# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/21 "2019-07-09T22:03:11Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > will this version be in Sensurround? I had a friend who told this story about seeing the 1976 version of _Midway_, accompanied by a WW2 Navy pilot: The battle was raging and the theater was throbbing with the sound of it all. In a brief lull, the pilot leaned over and said to my friend: “Charlie, I was _at_ the battle of Midway, and it wasn’t this loud.” ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/22 "2019-07-09T22:26:13Z")
> [@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. No American pilot-Japanese love interest subplot where Chuck Heston uses up all his favors to…shove it under the rug?? I don’t remember. Maybe this movie will have Michael B. Jordan sneaking into a Dauntless and secretly being part of a squadron…or Chadwick Boseman guilting Admiral Nimitz into letting him fly an Avenger “Admiral, I flew a cropduster for 15 years and you’re out of pilots!! You need me!” ---
**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 10, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/23 "2019-07-10T03:38:26Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > No American pilot-Japanese love interest subplot where Chuck Heston uses up all his favors to…shove it under the rug?? I don’t remember. > Maybe this movie will have Michael B. Jordan sneaking into a Dauntless and secretly being part of a squadron…or Chadwick Boseman guilting Admiral Nimitz into letting him fly an Avenger > > “Admiral, I flew a cropduster for 15 years and you’re out of pilots!! You need me!” We can only hope. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/24 "2019-07-10T05:18:41Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > No American pilot-Japanese love interest subplot where Chuck Heston uses up all his favors to…shove it under the rug?? I don’t remember. > Maybe this movie will have Michael B. Jordan sneaking into a Dauntless and secretly being part of a squadron…or Chadwick Boseman guilting Admiral Nimitz into letting him fly an Avenger > > “Admiral, I flew a cropduster for 15 years and you’re out of pilots!! You need me!” IIRC the first time this movie was revealed it was part of an announcement of a bunch of Chinese movie studios getting together to fund a WW2 based film for the American market. I half-joked they were going to find someway to shoehorn in a famous Chinese actor playing a pilot who participated in the Battle of Midway but seeing as how part of this film is the Doolittle Raid I now wouldn’t be surprised if the landing in China part was a good chunk of the piece. ---
**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 10, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/25 "2019-07-10T15:27:05Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > “Admiral, I flew a cropduster for 15 years and you’re out of pilots!! You need me!” Attacking the Japanese fleet ain’t like dusting crops, kid! Without precise skills you could fly right through flak or bounce off the water surface and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it? > [@Xema](#): > > I had a friend who told this story about seeing the 1976 version of _Midway_, accompanied by a WW2 Navy pilot: > > The battle was raging and the theater was throbbing with the sound of it all. In a brief lull, the pilot leaned over and said to my friend: “Charlie, I was _at_ the battle of Midway, and it wasn’t this loud.” I wonder if that is apocryphal, because I heard the same thing about _Dunkirk_. Of course, it’s also _true_ for both movies, so who knows? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/26 "2019-07-10T16:22:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I wonder if that is apocryphal… I’m pretty sure this one happened - I met the Navy pilot in question, who indeed was at the battle of Midway. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/27 "2019-07-10T18:44:46Z")
“Welcome to Midway!” _Punches downed Zero pilot_ ---
**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 10, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/28 "2019-07-10T19:08:56Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > IIRC the first time this movie was revealed it was part of an announcement of a bunch of Chinese movie studios getting together to fund a WW2 based film for the American market. > > I half-joked they were going to find someway to shoehorn in a famous Chinese actor playing a pilot who participated in the Battle of Midway but seeing as how part of this film is the Doolittle Raid I now wouldn’t be surprised if the landing in China part was a good chunk of the piece. The film is in post production so I’m assuming the cast is known. IMDB lists one actor with a Chinese sounding last name. He’s American, is only listed as “local commander”, and only has one other credit. I’m going to use my crystal ball and say there will be one brief scene on the ground in China with some Chinese extras. All other Asian actors that have been named are either Japanese or of Japanese descent and playing historical Japanese characters. It doesn’t look like it will turn into The Meg. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/29 "2019-07-10T19:25:59Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I had a friend who told this story about seeing the 1976 version of _Midway_, accompanied by a WW2 Navy pilot: > > The battle was raging and the theater was throbbing with the sound of it all. In a brief lull, the pilot leaned over and said to my friend: “Charlie, I was _at_ the battle of Midway, and it wasn’t this loud.” I wasn’t at the Battle of Midway, but I do remember seeing the movie in 1976. It was freakin’ deafening! As I recall it was one of a handful of movies where they used special speakers called “Sensurround” (or something like that). People in the theater next door watching a different movie complained to the management they could barely focus on the movie because of all the noise and vibration coming from the Midway film. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/30 "2019-07-13T21:43:32Z")
I’m probably going to hate this movie. It won’t be accurate enough. But I’ll see it, because I think that dive bomber attack at the end of the preview was Dick Best’s fantastic dive on Akagi. I’ll see the movie just for that. ---
**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 14, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/31 "2019-07-14T01:12:20Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > I’m probably going to hate this movie. It won’t be accurate enough. But I’ll see it, because I think that dive bomber attack at the end of the preview was Dick Best’s fantastic dive on Akagi. I’ll see the movie just for that. Or, you can wait a few months and stream it at home. It may even end up on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/32 "2019-07-14T01:51:18Z")
I watched the preview again. Typically, CGI fleets consist of just a few ship types repeated many times over. I recall one movie that depicted a vast WW2 US fleet as having a dozen or more Iowa class battleships (only 4 were made). I’m sure it’s cheaper that way, and most viewers are not ship dorks like me, and don’t care. The Midway preview is better; the USN and IJN ships are correct for the period, and for the battle. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/33 "2019-07-14T02:00:30Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > I’m probably going to hate this movie. It won’t be accurate enough. But I’ll see it, because I think that dive bomber attack at the end of the preview was Dick Best’s fantastic dive on Akagi. I’ll see the movie just for that. They’ll screw it up somehow. Maybe throw a couple of TIE fighters attacking him on the way down. ---
**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 14, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/34 "2019-07-14T15:03:44Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > I watched the preview again. Typically, CGI fleets consist of just a few ship types repeated many times over. I recall one movie that depicted a vast WW2 US fleet as having a dozen or more Iowa class battleships (only 4 were made). I’m sure it’s cheaper that way, and most viewers are not ship dorks like me, and don’t care. The Midway preview is better; the USN and IJN ships are correct for the period, and for the battle. Since it’s in post production now and not due for several months the CGI may not be set yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/35 "2019-07-15T00:18:31Z")
If that is Ensign Gay that is coming up the water surface with a wave punching “Wooo!” I will demand my money back. Everyone in his squadron is dead, he needs to hide from the rest of the Japanese fleet, and this is what he’s doing? Punching the water in excitement after seeing the Japanese fleet get bombed makes more sense, and happened In The 1976 movie IIRC. ---
**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 15, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/36 "2019-07-15T03:12:56Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Or, you can wait a few months and stream it at home. It may even end up on YouTube. If I see it, I want to watch it on the big screen. I think the last time I did that was with _ **The Hateful Eight** _ (or maybe _ **Fury** _). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/37 "2019-07-15T13:35:34Z")
0:21, enjoyed seeing the zeroes strafing city streets from an altitude of ten feet, with inches of clearance on either wingtip. Looks like it’ll be straight out of the [Michael Bay School of Film-making.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ssUivM-eM) ---
**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 15, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/38 "2019-07-15T14:17:58Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > If that is Ensign Gay that is coming up the water surface with a wave punching “Wooo!” I will demand my money back. Everyone in his squadron is dead, he needs to hide from the rest of the Japanese fleet, and this is what he’s doing? > > Punching the water in excitement after seeing the Japanese fleet get bombed makes more sense, and happened In The 1976 movie IIRC. “Thankfully, the U.S. Navy needed less than an hour to shift the winds of war in the Pacific. Around 10:20 a.m., three squadrons of dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown arrived at the battle site, perfectly positioned to attack the Japanese carriers. With a grandstand seat for the ensuing action, \*Gay watched and cheered \*as the Kaga, Akagi, and Sōryū all sustained fatal bomb hits and turned into floating cauldrons of searing flames and secondary explosion” [https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/05/25/ensign-george-h-gays-fateful-day-june-4-1942/](https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/05/25/ensign-george-h-gays-fateful-day-june-4-1942/) I’ll have to try and find his own words but that’s how I remember the accounts. He cheered. ---
**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 15, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/39 "2019-07-15T14:31:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > “Thankfully, the U.S. Navy needed less than an hour to shift the winds of war in the Pacific. Around 10:20 a.m., three squadrons of dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown arrived at the battle site, perfectly positioned to attack the Japanese carriers. With a grandstand seat for the ensuing action, \*Gay watched and cheered \*as the Kaga, Akagi, and Sōryū all sustained fatal bomb hits and turned into floating cauldrons of searing flames and secondary explosion” > > [https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/05/25/ensign-george-h-gays-fateful-day-june-4-1942/](https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/05/25/ensign-george-h-gays-fateful-day-june-4-1942/) > > I’ll have to try and find his own words but that’s how I remember the accounts. He cheered. Ok here is an interview. At around 5:45 he says he was “Cheering like at a football game.” I’m not sure if that means “Woo” but close enough. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A7iod8O_ga0/maxresdefault.jpg "Battle of Midway - Torpedo Squadron Eight - Ensign George Gay Interview - 1974") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7iod8O_ga0) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739/40 "2019-07-15T14:45:04Z")
Cheering when the attack succeed is expected. Cheering when you just resurfaced after seeing all your friends die around you? Not so much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roland-emerichs-midway-will-make-pearl-harbor-look-like-saving-private-ryan/836739.md?page=3)