Going to see Midway opening night ?

[AcePylut]

I would go see it, if for no other reason than to enjoy the meta stuff, and to throw support for WW2 history movies to hopefully get more of them made, so we can get the occasional gem like SPR. I will say it was worth the $25 I spent on the movie, popcorn, and soda. If you want to enjoy it - go in with no or "really low" expectations. I think that's what most folks on our forum have for this movie anyways.

I’ll go see it again with my 14 year old so she can “know a little history”. She did WW2 history already in school, she said ‘the name (Midway) sounds familiar but I don’t really remember what it was about’ --- (yeah that’s about as blasphemous and sacrilegious of a statement as you can get in my family – and my 14 year old is super smart so if she says “it sounds familiar” that means 99% of everyone else will be all “huh, no idea”.). I will say, that after watching this movie, she will “remember” it a lot better than reading it. I don’t have any complaints about it being historically inaccurate. And she will know that war is hell.

There was a lot I liked about it – the historical aspects being all correct. There was a lot I didn’t like… and mostly what I didn’t like was the small scale silliness … like… one of the dive bomber’s wings skimmed the ocean after pulling out of the dive. The plane would have cartwheeled into a ball of fire if that had happened so I rolled my eyes.

One of the Doolittle bombers took off “right through a large wall of water on take-off”. Dramatic? Sure. Unrealistic? Yup. The wall of water would have downed the plane without question so that was dumb. But if you take it up a level to the real question: “Will the Doolittle bombers actually be able to take off???” …. the scene captured that “question” and “drama”. I was happy that they showed actual B25’s on deck. I was happy that they didn’t make Pearl Harbor P-40 fighters pilots fly the B’25’s, lol. I was happy that the Doolittle Raid was shown because it was one of the things that lead to the Japanese decision to go after Midway. The movie didn’t dwell on the raid - it was a nice action interlude from the talky talk parts– and allowed the movie to show us that yes, the Chinese actually contributed to the war (in a way that barely anyone in the US knows.) I.e. the Doolittle Raid got “just the right amount” of screen time for the movie.


Oh yeah: SPOILER ALERT – the US bombed Japan with B-25’s launched off of carriers in April of 1942.

[AcePylut]

And one more thing: SPOILER ALERT: The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.

[Macclan5]

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

Hope I didn’t spoil the movie for anyone by telling you that the SBD’s bombs hit the Jap carriers, sank 4 of them, and the US won the battle.

US bombed Japan with B-25’s launched off of carriers in April of 1942.

The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December, 1941

Damn it man stop - you are ruining the Movie for me [8D]

[Lecivius]

It's not getting favorable reviews.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/review ... li=BBnb7Kz

[Chickenboy]

Rotten Tomatoes has it at a very low 'critics' rating of 38% and a very high 'audience score' of 88%. This bimodal distribution is typical of Hollywood crowd pleasers to which critics turn their collective noses up.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: AcePylut
I was happy that the Doolittle Raid was shown because it was one of the things that lead to the Japanese decision to go after Midway.

Didn't the original Midway start the movie with film segments from Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo?

[L0ckAndL0ad]

Despite sanctions, Midway starts to roll on Nov 14 here (as all other films do eventually). I hate watching movies at the theater, because they're dubbed, and that adds a whole level of insincerity and cheesiness, but I still force myself to watch some. Recent Ad Astra was something worth seeing on a big screen, for example.

Midway's trailer sounds super cheesy already, but I feel like I'd rather endure due to my love for Pacific War than miss out. I'm 98% sure I'm going, but I still keep an eye on reviews.

So, keep them coming. Thanks!

[Miller]

Well, went to see it, my thoughts *WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS*

The good:

The plot is fairly well played out, a layman would understand the basics of the battle.

They get most of the basic facts right.


The bad:

Some good CGI, on the other hand some very bad CGI, it looked like a computer game but that was to be expected.

Far too long, the PH and Doolitle raid scenes were not necessary and should have been cut.

The average history buff would have noticed all the battle scene errors, for example 20 B26s attacking the Jap fleet rather than the actual 4, TBDs carrying bombs in addition to their torpedoes, Jap AA shooting down about 50 planes whlist in reality it was 3 or 4, the Independence Day style attack on Midway that lasted ten seconds, torpedo 8 going in after torpedo 3 when it was the other way round.

No American fighters of any kind featured at all, either over Midway, or covering the attacks on the Jap fleet or defending the US CVs. Also they acknowledge the effort to get Yorktown into the battle, yet none of her airgroups are featured at all in any of the attacks.

The final attack on the Hiryu was cheesy as hell. "That's for Pearl Harbour!" lol


Overall, pretty much what I expected it to be. Two stars out of five.

[Canoerebel]

[Chickenboy]

So, the scorecard thus far:

TMTSNBN: F---

Indianapolis: Men of Courage: F----

Midway: C-/D+

[BillBrown]

I think I will be waiting for it to be available for streaming.

[rsallen64]

There are so few movies made about the Pacific, period, that I am "somewhat" looking forward to seeing this when it comes out on Netflix or whatever in the future, but given what I know so far, I will not pay to see it in a theatre. Thanks for the reviews, which are very helpful. I guess the bottom line is Hollywood can't afford to make a movie that is accurate and well done, because not enough people like us [;)] will pay to see it and they won't recover their costs. In the end, cheesiness and excessive CGI rules. I doubt there will ever be a Saving Private Ryan done for the Pacific Theatre.

[AcePylut]

Yeah I forgot that I was thinking "where are the Wildcats and Major Park's Buffalos" quite a bit. But oh well.

They got the 5 Betty return strike during the raid at Marshall Islands right.

C- / D+ is about right.

But face it, there's no reason anyone here on this forum shouldn't go see it. After all, it's only once every 20 years or so that we get "a" pacific war movie, even if one of them is TMTSNBN



If you were force to write the origin of the Pacific War and the first 6 months of it in a couple of paragraphs, with accurate adjectives of each named character, then that's what you'll get.

The Pacific Miniseries from HBO is still, imho, the best thing around for the Pac War.

What I'll do is make my 14 year old watch Midway, then we'll watch The Pacific miniseries.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

Yeah I forgot that I was thinking "where are the Wildcats and Major Park's Buffalo's" quite a bit. But oh well.

They got the 5 Betty return strike during the raid at Marshall Islands right.

C- / D+ is about right.

But face it, there's no reason anyone here on this forum shouldn't go see it. After all, it's only once every 20 years or so that we get "a" pacific war movie, even if one of them is TMTSNBN



If you were force to write the origin of the Pacific War and the first 6 months of it in a couple of paragraphs, with accurate adjectives of each named character, then that's what you'll get.

The Pacific Miniseries from HBO is still, imho, the best thing around for the Pac War.

What I'll do is make my 14 year old watch Midway, then we'll watch The Pacific miniseries.

Well for £5 (about $7) I can't really complain, I've spent a lot more for a worse 2 hours of entertainment watching my football team. I'd probably have liked it more if I knew nothing about the battle beforehand, and a fair chunk of those going to see it will be in that boat.

[AcePylut]

ORIGINAL: Miller
I'd probably have liked it more if I knew nothing about the battle beforehand, and a fair chunk of those going to see it will be in that boat.

Interesting, because knowing about the battle and all the little historical call-outs, is what made the movie enjoyable for me.


This is one reason I want to see it with my kid daughter... to watch her reaction to it.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

ORIGINAL: Miller
I'd probably have liked it more if I knew nothing about the battle beforehand, and a fair chunk of those going to see it will be in that boat.

Interesting, because knowing about the battle and all the little historical call-outs, is what made the movie enjoyable for me.


This is one reason I want to see it with my kid daughter... to watch her reaction to it.

Well my daughter is 20 and I could just imagine her reaction if I'd asked her to come and watch it with me[:D]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

Yeah I forgot that I was thinking "where are the Wildcats and Major Park's Buffalos" quite a bit. But oh well.

They got the 5 Betty return strike during the raid at Marshall Islands right.

C- / D+ is about right.

But face it, there's no reason anyone here on this forum shouldn't go see it. After all, it's only once every 20 years or so that we get "a" pacific war movie, even if one of them is TMTSNBN



If you were force to write the origin of the Pacific War and the first 6 months of it in a couple of paragraphs, with accurate adjectives of each named character, then that's what you'll get.

The Pacific Miniseries from HBO is still, imho, the best thing around for the Pac War.

What I'll do is make my 14 year old watch Midway, then we'll watch The Pacific miniseries.

Ok, we've heard enough about the movie rating. I'm really interested to know what the teenagers thought of it.
Did they feel they got a whole new appreciation of what those brave men went through and the losses involved in great victories?
Did they understand how chance and the initiative of a few men/women can turn the results of a battle in an instant?
Do they understand that most of these men were only 5-10 years older than they are, and had just started to savour adulthood?
Do they understand that service in the armed forces means separation from loved ones for varying periods and a chance they will never return?

If they movie has not made them think of such things, it has failed in its raison d'être.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

Yeah I forgot that I was thinking "where are the Wildcats and Major Park's Buffalos" quite a bit. But oh well.

They got the 5 Betty return strike during the raid at Marshall Islands right.

C- / D+ is about right.

But face it, there's no reason anyone here on this forum shouldn't go see it. After all, it's only once every 20 years or so that we get "a" pacific war movie, even if one of them is TMTSNBN



If you were force to write the origin of the Pacific War and the first 6 months of it in a couple of paragraphs, with accurate adjectives of each named character, then that's what you'll get.

The Pacific Miniseries from HBO is still, imho, the best thing around for the Pac War.

What I'll do is make my 14 year old watch Midway, then we'll watch The Pacific miniseries.

Ok, we've heard enough about the movie rating. I'm really interested to know what the teenagers thought of it.
Did they feel they got a whole new appreciation of what those brave men went through and the losses involved in great victories?
Did they understand how chance and the initiative of a few men/women can turn the results of a battle in an instant?
Do they understand that most of these men were only 5-10 years older than they are, and had just started to savour adulthood?
Do they understand that service in the armed forces means separation from loved ones for varying periods and a chance they will never return?

If they movie has not made them think of such things, it has failed in its raison d'être.

I think the hard part would be getting them to watch it in the first place....

[amon15]

Enlighten me guys... what does "TMTSNBN" mean? [:)]

[Canoerebel]

The Movie That Shall Not Be Named

There are only two things the Forum unanimously agrees upon. This is the best game ever and that is the worst movie ever.