# Should there be a final remake of the Pearl Harbor attack? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424 "2022-04-25T17:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/1 "2022-04-25T17:59:25Z")
Most of the story remains untold by Hollywood: Army Navy contention for coastal defense Navy studies using the Lexington to simulate attacks Army responsibility for defense of Hawaiian Islands Army defense preparation Armaments transfer Details of Japanese preparation Trial run by Japanese ship The Attack Military and civilian impact Army response Admiral Kimmel blame and defense Aftermath There is more than enough for 5 or 6 streaming seasons. Given the years that have passed, what would be the most valuable perspectives? What facts need to be explored? What emphasis changed? Or…? ---
**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:** [April 25, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/2 "2022-04-25T19:37:50Z")
If they can leave out dopey romance subplots, I’m in. That, and historical inaccuracies. But why stop now? ---
**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:** [April 25, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/3 "2022-04-25T21:19:43Z")
There are a lot of stories that Hollywood hasn’t told…mostly because they are boring af. So is everything on the OP’s list except the attack and its _immediate_ surroundings. Some History (hell, almost **all** History!) is totally unsuited for TV/movies. It’s barely tolerable as books. So Hollywood will continue to make up romance sub-plots and such. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/4 "2022-04-25T21:38:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > History (hell, almost **all** History!) is totally unsuited for TV/movies. Perhaps so, but there’s more Japanese and US political intrigue in history than current COP shows. 1930-1946 History is more exciting than most of the stuff being streamed. A lot of it is pseudohistory. Why not have the real thing? Also, the roles of the Army, Navy. and military aircraft were still being defined. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/5 "2022-04-25T21:39:59Z")
It sounds like what you are looking for is an extensive documentary, not a dramatization. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/6 "2022-04-25T21:40:32Z")
Include the Niihau Incident. [https://www.google.com/search?q=niihau+incident&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=niihau+incident&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/7 "2022-04-25T21:43:38Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > extensive documentary Well that goes to Just\_Asking\_Questions point. Dramatization adds interest, but you want it to be authentic. I’d like the presentation style closer to Downton Abbey than Ken Burns. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/8 "2022-04-25T21:45:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Include the Niihau Incident. Oh yeah. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/9 "2022-04-25T22:37:48Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Dramatization adds interest, but you want it to be authentic. I’d like the presentation style closer to Downton Abbey than Ken Burns. Midway (the original, but maybe the remake, too?) and Tora Tora Tora might be a good basis. Dramatization of real people, stick close to the facts, and leave the action-stopping romances out of it. Yes, you have a sausage-fest movie that won’t even come close to passing the “Bechdel Test”, but then, most WWII battles in real life wouldn’t pass that test, so maybe for WWII movies we can ignore that. Otherwise we get Pearl Harbor and From here to Eternity, ---
**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:** [April 25, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/10 "2022-04-25T23:01:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Include the Niihau Incident. > [https://www.google.com/search?q=niihau+incident&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=niihau+incident&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) They already done that. > **[Enemy Within (2019) ⭐ 4.7 | Action, Drama, History](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6525952/)** > > 1h 49m | TV-14 ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/11 "2022-04-25T23:08:52Z")
[I don’t see how this can be improved upon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d67rhIzUhhk) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/12 "2022-04-25T23:14:37Z")
Maybe a movie about the Doolittle Raid that isn’t shoe-horned in between Pearl Harbor and Midway? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/13 "2022-04-25T23:15:28Z")
A true classic. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/14 "2022-04-25T23:16:45Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I don’t see how this can be improved upon He didn’t crash in the sea, he crash landed on the island. They were told to land there if damaged, and await rescue by submarine. It’s inaccurate from the trailer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/15 "2022-04-25T23:22:35Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Admiral Kimmel blame and defense It was apparently a documentary and not a Hollywood-type drama, but there _has_ been a movie about Kimmel’s role. > **[New Original Documentary PEARL HARBOR: THE ACCUSED Uncovers Startling New...](https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/new-original-documentary-pearl-harbor-the-accused-uncovers-startling-new-revelations-premiering-december-5-on-hbo-canada-2/)** > > TORONTO (November 24, 2016) – Seventy-five years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, HBO Canada presents a documentary that unearths fresh evidence about the tragic event in PEARL HARBOR: THE ACCUSED. The 90-minute,documentary, commissioned by Bell... ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/16 "2022-04-25T23:29:52Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > There is more than enough for 5 or 6 streaming seasons. No, there is definitely not. Maybe a miniseries. I’m a WW2 history buff and I don’t think I could watch six seasons of this. What’s season 1, 10 hours of watching an Army/Navy committee arguing over coastal defense responsibilities? There’s just not enough material there for a general interest series. This is exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to find in a good history book for people who are really interested in a particular battle and want to do a deep dive, but almost no one is going to care about the army and navy battling over coastal defense politics. Incidentally, somewhat related, I saw the 2019 version of Midway recently and thought it was a surprisingly good kind of throwback no-bullshit war movie. No forced romantic subplots, pretty accurate, the rah rah America shit wasn’t excessive, I’d recomend it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/17 "2022-04-25T23:33:23Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Incidentally, somewhat related, I saw the 2019 version of Midway recently and thought it was a surprisingly good kind of throwback no-bullshit war movie. No forced romantic subplots, pretty accurate, the rah rah America shit wasn’t excessive, I’d recomend it. It had its moments, but I found the rah-rah to be excessive in comparison to the 1976 movie, plus I had trouble getting past scenes of American dive bombers releasing their bombs practically at deck level and somehow avoiding being consumed by the resulting blasts. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/18 "2022-04-26T00:57:02Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Maybe a movie about the Doolittle Raid that isn’t shoe-horned in between Pearl Harbor and Midway? Thr first one wasn’t so bad. It used some actual footage, and was made while the war was still in progress. > **[Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Seconds_Over_Tokyo)** > > Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan, four months after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid was planned, led by, and named after United States Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, who was promoted two ra... ---
**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:** [April 26, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/19 "2022-04-26T01:18:15Z")
Also the ridiculous amount of flak,always just barely missing the Dauntlesses. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424/20 "2022-04-26T03:18:12Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …, plus I had trouble getting past scenes of American dive bombers releasing their bombs practically at deck level… And wingtips dragging the waves before the Miraculous Pull-up! Goddamn! Wasn’t the actual Battle of Midway exciting enough without that shit??? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-final-remake-of-the-pearl-harbor-attack/963424.md?page=2)