New trailer for Roland Emmerich’s Midway remake.
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While I am going to see it for sure, that CGI looks kind of… bad? Or is it just me?
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I’ll definitely go see that… Probably on my own. Poor wife won’t put up with that 
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One of the downfalls of high resolution screens. Nowhere to hide!
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Yeah, it may be something with the perspective, depth of focus and the details visible, but also the movement of the planes always feels a bit off I think. Like the flightmodel is not quite right… 
But then again, it beats a bad pysical model hanging from a piece of string.
Looking forward to seeing it regardless!
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From the Director of Independence Day
That sets my expectations.
I’ll watch it. Most likely enjoy it.
But I’ll leave my desire for historical correctness and expectations of realism, at home… 
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Well now the movie has to be awesome
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Well, I’d see it!
Of course effects can be changed between trailer and final. So take it with a grain of salt.
I think when they went to that technicolor look, they lost the ability to mask the effects on the color grading. They ended up a bit cartoonish from the colors, but aside from that, they looks solid to me… Over the top, for sure, but solid…
(Nobody can really tell if we shot the real battles in technicolor, if they would still look cartoonish to us…)
I know where I’ll be on 8 November!
So that first bit when the house wife see the dishes rattle and ten run out to get her daughter and sees battleship row getting bombed…that’s where I lived-in Ford Island…in the same houses.
The LCDR that sells Nimitz “Washington is wrong” is (looks like) Layton, the Pacific Fleet N2 (Intelligence Officer)…I held that same job 2009 to 2011. Outside of the N2 spaces (SCIF) there is a photo board showing each N2 from Layton on down…I’m the one in the blue camouflage Navy working uniform.
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When I watched the trailer and heard the line, “Washington is wrong” I couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious about the script quality…I’ll probably still end up preferring the original '76 film.
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Think I agree.
Wheels
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Actually that is likely more accurate than the '76 script.
By 1941, the USN in Hawaii, Washington and other places had broken the IJN code. The IJN had been using digraph abbreviations for various locations/“objectives” in the Pacific. One of them was “AF”.
The intelligence section in Hawaii was certain that the Japanese abbreviation “AF” meant Midway. Washington thought it mean the Panama Canal or the Aleutians or something else. The relationship between Hawaii and Washington was antagonistic with Washington discounting much of what Hawaii reported, out of hand. Thus the “Washington is wrong” line…which I have no trouble seeing Layton saying…heck, I probably said that a time or two when I had his job.
How to prove AF=Midway with out having it come from Hawaii: So Rochfort (the cryptologist) and Layton (intelligence) came up with the idea to have Midway send a message in the clear that its fresh water evaporator was broken. (The instructions to do this were sent by undersea cable to Midway).
FYI. Many years later I had the honor of meeting Admiral Sharp. As a young Ensign Sharp in Layton’s intelligence section, the idea for this trick was formulated at his desk. He heard the whole thing first hand.
Midway sent the message. The IJN picked it up, and sent a report via their code that “AF” had broken evaporators. Hawaii picked that up but didn’t report it. A station in Australia also picked it up and they reported it. Washington got their report and then they told Hawaii that AF meant Midway. Hawaii said thanks, and the rest is history.
Amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.
While “The Miracle at Midway” is the definitive book on the battle, I also highly recommend
Trivia Question:
Who was the Pacific Fleet intelligence officer for Pearl Harbor, arguably the fleet’s worst surprise and defeat?
How was the Pacific Fleet intelligence officer for the Battle of Midway, arguably the fleet’s biggest surprise and victory?
Answer to both CAPT Edwin T. Layton, USN.
I was honored to have held the same post a couple of generations later.
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What I meant to say was that the writing in the '76 movie better portrayed that situation than simply “Washington is wrong.” I loved the code breaking scenes and banter in the original.
OK - got you
The 1976 version showed the popular simplified version where they put out the Midway broken evaporator message and then pick up the IJN message confirming their assessment. (…and then Charleston Heston picks up the phone to give Nimitz the good news…what was a fleet pilot doing down in the basement (N2 spaces) anyway?)
Even Wikipedia reports that version. (sigh)
I do hope that this version shows some of the bad blood between DC and Pearl Harbor. BTW Rochefort got royally screwed by Washington. After Midway, they ordered him to San Franscico and benched him for the rest of the war. He never got an award for his part in the victory at Midway until President Ronald Reagan presented to his widow in 1986.
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Well, I saw the movie and I very much liked it.
And I’m pretty surprised by all of it.
Even Ed Skrein.
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As did I. I think I put my “review” over in the Mudspike Movies section.
A good film, well acted and very close to recorded history.
…and now it is out on DVD…and hopefully iTunes (or whatever it is called these days).
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I watched it Sunday night after wife and kids turned in. Very much enjoyed all, but the horribly shot Star Wars flying scenes. I wish that the director and producers would have resisted the need to sensationalize that which needed none. That they had spent much research effort, obvious with how detailed the aircraft, ships, and sets were created, it is a shame that they didn’t feel compelled to portray the flying with the same realism. I suppose depicting a 4 day battle in 45 minutes has something to do with this, but it also feels like they chose to deliver the story at the same speed we consume media feeds.
Having said that, I gladly added it to my Amazon library and no doubt will enjoy watching it again. Maybe have a few more beers and give cheers to the Dauntlesses as they plunge into the maelstrom. Those were brave men indeed. One couldn’t also help feel for the IJN pilots watching their flattops getting waxed as their fuel ran out.
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That’s the problem with it being a movie and not a miniseries. How much time can you devote to anything when you have only 2 hours to use?
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