine". If I'd been there I would have responded "Hans, your guns were for shooting down American bombers. American fighter's guns were for shooting you down." Six or eight 50 cals could turn an Me-109 into confetti in a second.

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

It reminds me of something I read recently, a German fighter pilot commenting on P-51s and P-47s. He said something like "their guns weren't as good as mine". If I'd been there I would have responded "Hans, your guns were for shooting down American bombers. American fighter's guns were for shooting you down." Six or eight 50 cals could turn an Me-109 into confetti in a second.

I would like to see a study of the effectiveness of .50 cal vs 20mm cannon on fighter planes. Fighters did have limited armo(u)r to protect the pilot, and sometimes a few .50 caliber didn't get the job done...

(spelling of armor is for our commonwealth friends)

"From the director of 'Independence Day'"


[X(] [8D] [:D] [:-]



edit: I agree that the BEST war movies these days are south korean. american movies, of any type, are mostly trash.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Apparently there are two awful-CGI movies coming about Midway.

[&:]

You are correct. [:(]

Although I thought the "Midway" CGI was marginally better. Less of the 'shaky CGI to suggest dynamic movement' effect than "Dauntless". Pretty uninspiring acting in both though. [8|]

Well, as some others pointed out in the past, can't be worse than the 1976 flick.
In the end, as you can guess from the trailer (with the scenes in the Marshall Islands, the Doolittle raid, it's probably not so much about Midway as it is about Enterprise and its airgroup in the first six months of the war with a few drops of Edwin Layton & Chester Nimitz thrown in the mix - it is pretty much Battle: 360 in a live action movie. I'd say it is more an adaptation of Pacific Payback than it is of Midway proper...

Still, just to draw a parallel to the 1976 Midway, how many of you had anything to say about its realism when you first saw it? How many of you were under 12 and still found this terrible piece of nonsense totally cool? Some people start their hobby with Tora Tora Tora. Some others had to make do with 1976 Midway because it was what was showing that day on that channel. It still probably did the job if you're here today among us. If this one does half the job the old one did for the new generation, I will find no reason to criticize it for what it is. Usually people start their ride with Roland Emmerich and then end up studying Egyptology or WitP, not the other way around [;)]

Still, whatever will be in there, they have enough people giving advice that I still expect it to be way beyond that movie that shall not be named.

And when I say beyond, I mean above. Not beyond in terms of horror [:D]

Our technology has advanced so rapidly but sometimes that seems to lead to regression.

Computers are amazing things, but we cram movies with CGI that is awful. Then you compare Midway (2019) with Twelve Angry Men or Petrified Forest or Casablanca or Stalag 17 and conclude, "Man, the old movies were so much better!" There have been many wonderful movies in the past one score years (contrary to Timotheus's assertion) but for too many action/noise/graphics are poor replacements for excellent acting and relatively simple sets.

Perhaps we're doing the same thing with women. They can augment and reduce and enhance. They get tattoes and piercings. They wear less and show more. And they (mostly) can't hold a candle to Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Donna Reed etc.

Ah, ol' fart.

Casablanca is still in my top 5 movies of all time. But as far as the 1976 Midway movie, is there a better one that I'm not aware of?

I'm not sure why they can't seem to get the CG stuff right. Remember Red Tails? IT just seems that they consistently defy the laws of physics in every scene.

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

...it's JFB's and AFB's deciding if the Yamato or Iowa would win in a fight.

warspite1

[Faux laughter for effect] Hehehehe! [Adopts suitably condescending tone while delivering a metaphorical pat on the head] and of course, as we all know, in any straight fight between Yamato and USS Iowa, the clear winner would be HMS Warspite.

I agree that the quality of CGI seems to get worse and worse. The one thing I'll give this film and the other one credit for is that at least it looks like they get the actual design of the ship classes right. By my observation, the Yorktown-class carriers look like Yorktown-Class Carriers (unlike some other nameless movie that used a modern carrier with an angled steel flight deckl), and in the Dauntless trailer, they had proper Interwar US heavy cruisers screening the carriers.

I'll give them a go if the local theater screens them. I just saw Bill Murray's The Dead Don't Die and it would be hard for me to dislike a movie I see in a theater more than that one.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Our technology has advanced so rapidly but sometimes that seems to lead to regression.

Computers are amazing things, but we cram movies with CGI that is awful. Then you compare Midway (2019) with Twelve Angry Men or Petrified Forest or Casablanca or Stalag 17 and conclude, "Man, the old movies were so much better!" There have been many wonderful movies in the past one score years (contrary to Timotheus's assertion) but for too many action/noise/graphics are poor replacements for excellent acting and relatively simple sets.

Perhaps we're doing the same thing with women. They can augment and reduce and enhance. They get tattoes and piercings. They wear less and show more. And they (mostly) can't hold a candle to Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Donna Reed etc.

Ah, ol' fart.

warspite1

Well as another of the ol' fart generation (and one for whom nostalgic thoughts appear to be taking up more of my time) I have more than a little sympathy with what you are saying, but I do think there is a degree of 'rose-tinted spectacles' here.

Firstly I think CGI generally is a wonderful thing and done properly (not just action sequences but landscape and objects), can, and do, add so much to film. Imagine Dam Busters with properly done CGI (a great film but special effects were ahem 'of its day')..... But as has been pointed out, aircraft action CGI seems so routinely to be done appallingly it has to be a conscious decision to make 'Star Wars' in WWII. Shame.

As for the film comparisons I think it a little unfair to compare such as Midway with say Twelve Angry Men. I think for a more useful comparison, films should be compared with those of the same genre.

Were actors and actresses of the past necessarily better at the acting art? No doubt some were and some weren't. The best today are, I would suggest, every bit as good as those in the past. Acting styles change to suit the age, but the need to be able to act and to make it look so natural doesn't change. I like looking at old films from time to time but the acting can often seem stilted and artificial - no criticism of the actors and actresses as they were doing what was then the norm in a different time, with a different moral compass (for better or worse). I think it fair to say a wider range of acting skills is probably needed today.

As for wearing less and showing more, piercings and wotnot, well these are just the changing times. The carryings on of the rich and famous was more hushed up and controlled by the studios back in the day - I'm sure the rumours about certain 'ladies' of stage and screen back then are true (dirrrty girls!).

As for the new Midway, well I probably won't be rushing out to the cinema but I'll certainly be watching when it comes on TV and hoping it does a decent job. As some said earlier, it's at least nice to see Yorktown look like Yorktown.

ORIGINAL: Fishbed

Still, just to draw a parallel to the 1976 Midway, how many of you had anything to say about its realism when you first saw it?

Saw it when it opened (and yes, I was about 12). It was in Sensurround, so the realism was exquisite! [;)]

ORIGINAL: Crimso

ORIGINAL: Fishbed

Still, just to draw a parallel to the 1976 Midway, how many of you had anything to say about its realism when you first saw it?

Saw it when it opened (and yes, I was about 12). It was in Sensurround, so the realism was exquisite! [;)]

Tell the truth now - part of the reason you enjoyed it was because you were high on root beer, right?! [:D]