Midway movie question...

[WacoOne]

This may have been discussed in the past but since I'm a newby, here goes:

After recently watching the movie for the 1000th time, I've been curious about the scheme on the 'Japanese' T-6s that Lt. Kobyashi is leading that attacked the Yorktown. The gold with the unusual rising sun emblem. It's hard to imagine they did these just for this movie but I've never seen them in any other film, and I've seen lots of 'em! In fact, I've never seen that scheme on any Japanese plane but they obviously copied it from somewhere. Could anyone enlighten me or give a book reference?

Bill

[Jesse C.]

Isn't that recycled footage from TTT?

[the330thbg]

Isn't that recycled footage from TTT?

It certainly is.

[tom d. friedman]

their are so many splices in that flick it's ridiculous!! planes changing constantly in every scene

[fotobass]

Yeah, but how many of you punk kids are old enough to have seen it in the theatre in Sensurround?

[Lynn Allen]

Yeah, but how many of you punk kids are old enough to have seen it in the theatre in Sensurround?

Back in my day they didn't have the fancy speakers, kind of like the one you knocked off the pole at the drive in......

Lynn

[tom d. friedman]

Yeah, but how many of you punk kids are old enough to have seen it in the theatre in Sensurround?

i remember.... 6 or 7 feet high of earthquake vibratiing woofers & tweeters in the theater........
guargantuan speaker cases. that technolgy was short lived. i think heston was in at least 2 movies with it, the other being "earthquake" the movie.

[Steve Nelson]

I believe you're talking about the scene with the (unmodified) T-6s in formation..they've got a mottle camo, and a big stylized rising sun motif below the cockpit that covers half the fuselage. It's definately not TTT footage, but I've always wondered where it came from myself. The scene is a "process shot," with actors in a studio cockpit in the foreground, and the footage of the rest of the formation projected on a screen behind them.

I was watching the film the other day and couldn't help but chuckle..there's a shot of actors in an SBD cockpit, and the pilot tells the squadron to arm their bombs. But planes in the footage behind him are SB2Us, with prominent empty bomb crutches!

Despite all the stolen and mismatched footage, I still give this one props over "Pearl Harbor." At least "Midway" made an effort to get the history more or less correct (I could have done without the love story between Chuck Heston's whiney son and the Japanese/American girl, but at least is just a minor sub-plot.)

SN

[muddyboots]

who was the chuck playing and was he a real character?

[Steve Nelson]

I think Heston's character was fictional. The character was a plot device to connect and interact with all the major "real life" USN brass, and give them an excuse for exposition to enlighten the audience as to what was going on.

SN

[SaxMan]

Heston's character was fictional, not unlike Victor "Pug" Henry from the "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" books (and later the mini-series).

[tom d. friedman]

great warbird footage, but about as mish mash as cole slaw. the lamest line of the movie is when the cencers bleep the bad version of gosh darn it, they had to say gosh darm it!!! that movie is a hack job.

[ripcord]

Remember when Heston's character crashes when trying to trap? I yelled "That's a Panther!" causing several people in the theater to stare at us which really embarrased my mom and dad. Worst editing and continuity EVER!

[Owen Miller]

Some years ago, when the early planning was going on for the
upcoming Speilburg/Hanks production of "The Pacific", extensive
interviews were conducted with the late Capt & Mrs Bob Elder.

Elder was in VB-3 for Midway and went on to a stellar USN career.
The movie angle, at that time, was that the Elders would be the
"love interest" in the film. They met, fell in love, courted, etc.
between Pearl Harbor and Midway. Imagine a love story being
told that REALLY happened.....

From what I have read about the completed movie it begins with
Guadalcanal. I guess that means they didn't include the Elder story.
How you can have a movie purporting to be about the Pacific
Campaign without focusing on Midway is a mystery to me. I am
still looking forward to the production, but not as much.........

[fotobass]

The character was a plot device to connect and interact with all the major "real life" USN brass, and give them an excuse for exposition to enlighten the audience as to what was going on.

SN

Device? Are you saying, then that Charlton Heston was a tool?