On the action front, anyone who has even a passing familiarity with physics will scoff at just about every scene. Not to mention that the final scene has the hero dropping a bomb about 2’ off the deck of a Japanese carrier, and the resulting explosion does nothing to his airplane.
Historically, there is also much to fault, as there are absolutely no F-4F Wildcats in the film whatsoever. It’s all about the TBD Devastator torpedo bombers (that got famously massacred at Midway) and the SBD Dauntless dive bombers, and no US fighters to be seen anywhere, a bewildering omission.
Frankly, the 1976 movie of the same name was far, far better.
I was pretty excited when the first trailer came out, but it quickly became apparent the movie was going to suck. Reminded me of Pearl Harbor.
I thought the same. I’ll watch it when it comes out on streaming services. I haven’t been to the movie theater in about 15 years. After the first trailer, I thought I would go see this one in the theater. But, that faded quickly, as you note.
I’m a HUGE WWII buff, so, anything WWII geeks me out. But, this quickly had my “Pearly Harbor” warning bells ringing.
Apple is spending big money on Masters of the Air produced by the same people who did Band of Brothers. Hopefully it will be much better than this.
This. I’ve watched BoB probably a dozen times or so. There are lots of extended interviews from the soliders on YouTube as well that are fascinating.
The Pacific at first didn’t really do it for me, but, I have since grown to appreciate it. I’m really looking forward to to Masters of the Air, although I’d prefer to see a series about the air battles in the European theatre (would have to be a British focused series I suppose)
Everybody knows (or at least should know) that modern day remakes almost always suck. I just hope they never, ever attempt to make a remake of “Bridge on the River Kwai”, “The Longest Day”, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, etc.
Everybody knows (or at least should know) that modern day remakes almost always suck. I just hope they never, ever attempt to make a remake of “Bridge on the River Kwai”, “The Longest Day”, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, etc.
Agreed. And I would add The Great Escape to that list. Modern filmmakers would ruin it.
Everybody knows (or at least should know) that modern day remakes almost always suck. I just hope they never, ever attempt to make a remake of “Bridge on the River Kwai”, “The Longest Day”, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, etc.
Don’t hold your breath. War movies are huge money makers, it is only a matter of time before somebody famous recruits a bunch of famous actors and remakes a movie that totally sucks
I’d prefer to see a series about the air battles in the European theatre (would have to be a British focused series I suppose)
Say what?
Well, I would imagine a series about that would largely focus on the battle of Britain, no?
It seems most likely that an American series based on air involvement in WW2 would focus on the pacific battles.
The Battle of Britain lasted 3-4 months in the late summer, early fall of 1940. While an important battle, it only decided who had air superiority over Britain. The Luftwaffe still reigned supreme over the Continent. The RAF started bombing Germany in 1940 and 1941, but never had air superiority. In 1942, the US began daylight operations over the Continent, and the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) really took off in 1943. However, the lack of long range escort fighters meant horrific losses for both the RAF and the USAAF bombers. It wasn’t until the P-47, and then the P-51 with drop tanks, that the tide began to turn against the Luftwaffe. In fact, most of the air-to-air battles over the Continent were between the USAAF and the Luftwaffe, as the RAF never did develop a long range escort fighter. It was during Big Week in early 1944, with the USAAF putting over a 1,000 bombers every day for over a week (and the RAF putting huge numbers of sorties at night as well), that the back of the Luftwaffe fighter force was broken, ensuring aerial supremacy over the D-Day landing beaches in June 1944.
I’d prefer to see a series about the air battles in the European theatre (would have to be a British focused series I suppose)
Say what?
Well, I would imagine a series about that would largely focus on the battle of Britain, no?
It seems most likely that an American series based on air involvement in WW2 would focus on the pacific battles.
The Battle of Britain lasted 3-4 months in the late summer, early fall of 1940. While an important battle, it only decided who had air superiority over Britain. The Luftwaffe still reigned supreme over the Continent. The RAF started bombing Germany in 1940 and 1941, but never had air superiority. In 1942, the US began daylight operations over the Continent, and the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) really took off in 1943. However, the lack of long range escort fighters meant horrific losses for both the RAF and the USAAF bombers. It wasn’t until the P-47, and then the P-51 with drop tanks, that the tide began to turn against the Luftwaffe. In fact, most of the air-to-air battles over the Continent were between the USAAF and the Luftwaffe, as the RAF never did develop a long range escort fighter. It was during Big Week in early 1944, with the USAAF putting over a 1,000 bombers every day for over a week (and the RAF putting huge numbers of sorties at night as well), that the back of the Luftwaffe fighter force was broken, ensuring aerial supremacy over the D-Day landing beaches in June 1944.
You almost make it sound like it wasn’t just the RAF
There’s a new WWII series on Netflix. I’m about four episodes in. Really enjoying it. Just finished the episode on Midway. I thought it was really well done.
But, this quickly had my “Pearly Harbor” warning bells ringing.
Funny thing about Pearl Harbor. That was the first movie date I had with my wife. We both came out of it pretending to like it, you know, as to not ruin the date. About a year later we both came clean about what a stupid movie it was.
There’s a new WWII series on Netflix. I’m about four episodes in. Really enjoying it. Just finished the episode on Midway. I thought it was really well done.