New Midway Movie

[Jack Cook]

I'm still trying to figure out how ol Ben got to England by train

[Jarink1]

I didn't have too much problem with the 'love story' in Pearl Harbor. What really killed the movie for me was the near total disregard for telling the correct history of the fighter pilots at Pearl and especially the Doolittle Raid. The Bridges at Toko Ri is another excellent film that went to great pains to tell the story about how war affects the participants and especially their loved ones. However, the makers of that film did it without sacrificing history for a screenplay.

Many Theatres in the Pittsburgh area had special viewings for the veterans and their families. It got people to talk about, and remember that this took place. It also intoduced the Doolittle Raid to a generation of people that may have never heard of it.

I'm curious, were any of them veterans of the Doolittle Raid? I can't imagine anyone who took part in it taking kindly to their exploit being used as a plot device for a love story.

I'd better stop; thinking about that movie is making my head hurt.

[Big Nate]

I would LOVE to see an accurate and well produced Midway remake. But, only if there is VERY limited CGI. But why stop at Midway? They should follow naval aviation from Pearl to Midway to Guadalcanal and the Solomons and on to the fly over during the signing of the unconditional surrender in Tokyo Bay. THAT is a truly fascinating and exciting story.

By the way, I love the internet. This is a neat old book put out free by the Navy. http://www.history.navy.mil/download/pacific.pdf

[whistlingdeath77]

Nothing takes the place of a real plane and it's real sound. I guess thats why i love the older movies far better than stuff of today. The movie " In Harm's way" Had a good love story mixed with great action.

[John Dupre]

I wonder if it is possible to film scenes aboard surviving museum ships and shots of the ships themselves and then digitally paste them over other ships filmed at sea. Similar to changing skins of flight sim games. If it can be done effectively I think it would look better than CGI.

As for Midway itself I know it is a turning point battle but it has been done before. I hope the new film can take a different approach than the previous ones. I also think a film about an entirely different battle would be even better. I would like to see one of the Iron Bottom Sound battles especially the one involving USS Washington and USS South Dakota versus a Japanese battle ship.

[DryMartini]

I want to know which B-17s will get converted to look like "E" models and painted up in Hawaii Depot camouflage!

Why paint a G to look like an E when there is an E right
here in the states, looking for a few $$$s to get her going again?

[Lynn Allen]

Wonder when Tom "the" Cruise will get the phone call.... The Mav rides again....

[Dave Homewood]

I recall reading that in the draft process for The Pacific miniseries that writers had been working on a thread winding through that showed the naval air battle at Midway but it was dropped during the writing process, so perhaps much of the script outline is already written. I have not read the book version of The Pacific yet but I'm told it does include the Navy carrier pilots in it as well as the stories we saw in the series, so I wonder if that offers any clues as to how this may go?

[Owen Miller]

Dave, I can confirm that, early on, THE PACIFIC script began with
Pearl Harbor. My friend the late Capt Bob Elder and Mrs Elder were
interviewed extensively. She was a navy nurse, they met and fell
in love in Hawaii, he flew with VB-3 at Midway, and they got married.
At one point they were to be the love interest.

[Jollygreenslugg]

The book which accompanied the miniseries had five main characters; Eugene Sledge, Robert Leckie and John Basilone as seen in the miniseries, as well as Austin Shofter USMC and Vernon Micheel USN. Ensign Micheel was an SBD and SB2C pilot from Enterprise and Hornet. Ens Micheel served in Midway, Guadalcanal and later battles and his story is fascinating. He served in the USN until 1972 and only passed away at the end of July this year.

Very much worth a read and his story would be ideally suited to a movie.

Cheers,
Matt

[tom d. friedman]

Wonder when Tom "the" Cruise will get the phone call.... The Mav rides again....

let's not doom the movie already with that statement!!

[JDK]

well, i really hope it's not made like pearl harbor. Let's just be honest with ourselves and know that everything will be computer generated in some way. As much as we would all love to see real planes and period ships, it's going to come down to money. The good part of this is that the name Midway will be brought to the attention of the younger generation and hopefully not forgotten

I have no problem with CGI, as long as it's realistic. Fortunately, computer graphics have come a long way in the 10 years since "Pearl Harbor" was made. I especially wouldn't mind if they got "Tochy" from Japan to do the graphics.

The age of CGI is, IMHO, a distraction. Sure older stuff's rougher than newer stuff, but that's not the problem. The problem with CGI has always been the same - it's not dependant on Newton's 3 Laws, and so directors always overcrank what the object can 'really' do. Problem is, once you've started that physics exaggeration, it's hard to reset to reality; so we are going to get many more aircraft that can climb like a homesick angel and turn like a politician.

Much as I loathe CGI, it's no worse than the kind of cinematic special effects. We just used to have cr@p modelwork instead, or really overcranked and re-cut aircraft film. For models 633 Squadron was enjoyably awful with 90 degree turns, while Only Angels have Wings has some of the best real aerial filming (spinning a Ford Trimotor and landing on a Butte) and some of the worst ('landing' model aeroplanes while chucking buckets of water...)

The irony of Airplane was that every deliberate error they committed someone had done without irony before - down to casting our own bdk as 'Otto'.

But as has been touched on before, it'd be nice if they tried new material (not like The Dambusters, old ground.) New topics is where the money is, not retreads and safe, familiar topics. But that's where the risks are too; and currently big film-making is very risk adverse.

Regards,

[Dave Homewood]

I think the use of CGI is fine so long as the director knows what to do with it. For example, I think the aeroplanes in Peter Jackson's King Kong looked spot on, the right movement, speed, handling, etc. Not to mention the incredible job the team did there on recreating 1930's New York in CGI, plus the gorilla himself.

Many film makers these days understand how to use CGI in their films so well that the viewer has no understanding that they are watching CGI, it looks real. It's only when poor attempts are made that it stands out blatantly as computer generated imagery.

I'd actually like to see the story of Midway told again in this way because I think the 1976 version was simply dire, to the point I regret wasting the $10.00 I spent on the DVD. I had no idea it was so hokey, with such a poor script, dreadful acting from a load of b-grade has-beens, and obviously a very poor budget and director. I'd been under the impression it was a good follow up to Tora, Tora, Tora but I came away not really knowing if I learned anything true about the real battle, a film that bad makes me wonder if they made up the alledged historical parts storyline (as in Pearl Harbor). I doubt any of the characters were real even

Have there been any other feature films or dramas about Midway, apart from the 1976 travesty?

I'd like to see Dambusters remade too and I'm looking forward to it. But I agree with you James that there are a lot of other true WWII stories out there that coud make the basis of equally stunning new films. I would love to see a film based on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier in WWII. And of course some true films on the RNZAF and RAAF, and RAF and USAAF, etc.

[Rocketeer]

A Midway remake would certainly call for a scene correctly portraying the B-26 Marauders that carried torpedoes, especially Muri's Susie-Q (which swept over the deck of the Akagi!). Either of the early model B-26s at Pima, MAPS, or the Fantasy of Flight Museum could play the part.

[Rocketeer]

With a potential TBD Devastator recovery for Pensacola this year, it's a shame that there hasn't been any effort started to have some other TBDs built from scratch to airworthy condition once a pattern from the airframe is recovered. Once the Navy's museum gets its example restored and put ondisplay, they probably wouldn't be to cooporative about allowing a group to disassemble its aircraft to use it as a pattern for new build parts. However, if a group intent on building a couple of TBDs worked while the Pensacola museum restores thier example, maybe they could ultimately restore an authentic Douglas TBD while producing a couple of airworthy examples.