# Roland Emerich's "Midway" will make "Pearl Harbor" look like "Saving Private Ryan" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739 "2019-07-08T23:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/1 "2019-07-08T23:36:27Z")
Here’s the trailer: Discuss… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/2 "2019-07-08T23:43:31Z")
KABOOM! [repeat until credits roll] ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/3 "2019-07-08T23:49:59Z")
There’s worse things that turning a major battle into a cheesy action movie with lots of explosions. See Pearl Harbor again for an example. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/4 "2019-07-08T23:50:32Z")
Roland Emmerich…the man who taught me to distrust and hate trailers. The man who ruined any hope of ever getting excited about a movie for me. The man who killed any sense of child-like wonder in me…yeah, pass. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/5 "2019-07-08T23:54:56Z")
I’ll see it if he blows up the White House again. So given the anticipated historical accuracy of the film, I guess there’s a chance I’ll see it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/6 "2019-07-09T00:11:34Z")
Doubtful it can be worse than Pearl Harbor. Figure out a way to have one person be a fighter pilot with the RAF in the Battle of Britain, a fighter pilot who shot down multiple planes at the Battle of Pearl Harbor and then be a bomber pilot on the Doolittle Raid. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/7 "2019-07-09T03:16:48Z")
YouTube makes you sit through an ad to see a movie trailer??? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/8 "2019-07-09T03:26:44Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > YouTube makes you sit through an ad to see a movie trailer??? Disgusting, yes? The God damn theater charges you money to see ads to see trailers. Edit: and AND, You have to leave your house! ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/9 "2019-07-09T03:27:48Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > YouTube makes you sit through an ad to see a movie trailer??? I once watched a movie trailer whose ad turned out to be that exact movie trailer so I just watched it twice to get my ad revenue’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/10 "2019-07-09T16:09:33Z")
There is not the slightest chance in Hell that this is going to be a good (or historically accurate) movie. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/11 "2019-07-09T16:31:21Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > There is not the slightest chance in Hell that this is going to be a good (or historically accurate) movie. There is a slight chance. From what I can see right now there are no fictional characters. All the main actors are playing actual people. No Matt Garth or improbable Affleck character. And the cast is full of good actors. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/12 "2019-07-09T16:36:20Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There is a slight chance. From what I can see right now there are no fictional characters. All the main actors are playing actual people. No Matt Garth or improbable Affleck character. And the cast is full of good actors. Why does it start with Pearl? and why the love interest? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/13 "2019-07-09T16:59:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why does it start with Pearl? > > and why the love interest? Obviously I haven’t seen the movie. By the trailer it appears they are using Pearl Harbor as a graphic example of a failure of military intelligence to contrast it with the MI triumph of Midway. No idea how much time they will spend on it. It looks like they are going to show some of the Doolittle raid too. The carriers at Midway did participate in that. I also can’t know how much of a love story is going to be shown. Ed Skrein is playing Dick Best (great name) who led a dive bomber squadron off the Enterprise during the battle. Mandy Moore appears to be playing his wife. Both real people. Best was one of the principal heroes of the battle. No doubt the CGI battles will be over the top. Apparently they are trying to tell the actual story and not throw some fake characters into a real event. I find that encouraging. But looks may be deceiving. Not all of the characters are named yet. The screenwriter is the writer and executive producer of Colony which I like but other than that he doesn’t have much of a track record so I don’t know how to feel about him. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/14 "2019-07-09T17:20:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > By the trailer it appears they are using Pearl Harbor as a graphic example of a failure of military intelligence to contrast it with the MI triumph of Midway. The greatest defeat of the US Navy and its greatest victory, six months apart. The Japanese thought they had the world by the balls until the Doolittle Raid. They moved on Midway to nullify the US threat in the Pacific once and for all. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/15 "2019-07-09T17:22:39Z")
Ah, modern cgi. The battle and attack scenes look like paintings. That’s not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/16 "2019-07-09T17:55:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Ah, modern cgi. > > The battle and attack scenes look like paintings. > > That’s not a good thing. Totally agree. Way back when, these movies were great for fans of air shows featuring old war planes and war plane museums and the like. Hollywood would make the movie but have to restore a bunch of old planes in the process. Afterwards they practically gave them away. Now with CGI? Computer games? I’m going to watch the 1976 version. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/17 "2019-07-09T17:57:00Z")
Looks like World of Warships game. Not good… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/18 "2019-07-09T18:10:14Z")
[Existing thread.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=877912) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/19 "2019-07-09T18:42:43Z")
But what I want to know is, will this version be in Sensurround? Then again, given the speaker layouts used in theaters (and home systems) today, how many steps _down_ would Sensurround be? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/20 "2019-07-09T21:19:49Z")
How’s he going to shoehorn in the scene where New York City is graphically destroyed? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739.md?page=2)