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Author Topic: New Midway movie. Any good?  (Read 1500 times)

Offline Antonio J Carrasco

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New Midway movie. Any good?
« on: November 11, 2019, 07:16:07 AM »
Here, in Spain, the movie won't be released until December 5th. I am planning to go with my eldest to watch it, but I don't know if it is any good or just a lot of crap a la Pearl Harbor.

In Rottentomatoes critics rates it with a paltry 42%, but public rates it with a 92%! (sometimes I wonder if critics and public watch the same movie!)

So, question is for fellow wargamers that have already watched: is it any good? I mean, as a wargamer and historian buff, do you think that the movie is it worth the money of an entry ticket?

Thanks in advance!

Offline Elbows

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2019, 07:33:34 AM »
Nowdays, I listen to the public before the critics (almost none of them aren't heavily shilling for major companies...there are almost ZERO people out there not pushing a product).

In fact I generally won't go see a film that gets an 80-90% review from critics.  That means the film is some agenda-pushing garbage or simply a film from Disney or one of the other power-houses out there.

Midway, from the trailers, looks...terrible.  But if it's that poorly critiqued I'll probably give it a chance.  If I do, I'll post here and let you know what I think.
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Offline jetengine

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2019, 10:56:53 AM »
Critics are fine, they merely look at a film from a (surprise surprise) critical perspective noting themes, ideals, cliches etc. Now whether you agree or disagree is up to you, but going "The public love it so its great !"  means endorsing alot of horseshit like the majority of the Bayformers movies.

Offline Rommel

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2019, 12:01:14 PM »
Saw yesterday, not bad. Worth seeing on big screen!

Offline Elbows

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2019, 05:00:04 PM »
Critics are fine, they merely look at a film from a (surprise surprise) critical perspective noting themes, ideals, cliches etc. Now whether you agree or disagree is up to you, but going "The public love it so its great !"  means endorsing alot of horseshit like the majority of the Bayformers movies.

And that's where I'd have to disagree strongly...but perhaps you and I have vastly difference expectations from a professional critic.  I don't think I can tell you the last time I saw a professional critique of a film that wasn't laced with personal politics, agendas, etc.

Offline Volleyfire!

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2019, 06:21:05 PM »
We watched it as a family at the weekend. Personally speaking we all thought it was very good, entertaining and the CGI is brilliant. The rivet counters might disagree with some parts but I thought they did a good job even if some parts of the battle seemed to be edited out, I mean Yorktown was just a ship being bombed in the background in one scene and the USN fighters never got a look in.

Offline Tommy20

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2019, 06:23:57 PM »
I saw it with my son Saturday night.  Although I kept my expectations low due to Bay's track record, I still came away fairly disappointed.

There was certainly eye candy (the CGI of the Enterprise & her sisters was pretty good, as were the Dauntlesses & Devastators), and they did build the story around the actual players (no Matt Garth & his family soap opera).  However, the story just felt like they were checking off boxes.  There was no real investment in any of the characters except Dick Best, and he was turned into a cartoon.  And there were a lot of nit-picky errors that I could overlook if the narrative was better.  I give it a C+/B- at best.

I mean Yorktown was just a ship being bombed in the background in one scene and the USN fighters never got a look in.

Can you believe there wasn't a single US fighter in the whole movie?!?
-Tommy

Offline Elbows

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2019, 08:04:48 PM »
Just went and saw it.  It is a completely okay movie.  It's very Hollywood (far more Pearl Harbor than a historical film).  Only real highlights were the CGI eye-candy, as mentioned above - excluding the combat scenes which were questionable in most instances.

Surprisingly fair depiction of both sides.  Terrible uniforms, terrible salutes (as always).  Definitely a very narrow focus on a select few characters - and yes there is a very bizarre lack of US fighter aircraft, etc.

Overall, a perfectly B- popcorn movie about WW2.  As a piece of accurate, serious cinema?  Definitely less than a B-.

Offline Colonel Tubby

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2019, 07:23:05 PM »
I enjoyed it!

The CGI wasn't at all distracting like some movies. The title is a bit misleading as about half the film is about the early Pacific campaign but that really helped give some context.

The above comment about The Yorktown were spot on - blink and you miss it!

Offline Arrigo

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2019, 08:15:11 PM »
Well considering the Yorktown managed to send the only coordinated strike of the day (US side) and its fighters helped bringing the Japanese top cover at low level... it is a disservice... that and Black Jack was in command and made the right decisions (this comes from a Ray Spruance' fan)... put the movie down for me.

With all the Matt Garth things... at least the original Midway did a good service to Fletcher (okay they messed with Bombing and Torpedo 3... Massey, Leslie and Tatch separated when in sight of the Soryu to go for an anvil and hammer attack).

I am also sure the movie is not even addressing Mitscher court martial behavior... (sorry I think he was a poor commander, overblown in reputation... Magnificent Mitscher my ass...  >:D )
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Offline Volleyfire!

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2019, 09:05:44 PM »
We have to remember that the film is made for the general entertainment of an audience who aren't history buffs, and certainly nowhere near as knowledgeable as people on this forum, and mostly have no idea about the battle itself or the war in the Pacific.
Hollywood weren't keen to back it in case they had another WW2 turkey like Pearl Harbour so they had to use private equity to fund it, so we are lucky to have had it made as it is.

Offline mweaver

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Re: New Midway movie. Any good?
« Reply #11 on: November 14, 2019, 03:40:47 AM »
Saw it this weekend.  I went in with low expectations from the trailers, and was pleasantly surprised that it was an OK film.  Not brilliant, but OK.  Some of the choices about what to cover and what to leave out seem a bit odd to me (and the absence of U.S. fighters, as others have noted, seemed a weird omission).  But - and this is important to me - there were no Peace-loving-Prince-Hal-prevented-the-battle-of-Shrewsbury-from-ever-happening! complete rewriting of history moments that I have to un-teach to my students. 

-Michael