Midway (2019) | MOVIE REACTION

[@LarissaZeeuwe]

Request your own Movie Reaction!: patreon.com/larissazeeuwe 🎬

[@Crazycoyote-we7ey]

Fun Fact the Imperial Japanese navy Didn't have radar on their ships And their codes were all broken

[@golfr-kg9ss]

The pilot swimming in the water was George Gay, a real person and a real story the sole survivor of the Hornet's Torpedo 8 squadron. He was lucky not to be picked up by the Japanese. After the war he became an airline pilot.

[@tvc1848]

I had George Gay sign his book at a Confederate Air Force (now Commemorative) airshow in Texas many years ago. I lost it later in a house fire.

[@metrolax]

He was also a graduate of Texas A&M

[@ronlackey2689]

The pride of Waco, Texas.

[@keithcharboneau3331]

President George H.W. Bush was also a Naval Aviator and fought in the battle of Midway, he was a fighter pilot with VF-5 if my memory serves me correctly, flying from the U.S.S. Yorktown, don't hold me to that, but I do believe that my information is accurate.

[@golfr-kg9ss]

@@keithcharboneau3331 your reply intrigued me. So I went looking. George graduated college in 1942 and enrolled in the Navy right after graduating. He spent the next 10 months in flight training. So you got some bad info. What I remember about George from ww2. He got shot down over the ocean and was rescued by a submarine. If you look you can find video of the sub pulling him aboard.

[@mikealvarez2322]

The reason for the confusion when Best and McClusky groups both attacked the same carrier and nearly caused mid air collisions. McClusky was basically a fighter pilot. When 2 groups are going after 2 enemy carriers the lead group is suppose to attack the far carrier while the second group attacks the closest carrier. McClusky went after the nearest carrier, the Kaga, and as soon as Best realized the error, he and 2 other pilots broke off to attack the Akagi. Best's bomb was the only one to hit the Akagi, but his 1000 pound bomb hit right where it did the most damage.

[@brucechmiel7964]

McClusky was a Devastator pilot. They use very different tactics. He appears to be instinctively flying Torpedo plane doctrine.

[@mikealvarez2322]

​@@brucechmiel7964 McCluskey took command of Fighting Squadron 6 (VF 6) in April 1941. A year later he became the air group commander flying the Dauntless. (Naval Academy Store reference)

[@brucechmiel7964]

@@mikealvarez2322 But for some reason, he ignored combat doctrine and attacked the closest enemy ship like he was an Avenger pilot. Now it might be instinct stacked with adrenaline. We will never know. But Best saw the development and the rest is history.

[@Ambaryerno]

@@brucechmiel7964 It had nothing to do with torpedo pilots. McClusky wasn't a bomber pilot period.

[@jakesanchez7235]

One battle I’m obsessed with is the battle of midway, and how in within 15 minutes the American dive bombers managed to destroy imperial japan navy air craft carriers. Richard Best isn’t spoken enough in history in my opinion, Wade McClusky is well known for finding the destroyer following the carrier task force. It’s also true what Nick Jones Character did, Bruno hopped in the plane and shot it down. I love that they showed John Ford filming the battle of midway, later in life he would bully the FUCK outta John Wayne for “playing war hero” but never serving his time. If anyone says he was to old.. Clark Gable served in a bomber in multiple missions. God bless Admiral Chester Nimitz and the United States Navy. Torpedo squadron 8 were all killed besides one( the man who was floating in water) there’s a video of them prior to the mission all alive and happy. The next day, all dead.

[@James-zg2nl]

Thank you writing this, I was going to take the time to point out all these Hollywood plot armour feats that are actually indeed historically accurate but you beat me to it 🫡 I am not American, so we non-Americans often criticize and poke fun of the ignorance of Americans, always overstating their roles in the world wars, and world history in general. However, despite my bias to be critical of American history, this is one chapter that I believe does not get enough credit. What these heroes did, just months after Pear Habor, cannot be overstated. They may not have won the war at Midway, but they sure turned the tide and gave the US a fair chance to go toe to toe with the evil Imperial Japanese Navy. My only criticism of the movie is admittedly a bit nitpicky, but that goes to show how accurate this movie is to history: 1 the Japanese Torpedo Bombers hit Pear Harbor from a completely different angle than shown in this movie, 2 the CGI is a bit cartoonish, 3 at the end paying equal respects to the evil Japanese Imperial Navy is morally f**ked up… they were no better than their Nazi allies. Hollywood rightfully pays no respect to the Nazis so why the hell would the filmmakers pay respects to the evils of Imperial Japan?… eh 🤨🤷🏼‍♂️ Cheers 🍻

[@kenbattor6350]

@@James-zg2nl My father was in the Pacific during WW2 and he did not like the Japanese. He was there when we returned to Luzon. The Japanese military went crazy and killed up to 100K Filipino civilians. My father had to of witnessed some of that

[@James-zg2nl]

@@kenbattor6350 I wanted to “like” your comment but I just can’t given the context. I once met a former POW who surrendered at Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941, his stories of their brutality in Hong Kong are quite comparable to what the Filipinos faced. Pure evil is an understatement, and apparently people have not learnt from this as Russia commits a similar level of evil in Ukraine right now. Thankfully Japan and Germany have come around to the light and are now pilers of human decency, not to mention allies of the US… although my country has no alliance with Japan, we do enjoy friendly relations.

[@kenbattor6350]

@@James-zg2nl Japan and Germany came "to the light' because the US brought the horrors of war directly upon their nations. Nations will continue to commit evil acts as long as they feel they can get away with it.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

John Ford was a special kind of mad to hop onto the roof of that bunker.

[@richardwhite3041]

One of the pilots in VB-6 (Bombing 6 on the Enterprise) Dusty Kleiss was the only pilot in the battle that dropped his bombs and scored hits on 2 Japanese carriers (Soryu and Hiryu) and the Japanese Heavy Cruiser Mikuma. I was lucky to meet him at in 2006.

[@Redneck2393]

Wow! What an honor and privilege that must have been. My great uncle got to meet Desmond Doss of "Hacksaw Ridge" fame a few times.

[@mikealvarez2322]

I believe the series Battle 360 features an interview with Norman Jack Kleiss and many of the men that served on the most decorated ship of WW2, the USS Enterprise, the ship that also earned 20 Battle Stars. It's mostly computer graphics but the interviews with men like Dusty Kleiss and Flash Gordon (all nicknames). Gordon was originally known as Curly Gordon but the XO suggested he change it to Flash. A great true to life series. If you want to learn about carrier operations in the Pacific, Battle 360 is a must watch. Just to give you a taste of the interviews, one F4F Wildcat American pilot was out of ammo and so was the Japanese pilot in the zero. They turned and started heading towards each other, playing a game of aerial chicken. Guess who blinked and cartwheeled into the ocean?

[@sld1776]

Only pilot to get three hits in the battle. Legend.

[@DarthRevan8976]

Not Soryu, it was Kaga and Hiryu. He used the rising sun on the bow as a bullseye and planted a 1000 pound bomb right on it

[@mikealvarez2322]

Why does Yamamoto sound like Elmer Fudd when he speaks English?😊

[@revolcane]

You are the only one so far who has reacted to this, thank you!

[@TheArrowedKnee]

Really like this movie. It's a little bit hollywood-ified, but for the most part it's historically accurate. If you want a *really, really* excellent series of videos, watch Montemayor's series "The battle of Midway: 1942" - told from the Japanese/American perspectives respectively. It tells you step by step what happend, but also tries to put you in the shoes of the commanders in charge during the battle.

[@vadervanman]

What's the "Hollywoodified" you speak of?

[@athras8822]

@@vadervanman Not to answer for him, the "biggest" mistakes I've found are Dauntless definitely didn't make Junker type of sound while diving and in some shots the Dauntless were armed with both 2 500lb bombs and a torpedo. Oh, and a couple squadrons were missing or merged.

[@vadervanman]

@@athras8822 that's all good, but to me that's not "Hollywoodifying" the movie. I wanted to see if he complained about the Japanese bomber diving for the enterprise only to be shot down by Gaido. I see so many complaints about that scene alone, not realising it actually happened the way it was shown.

[@Roddy556]

​@vadervanman as a bit of an aviation buff they kind of exaggerated the aerodynamics of the aircraft and ballistics of the weapons. Flying through fireballs, expending energy they didn't have, flyijg in way tighter formations than they really would, every projectile glowing extremely bright in daytime, etc. Nothing tragic, I enjoyed the movie, but they kind of added drama and aspects that stretched the suspension of disbelief for no reason.

[@thegunman2841]

​@vadervanman the Japanese AA definitely didn't look like airburst, in fact I believe they didn't even have proximity fuses at this time. Also, the formation of the Japanese fleet is too tight, the ships are too close to each other to line up effective lanes of fire.

[@mikealvarez2322]

I strongly recommend Hacksaw Ridge, the story of Desmond Doss, the only soldier to earn the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.

[@redstarlegion7009]

Someone watched this movie and posted it to KZbin! Thank you Larissa, you wonderful human being.

[@mikealvarez2322]

To ease you mind Larissa; Dick Best lived to the ripe old age of 91. The caustic gas he inhaled triggered a latent tuberculosis into a full blown active TB. He was diagnosed at the hospital, received treatment, and was cured of the disease. After the war he went to work for various aircraft companies. In the 1980s he wrote the preface to a manual having to do with a WW2 flight simulation game. The 250,000 Chinese civilians that were murdered by the Japanese was pay back for the Doolittle raid. To get an idea of Imperial Japan's cruelty just read about the rape of Nanking or the 100,000 Philippino civilians that were massacred by Japanese navy troops as the Americans were moving into Manila.

[@benceklock4831]

Or Unit 731

[@georgesakellaropoulos8162]

I was about to reference unit 731. It seems like they were in competition with the Nazis for committing atrocities. ​@@benceklock4831

[@GodOfWar221]

The moment where the Hollywood director shows up on Midway. DID actually happen, he was sent to the island to film some propaganda films, in effort to boost the sales of war bonds. But what ended up happening, was that he was put in a front row, and center seat to the Japanese attack on the island. So rather than seek cover, seeing as he was a non-combatant. He dug in with the Marines, and just started filming. There is some great footage from his film, showing the battle as it happened. He ended up getting I believe the Purple Heart when he took shrapnel from a Japanese bomb.

[@michaeleberly7351]

“This is no drill.” Is specific language that was required for the message to make clear that the message was not part of an exercise.

[@Epistolary8]

One of the many things this film does right is accurately depict how messy and dangerous carrier flight deck operations were in that time period. Accidents - like planes failing to take off or missing their landings, or crashing into the deck, ordnance detaching, people getting injured, etc. - were all very common.

[@James-zg2nl]

It is astoundingly unbelievable to think this movie is overloaded with Hollywoodized action and real thick plot armour to make you think “yeah right”… then you go all history nerd and research what really happened only to then realize what you see in this criminally unrated war movie is all historically accurate 😮 these men are known as “the greatest generation” for a reason. Sadly my own family suffered multiple losses during WWII. This generation were truly legends in their own time. “Greater Love Havth No Man Than This, That a Man May Lay Down His Life For His Friends” Lest We Forget

[@k1productions87]

Yes, we lost far too many good men in this war, and in this battle specifically. But what cannot be overstated is just how bad of a blow it was to the Japanese to lose all of their best pilots as well. What made the Kito Butai (the Japanese fleet with the Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu at its heart) so deadly was their seasoned and incredibly talented pilots. Warships can be rebuilt, but pilots cannot. America had the benefit in the long term in manpower and industrial might, able to outproduce the Japanese on the sea But even in the short term, losing most of their best flyers was a blow the Japanese simply could not recover from, certainly not when America started refilling the empty bunks at a far faster rate.

[@randyboggy719]

Ensign George Gay lived in my home town and was shot down in his torpedo bomber and saw the whole battle from the sea. So the scene in the movie is completely true that really happened. He told us as he was being shot down he had a spent bullet enter his leg as the plane crashed and he pulled it out of his leg and put it in to his mouth. He said he never thought he would die and just damn he pulled the bullet out of his pocket and showed it to us. This was in 1987s

[@mikealvarez2322]

I am so impressed that you knew about the battle of Yorktown and were close to its exact date, which is September 27 - October 19, 1781. Very few American University students know that. Keep up the great work. Love your reactions.

[@thomaspaine1776]

Finally, someone reacted to this movie.

[@skyhawksailor8736]

The class rings have the graduation dates, so only so many in each field such as avation would have those dates.

[@keithcharboneau3331]

Obviously I was NOT alive in WWII, BUT for 11 years I DID serve in the U.S. Navy as a jet engine mechanic on both F-14's and F/A-18's, you were commenting on the cockiness of the pilots, well i have been around hundreds of Naval Aviators, and they are ALL of them exactly like that, they are the very best pilots on the planet, and they KNOW it, now I do not know how they were back in WWII, but I do not think it any of their attitudes have changed over the decades, so yes he is portraying a Naval Avaitor perfectly.

[@TheOtherGuys2]

Actually, as movies go, Midway is pretty much as close to non-fictional as you can get. Obviously certain dialogue and such they can't really know what was really said, but as far as missions and people and such, it's pretty much all legit. I think some of the biggest inaccuracies include things like, the Japanese ship that stayed to drop depth charges on the submarine was a different ship, the scene where some sailors are listening to Radio Tokyo from Pearl Harbor didn't happen because the radio signal (probably) couldn't have made it that far, and the USS Nautilus wasn't at Pearl at the time of the Dolittle raid. For all the differences the inaccuracies make, it might as well have been exact.

[@mikealvarez2322]

The radio broadcast was not possible because Tokyo Rose didn't exist at that time.

[@mikealvarez2322]

The Nautilus was attacked by 2 cruisers, one of which was the Nagara, and 2 destroyers, one of which was the Arashi. The Arashi stayed behind to be certain that the sub, if it survived couldn't catch up to the task force. The Arashi was the ship that led McClusky to the Japanese carriers. Another minor error in the film was the fact that the Nautilus fired 2 torpedoes at the BATTLESHIP Kirishima NOT one of the carriers. Also, of the 2 torpedoes one misfired and one missed. In 1942 the Type 13 torpedo sucked.

[@TheOtherGuys2]

@@mikealvarez2322 So unless you're doing specific research into the exact actions of certain ships or sailors, the movie is close enough.

[@mikealvarez2322]

@@TheOtherGuys2 Considering that both THE PATRIOT and MIDWAY had the same director, I think the movie is as close to history while still being entertaining as one can get. Nothing is really lost in the few MINOR details that stray from history. Love the move and love the response to it.

[@TheOtherGuys2]

@@mikealvarez2322 Yeah, The Patriot... Not to mention Stargate, 2012, and 10'000 BC. Pseudo-history seems to be a favourite of his, so this level of accuracy is impressive. :)

[@sledgehammerk35]

Thank you for doing this movie! No one has done a reaction to it yet, which is disappointing, because it’s very well done.

[@Brownyman]

This film is criminally under reacted to on KZbin!

[@crash_max]

I recommend "Devotion" movie (2022) It based on the bestselling book of the same name, tells the harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War Also talented cast

[@WNC_BUCKEYE]

one of the pilots was elite the black dude didnt accomplish anything all he did was get shot down.

[@josephdizon3493]

Towards the end at @47:13 when you said does Dick Best live long with this? He actually did. After he retired from the Navy, he worked in a small research division of the Douglas Aircraft Corporation and in 1948 when the division became part of the Rand Cooperation. Best was the head of the security department until his retirement in 1975. And he helped wrote the Battlehawks 1942 game. He died at the age of 91 on October 28th 2001. He lived a good life and he’s a legend.

[@vincentpuccio3689]

Definitely one of the best docudramas on the subject and a personal favorite, speaking as a “arm chair historian “

[@michaelvincent4280]

I met with a veteran in my home, who was on board the Battleship West Virginia as it slowly rolled over in the harbor. I invited him to tell his story. He was down below inside the ship, climbing up the ladders to escape. The slop of the deck was so steep that they had to crawl on their hands and knees to reach the edge and slip into the flaming water below. The deck was awash with blood and guts. Another invited guest told me of his exploits at Ford Island, where he was one of many who accidently shot down a flight of our B-17s arriving from California. The sky was full of Japanese aircraft, and the defending NAVY/ARMY guys miss identified these planes, shooting at anything that was in the air above them. Amazing and humbling to hear these accounts from their own mouth.

[@MK-eq3fd]

I am japanese. Thank you for reacting this movie. This is a great movie that depicts both Japanese and American perspectives.

[@tvc1848]

The original Midway from 1976 was a pretty historically accurate portrayal of the battle from the Japanese and American perspectives and seems to have given a bit more in depth look at the decision making. The main criticism from that movie was the love story thrown in of an American pilot falling in love we a first generation Japanese-American girl and the racism involved. Fortunately it is only a few minutes and doesn’t distract too much from the history.

[@williambranch4283]

I honor all fighters, since I am born after 1945. But my mother never forgave Japan.

[@MK-eq3fd]

@@tvc1848 I don't know about original midway movie... Thank you . I want to watch.

[@MK-eq3fd]

@@williambranch4283 I can understand your mother's feeling. I am sorry about last war. But i just want you to know , many japanese people don't forgive the dropping atomic bomb. Because 200000 civilians were killed.

[@tvc1848]

@@MK-eq3fd It’s great of you lie history. I have read books on the Battle of Midway and it follows history fairly closely. They main drawbacks are that the Japanese are speaking English and the briefly mentioned love story. The characters are mostly historical and it has in my opinion more of the actual drama behind the scenes of the guess work as seen through the eyes of both sides. A fictional character was played by Charlton Heston whose son was in love with a Japanese-American girl but it only takes up about 10 minutes of the over two hour movie. Other them that the movie sticks with the strategy leading up to and actual combat. Like Hollywood also does, they sent a fictional character (Captain Maddox) from the president to confer with Nimitz about his upcoming plans to ambush the Japanese. In reality Nimitz was already in contact with Admiral King in Washington so there wasn’t really a need for any such contact. I guess it is ax shortcut way to explain that Washington was aware of Nimitz’s plans without going too deeply into that aspect. In any case it has a good representation of history, I think explaining the battle in more details than the remake and shows the urgency of both sides in the fog of war. For an outstanding history lesson shown from both sides is Tora! Tora! Tora! of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is fairly unique for the time in that the Japanese in the movie were actually Japanese actors speaking in their native language and the Japanese scenes were directed by Japanese directors, in some scenes actually in Japan. It was an outstanding collaboration between American and Japanese directors and actors. If I remember correctly, it was criticized for being too historically accurate. I guess that critics wanted more Hollywood flash and fiction but this one stuck with the facts. It also showed so much of the behind the scenes planning from both sides.

[@spartiate567]

If you want to learn more about the battle of Midway, and don't want to read a hundred book-length official records, I recommend "Shattered Sword", by Parshall and Tully. It goes into great detail (some of it harrowing, of course). The have many detailed stories from both sides. I was particularly interested in the cramped construction of the Japanese carriers, which for many reasons were far more vulnerable to damage than the American carriers. The short version is that Japan built them with very limited resources, making awkward modifications because they could not afford brand new carriers from scratch.

[@Fallschirmjager4242]

By far my favorite book on Midway. If you haven't read it The Battle of Surigao Strait by Parshall's co author is also excellent.

[@Tony-pk6ql]

John Ford won the Oscar for his Midway film documentary.

[@williambranch4283]

My last supervisor before retirement served on US aircraft carriers for 20 years. Great man. My HS physics teacher was a back-seater in USN in the Pacific war. At my air base, we lost a Navy ensign on his first solo takeoff ... he was too slow ;-(

[@lionel6869]

This one of my favorite war movies. I always was interested in the WW2. I recently visited the original MIDWAY ship In San Diego

[@dastemplar9681]

This movie really has so many little details done right that you would have to know your history in order to spot them out. Take your remark at the start with Yamamoto drinking tea instead of whiskey for example. Yamamoto actually refrained himself from alcohol throughout his life. His vices were actually gambling and women. It was very fitting for him to do his iconic “Awoken a great giant” quote in the presence of a geisha servant instead of military officers, since there is no official evidence to actually support that he said such a thing. Such subtle details really shows how much the filmmakers want to recapture the dedication to accuracy with the 1970 Masterpiece; Tora Tora Tora.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

I can tell you the name of the ship the man threw the rope from during Pearl Harbor. It was called the USS Vestal and it was the oldest ship in the Navy. It was a repair shi and was pretty damaged from the attack, but it managed to repair itself freeing up crews for the other ships. Its most famous for sticking close by Enterprise during later years doing repairs even when Big E (Enterprises nickname) went into combat. It was thanks to Vestal the Enterprise could still fight when it was our only fleet carrier left in the Pacific.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

The ship they climbed onto, you didn’t show the guy throwing the rope. Though as I recall when said guy showed up he had a huge wrench in his hand.

[@leewaffe3]

@12:06 The class ring is a one of kind item few people get to earn or wear so it would have been very distinctive and easy to identify him with. The graduating class for their group at Annapolis (US Navy Military Academy that trains Navy & Marine Officers) was only 438 so it would have been a very small group. Plus each class ring has a one of kind detail built in for every graduating class with the year of graduation. @17:00 Yes and No. At that time the Japanese didn't adapt suicide attacks, it was an unwritten rule in the Japanese military that if there's no chance of return it was pressed on every Japanese soldier and sailor to sacrifice themselves while inflicting as much damage to kill the enemy, rather than to be taken prisoner. Official Kamizake attacks wouldn't be issued until October 1944.

[@Fallschirmjager4242]

The only thing they found of Admiral Kidd on the Arizona was his class ring melted to the deck of the bridge.

[@patrickazzarella6729]

This movie cut alot out and condenses other events(Like the attack on Yorktown and the general dogfighting of the escorting planes) leaving things alittle confusing but everything in terms of the actual battles portrayed all actually happened and is mostly historically accurate. The only thing exaggerated is the amount of Anti-Aircraft fire from the Japanese ships, its well known how ineffective and lacking Naval AA was for Japan. If you want to see the real history check out "Midway told from the Japanese Perspective" or "Battle of Midway" or "Doolittle Raid" by the Operations Room

[@Anarchist_Aragorn]

The reason the other bombers were inaccurate IS because they were releasing to high. You can't really go straight down, so you're going down and slightly forward. The bombs are released and do kind of go straight down. So the bomb is not going to hit your crosshair but behind it. The higher you are the further off it will be.

[@WNC_BUCKEYE]

The bombing at midway was actually rather accurate. pre war studies by both the japs and americans determined that on average it took between 6 and 7 planes to score one hit. Our hit rate was far better than at Philippine Sea or the Sibuyan Sea.

[@Ambaryerno]

Also, the ships would be doing donuts to try not to get hit, and other factors (being out of trim, the wind, flaws in the bomb's stabilizer fins, etc.) could also affect accuracy.

[@baronfriday989]

This was a surprisingly accurate movie. History Buffs had a good video on it

[@jimamos7984]

There's a KZbin channel called Armchair Historian, that did a two-part video on this movie.

[@richardmeyer1007]

This movie is very accurate and a good prelude to “The Pacific”.

[@k1productions87]

I consider it to be a spiritual successor to "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

[@mikealvarez2322]

Admiral King was in charge of the Navy. He was over Admiral Nimitz. King was a real jackass when it came to Captain Rochefort. Rochefort was not spit and polish military, but he was a genius when it came to intel. King only took Rochefort's advice one time. He totally despised Rochefort and did all he could to hurt the Captain's career. Here is a very good example of King's pettiness. When the war started the British advised King to place all the ships carrying cargo for the war in convoys. The British had WW1 & WW2 experience with German submarines. King did like taking British advice so he continued to let ships sail solo. It wasn't until the US had 500 ships sunk and over 2500 men killed that King finally relented and placed the ships in convoys as the British had suggested. In many respects he was a good leader but his pettiness was a real hindrance to his being a great commander.

[@prettyokandy230]

FINALLY somebody is reacting to this movie! It might not be a 'good movie' according to 'movie rules' but it's a great historical movie and it's way underrated imo! Edit: it's actually a GREAT movie imo, f*ck movie rules!

[@NPCRR]

John Ford (the director that insists on filming the attack on Midway), was a legendary director in Hollywood. He liked to work with John Wayne, and his western Calvary trilogy - Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, and Rio Grande - all three with Wayne, are considered classics. Throughout WWII, the Japanese still subscribed to their historical "Shogun" culture. "Losing face" and keeping one's honor intact was more important than life itself. To be seen as a coward disgraced not only that person and their family, but their ancestors as well. Courage is not the absence of fear. It's being afraid and doing what has to be done anyway.

[@GhostWatcher2024]

Lol, whats "Shogun culture"? You mean samurai culture perhaps (though that isnt strictly accurate either? Shogun is a title and is basically the ruling warlord at a time in history when the nation ruled by a shogunate and the Emperor was a figurehead only. Ideals and cultural practices like bushido and seppuku had nothing to do with shoguns.

[@NPCRR]

@@GhostWatcher2024 If, in my ignorance, I mislabeled it, I apologize.

[@NPCRR]

@@GhostWatcher2024 Forgive my Asian Cultural ignorance, but you knew what I meant. LOL!!

[@blueboy4244]

John Ford??? really?? wow

[@TANKTheImmortal]

This movie was surprisingly historically accurate, even some of the hard to believe moments like nick jonas character jumping into the back of a plane and using the gun to shoot down an incoming plane that crashes down and cuts part of the plane he’s on. People didn’t believe that was real but it legitimately happened, and the guy who did it hid for a while because he thought he would be punished for leaving his post to jump on the gun but he was rewarded instead.

[@k1productions87]

The movie adds part of the ship being damaged in the crash, while in actuality, the only damage suffered was the plane Bruno Gaido was shooting from. I guess they felt that would look too unbelievable for the film, but sometimes the truth is even more amazing than fiction :P

[@jasnycal]

John Ford a Great American Director actually was on Midway Island and filmed the attack. I love your interest in this genre.

[@spartiate567]

Another small detail: Whether the aircrew escapes when their plane goes in the water depends on many things. If they are going too fast on impact, the impact can kill them. If they survive the impact but their plane sinks too fast or flips over upside down, they may not be able to get out in time to get to the surface. Sometimes the plan is damages so they cannot escape, or they are injured. Usually if they survive the impact, it is because they were in control enough to slow their plane down enough to survive the impact.

[@barryfletcher7136]

There was a film about the Battle of MIdway made in 1976.

[@k1productions87]

I just wish that film didn't spend most of its runtime on fictional characters, and didn't outright discredit the codebreakers (granted, much of their contribution was still classified) in order to make the battle seem like sheer luck being the only reason we won. What is interesting though is so much of that film's DNA would be seen in Star Wars, even many moments with the same soundtrack beats (as John Williams scored both films) Also, morbidly interesting,... you see at least three real life deaths with some wartime footage of planes crashing into the ocean after being shot down. Rather than just implying it, you see the moment of impact on screen, and know.... a real person actually died in this moment.

[@sld1776]

Big time Hollywood director John Ford was indeed at Midway and had cameras in the carriers. Amazeballs.

[@thesnazzycomet]

awesome! its so hard to find reactions to this movie which is a shame

[@propiggaming921]

Same

[@timothyporter1632]

The guy who shot down the "kamikaze" bomber was Bruno Guaido. During the battle, his plane was shot down and he and his pilot were fished out of the sea by the Japanese. they were so upset about the destruction of their carriers, they chained Guaido and his pilot to 55 gallon drums and dumped them overboard alive, drowning them.

[@T1625-w7d]

The footage from the Midway attack that John Ford took is online. He lost hearing in one ear. I think he won an Oscar for that documentary. Of course he and John Wayne made some of the best westerns after the war.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

I love how a lot of people said that the walls of anti-aircraft fire was unrealistic, it goes on to show how many people claim to know things that they really dont They did a fantastic representation of how a wall of anti-aircraft fire looked like in those years, it may not be 100% accurate but its pretty close to it

[@Fallschirmjager4242]

Except for the fact the AA fire was relatively accurate and shot down more SBDs than we actually lost.Jap AA was notoriously inefective.

[@Ambaryerno]

The wall of anti-aircraft fire was realistic for an AMERICAN carrier battle group c.1944. NOT a Japanese group in 1942. Hell, not even a Japanese group from 1944.

[@albinorhino6]

If you enjoy learning history through video, I highly recommend the 3 part series by a channel called Montemayor. He has 3 videos on the Battle of Midway, which explain events as seen through the fog of war, told from the Japanese perspective. The 20 minute window known as “Nagumo’s Dilemma” is one of the most infamous moments in the history of warfare. There’s also videos about other naval battles in the pacific, and they’re all extremely well done.

[@CrustyRetiredMarine]

Most of the pilots are usually in their mid 20s. The average age of the backseat machine gunners was usually about 19. The vast majority of the enlisted men aboard the warships and stationed on midway itself usually teenagers.

[@mikealvarez2322]

Admiral Halsey was suffering from shingles.

[@TexasAnlaShok]

Fighter pilots get the glory, but being a dive bomber pilot took a special kind of crazy. You could argue that also went for the torpedo bombers, especially before the Avenger came along.

[@samuel10125]

The only real controversy this movie got was that ending text saying RIP to all the US and Japanese personnel simply because the Japanese Navy's was no just as barbaric as the the Japanese Army was they did horrible things to captured US navel personal. Also the quote by Yamamoto about waking a sleeping giant pretty much never happened there is no evidence that he ever said it. I also highly recommend 'Tora, Tora, Tora' its fantastic Pearl Harbour movie

[@NlDutchFreak]

About the film maker that happend. There is e serie about those guys. Bigg film makers that whent to the fronts to film and record everything. Its quite interresting to watch

[@P-M-869]

I have seen many movies on Midway but had never seen this version of Midway. More than Dolittle survived the raid. He won the Medal of Honor for his planning on attacking Japan. Too bad they had to launch earlier then they planned because they were seen.

[@ChuckS117]

Every soldier in this war had massive balls, we all know that. But dive bombers? Idk how they managed to level off after a dive with the size of their balls. Truly impressive.

[@mikealvarez2322]

The US government did not fully test their torpedoes because torpedoes were expensive and in short supply. The Mark 13 torpedo had numerous problems, like running at the wrong depth, veiring off course, and failing to detonate. The navy only tested their dummy torpedoes, no live tests. As if bad torpedoes wasn't bad enough, the planes that launched the torpedoes sucked. The primary plane used was the TBD Devastator which was already obsolete. It had to deliver its lousy torpedo at a height between 100 - 200 feet and at a speed of 100 miles per hour. In other words, they were sitting ducks for Japanese fighters and anti-aircraft guns. Midway was the last battle the Devastator flew. By 1944 all the bugs had been worked out of the Mark 13 torpedo.

[@kylewilson2819]

And the Bureau of Ordinance's response to reports of the faulty torpedoes was nothing short of disgraceful. Instead of acknowledging and fixing the flaws with the Mark 13, the Bureau repeatedly denied any faults with the torpedoes and instead blamed the pilots for not firing them properly. Which is absolutely outrageous in my opinion.

[@mikealvarez2322]

​@@kylewilson2819Submarine captains were also blamed for torpedo failures. In some cases careers were ruined and morale was negatively affected. In the early part of the war Sub captains were ordered not to fire more than one or two torpedoes at a target which created other problems for officers. You actually see this in the movie when the Nautilus fails to fire a salvo of torpedoes, which is what they would have ordinarily done. When they finally got around to testing the Mark 13 torpedo, the failure rate was over 80%. Meanwhile, the Japanese has one of the finest torpedoes of the war, the famed Long Lance torpedo. That torpedo had a range of over 20,000 yards and since it used oxygen as its propellant the torpedo left no tell tale trail since the oxygen bubbles quickly dissipated. Fortunately for the US the Japanese did not use their submarine fleet to maximum effect. But that's another story.

[@Ambaryerno]

The Devastator has gotten an unfairly bad rap over the years. Keep in mind that its replacement, the TBF Avenger, made its combat debut in the same battle and fared no better (six assigned to Torpedo Eight launched from Midway. Only one came back, and was severely damaged).

[@Mr.Glidehook]

You won me over with this. Thank you.

[@rohan1970b]

Happy to see someone react to this movie. I loved this movie

[@elcid5033]

the dogfight that impressed me was a dive bomber pilot who took on 4 zero fighters, not only was he able to survive that dogfight but he took down 1 or 2 zero fighters aswell, cant remember the pilot name,anyone know?

[@diecastcupseries7317]

The scene in this movie that shows the SBD's taking off to search for the Japanese fleet from the Enterprise is that it is also based on a true story. The History Underground and the Pearl harbor Aviation Museum talked about a tragic event that happened following the Pearl Harbor attack. The difference is that they don't show what happened at Pearl Harbor that night. According to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum they mention this statement in they're own words on they're website. "The night of Dec. 7, 1941, it was cold and rainy. Personnel on Ford island still huddled in ditches, makeshift shelters or hangers, waiting for the Japanese Navy to come back and finish the job, but there was more death to come that night. A hundred miles from Hawaii, an Enterprise air-search force was returning near dusk after failing to find the Japanese fleet. With light fading and aircraft short of fuel, Enterprise sent six F6F Wildcat fighters to instead land on Ford Island's runway. All were members of carrier fighter squadron VF-6. In minutes, five aircraft were shot down, with three of the pilots killed all by friendly fire." The History Underground talks about the event and the pilots who were killed in that tragic friendly fire incident.

[@Alex.Kaleipahula]

A 3rd pilot (Wesley Osmus )was shot down & was picked up by the Arashi. The ship’s captain, Watanabe Yasumasa, ordered Osumus killed with a fire axe after Osumus resisted the Japanese.

[@ACNelson-officialchannel]

I know that you say these were stupid ways to die, but I encourage you to remember that this took place 80 years ago, and the technology was nowhere close to what we have today. These pilots were flying "tail-draggers", which are completely different from todays jets, and the aircraft carriers didn't have catapults to get the airspeed at the right velocity for takeoff. We've learned a lot over the past 8 decades. With that said, I really enjoyed this reaction! This is one of the best WWII movies ever made!

[@Ambaryerno]

They DID have catapults, they just weren't widely used early in the War (heck, they even had catapults in the hangar deck to launch aircraft out of the side, though these were soon removed).

[@ACNelson-officialchannel]

@@Ambaryerno Actually, you're correct. I was think of the steam catapults as opposed to the hydraulic catapults. Kudos!

[@jeffsherk7056]

You might want to watch Tora Tora Tora, about the attack on pearl harbor, and also a movie about the Doolilttle raid on Tokyo.

[@keithcharboneau3331]

Dick Best died in 2001 at the age of 91 years old, after his last flight and dropping that bomb on the Hiryu, he spent 2 years in Navy hospitals before the Navy medically discharged him with a 100% disability in 1944.

[@k1productions87]

I could only imagine how he felt, watching the Midway movie from 1976, only to discover he was missing from the movie entirely.

[@Alex.Kaleipahula]

A 3rd downed pilot was killed. Wesley Osmus was shot down & picked up by the Arashi. The ship’s captain, Watanabe Yasumasa, ordered Osumus killed with a fire ax after Osumus resisted the Japanese.

[@TheSocratesian]

The movie does show little details that took place. But the original Midway from the 70's was a much better depiction and gives a much clearer understanding of the strategic events that took place. This movie was much too Hollywood for me.

[@TheSocratesian]

YES! This movie was so full of Hollywood bullsh*t its really hard to watch a lot of the time. Way too cartoonish.

[@k1productions87]

I disagree. The 1976 movie gave no real geography (as it were) to the battle at all. You didn't know who was from where, or what they were doing, as most of the attention was focused on the fictional main characters and placing them in important roles where they did not exist. The film also outright discredited the codebreakers, and instead treated the US victory as sheer dumb luck. They shifted "Nagumo's Dilemma" away to Pat Morita's character, and made it seem like it was his incompetence that cost the Japanese the battle. Also... they omitted Dick Best entirely.

[@Kosh800]

There's an unintuitive reality of flying that played out when that carrier was going too slow for the plane. The reason he dipped his nose down, which seems absolutely crazy, is because what you need to keep you in the air is a certain amount of air going over and under the wing. That means you need speed. Normally a carrier goes as fast as it can INTO the wind so that the amount of wind relative to you is pretty high. If the wind shifts, that's less wind for the wing to use. So what do you do? Well in this case he decided to nose down to create more speed. More speed means more wind. More wind means more lift on the wing. If he had kept his current angle of attack (the angle relative to the horizon) he wouldn't have had enough speed to create enough lift. The serious issue here is obviously that the plane isn't that high up right off the deck so you're not working with a ton of room. However in modern flight classes they will teach you that if you're stalling, (not enough lift) and you have the altitude to do it, you pitch your nose down to increase speed and give yourself more lift. Then you slowly nose up to try to either remain level as you can (in case of an engine failure) or to increase speed and altitude to go on your merry way. A lot of inexperienced pilots, when faced with a similar situation, pull hard and nose up as much as they can. This actually stalls the wing even more by lessening the amount of air over and under the wing. It's a common reaction some beginner pilots have. When done at the wrong time it can get them hurt or killed. The worst time to have any sort of issue in a plane is landing and take off because you're "low and slow." Two things that a pilot never wants to be most of the time. Air speed and altitude are your life. If you have either one, or hopefully both, you've got something to work with. If you have neither then ... well you're probably fucked.

[@rogergriffith3924]

Amen, and the poor wingman instinctively pulled up and stalled, insuring his fate!

[@spartiate567]

Small detail: The oxygen system on Best's plane was a "rebreather" system. When you exhaled, your breath passed through a sodium hydroxide filter ("sodium hydroxide" is the same thing as "caustic soda; a very powerful alkali. Spill a little powder on your hand can give you serious chemical burns. Normally the sodium hydroxide simply takes the carbon dioxide out. In Best's plane, a small amount of oxygen is then fed into the air so you can "rebreathe" it. Much leaks out, but ambient air replaces it. In Best's system that day, there was an electrical short right where the sodium hydroxide cannister was, and heated it up enough to put vaporized caustic soda into Best's breathing air. Ouch.

[@cjsawyer362]

Dude finally someone reacted to this

[@mikealvarez2322]

Of the 41 torpedo planes that participated in the battle only 6 survived. Of the 47 dive bombers 27 made it back. Our torpedo bomber were retired after Midway.

[@hexapuma12]

This doesn’t even make sense. Clearly you don’t know your history. Everyone knew the TBD was obsolete but they had to go anyways. The reason so many were shot down was because of the USS Hornet’s strike, only the TBD’s attacked the Japanese. The fighters and bombers went to the wrong place and never engaged the Japanese. It was a huge issue after the battle and part of the reason Admiral Mitscher was sidelined for almost a year. He basically lied about what had occurred. The USN replaced the TBD with the TBF/TBM Avenger which is another torpedo bomber.

[@mikealvarez2322]

​@@hexapuma12Are you telling me the Devastator was not retired after Midway? The Avenger replaced the Devastator torpedo bomber and the Mark 13 torpedo had the bugs worked out of it. That's the history.

[@albinorhino6]

When you really start learning about the war in the Pacific, it’s crazy how much individual heroic efforts really did change the entire course of the war. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Kido Butai was the most powerful, well trained, and successful carrier strike group in the world. The Americans were most definitely on the back foot, fighting an uphill battle. Even at the outset of the Battle of Midway, the Japanese brought 4 carriers to the fight, while the Americans only had 3, and one of them, the USS Yorktown, was still damaged from a previous battle, but was rushed into action. The Japanese planes in 1942 were superior, and their pilots had much more experience, thanks to Japan’s war with China. At the Battle of Midway, the entire balance of naval power in the Pacific Ocean shifted in one 20 minute window. The Japanese carriers had fought off wave after wave of unsuccessful American attacks, but were in the middle of rearming their planes when the American dive bombers of Best and McLusky found them. That final attack wave by the American pilots critically damaged 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers, and they would eventually sink. The USS Yorktown was hit by Japanese attacks, and last seen listing, and smoking heavily. After losing their 3 carriers, the Japanese thought the numbers were now 1 Japanese carrier versus 2 American carriers, so they pressed on with the battle. Remarkably, the damage control teams on the Yorktown were able to put out the intense fires, stop the flooding and correct the list, and got the shit back underway. When the final Japanese carrier launched her last attack wave to go find the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, they accidentally stumbled upon the Yorktown, but mistook it for another ship, since they believed the Yorktown to be heavily damaged and out of the battle. The Japanese attacked Yorktown again, doing even more damage, but still failing to sink her. During this time period, the Enterprise and Hornet were able to launch a final attack wave of their own, which managed to find and sink the final Japanese carrier. Unfortunately, despite surviving the battle and two successful attacks, the Yorktown was eventually torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, while she was being towed back to Pearl Harbor. At the conclusion of Midway, the Japanese had lost all 4 of their main fleet carriers, while the Americans still had 2 left, and the American industrial juggernaut was starting to turn, and the Japanese simply could not match it. The Imperial Japanese Navy was still very powerful and dangerous, but after Midway, they never went on the offensive for the rest of the war. Another absolutely incredible, unbelievable story is that if Captain Earnest E Evans and the USS Johnston. The Johnston was a small destroyer, and went toe to toe with the mighty Yamato, which was the largest and most powerful battleship ever built. Hopefully they make a decent movie of this one day.

[@Fallschirmjager4242]

Don't forget the Bar Room Brawl of November 13 1942. It had to be the most brutal surface engagement of the war. I would also argue that it an the Battleship Night Action two nights later were the true turning point of the pacific war. After those engagements the Japs never sent another ship larger than a DD to Iron Bottom Sound. Once Guadalcanal was secure our conquest of the Solomons was inevitable which permanently secured our supply lines to Australia and bled the IJN of the last of its experienced aircrews. As a side note the Samuel B. Roberts was every bit as heroic as Johnston. The only reason Copeland didn't get a Medal of Honor is because he lived.

[@Ambaryerno]

The Japanese lost four of SIX carriers. You're forgetting Shokaku and Zuikaku, which were unavailable for Midway (Shokaku was damaged at Coral Sea, and Zuikaku's air group was too badly depleted to participate) but were back in action beginning with the Guadalcanal Campaign. In the short term, 1942 was still a very close contest. The US lost Hornet at Santa Cruz and Wasp (not really a fleet carrier but sort of in between) to a submarine. Saratoga missed much of the second half of the year after being torpedoed in September, and she didn't return to action until 1943. Enterprise was badly mauled at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, which put her out of action until Santa Cruz, where she was hurt AGAIN and left as the only American carrier in the Pacific for the rest of 1942.

[@JayEdelgardVT]

American here 🖐🏻 it is true that my country and Imperial Japan did not want war. A member of the Japanese Imperial House Prince Konoye's term ran out and the war lord Hideki Tojo basically killed all peace terms. But we cut their oil as a non-militaristic way of opposition Japanese imperialism in China and Tojo in retaliation decided to hit Pearl Harbor. Even Admir Yamamoto who was Harvard Educated and actually liked my country was the ONLY one who TRULY knew ans was opposed to war with my country. As Yamamoto himself said - Pearl Harbor was not a victory but all we have done was awaken the great dragon and filled him with a terrible resolve. He was correct, they faced our full might. He even said invading the American homeland was bad because "Behind every blade of grass is an American with a rifle" - also very correct assessment of us Americans 😊🇺🇲. And RIP Yamamoto too and every American killed in the Pacific. Their sacrifice was not in vain.

[@BobHerzog1962]

Actually the movie did going that low purley for dramatic effect. All dive bombers have to release their bombs at roughly the same altitude. One that is set when they leave their base/carrier. The reason is that the bombs have a timer. Also you can't release the bombs to late or they won't have the kinetic force to pierce before explodeing.

[@Ambaryerno]

Time-delay fuses weren't implemented until the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in 1943. The lack of time-delay fuses was WHY the aircraft couldn't drop too low: The bombs were exploding on impact, so if the bomber released too low they'd be caught in their own blast.

[@ForgottenHonor0]

The pills Rochefort was downing was likely Benzedrine, an American brand of amphetamine. Both sides in the war used methamphetamine and their equivalents at points in the war to keep their troops going as it works as a stimulant and speeds up the body's system. In fact, according to interviews with surviving codebreakers of Station HYPO they were at times only going because of Benzedrine and coffee!

[@ManuelOmarAlvarezReyes-vh5ey]

Hola Larissa que bueno es ver otra de tus video reacciones me alegras el dia y esta película es genial ya la vi, saludos con mucho cariño desde PERÚ.✌😎

[@cmac007]

Awesome reaction, thanks!

[@DavidHorwitz99]

The Forgotten Battle (Dutch: De Slag om de Schelde) is a 2020 Dutch war drama (Netflix, Netherlands, Languages: Dutch, English, German)?

[@keithcharboneau3331]

Actually during the battle of Midway, the Torpedo bombers had the heaviest casualties, but that was true all throughout WWII, the second highest casualty count was the fighter planes, the Dive bombers actually fared pretty good, Anti Aircraft fire generally did not reach up to 20,000 feet, and once they were in their dive, it was virtually impossible to hit them, things got a lot better for the fighters in late 1942 and early 1943 when the Hellcat and Corsair started showing up on our carriers, and also in 1943 when the Avenger torpedo plane began hitting the fleet, it was a lot harder to shoot down than the Devastator Torpedo planes were at the beginning of the war, although the Dauntless Dive bomber was great at it's job, it also got replaced by the Helldiver, which was more heavily armed and armored, During the battle of Midway, of the 41 torpedo bombers that took off from the 3 American carriers, only 3 were to return, and those planes never flew again, of the 67 dive bombers that took off from the American carriers only 8 failed to return from the first strike, and of the 20 fighter planes that took off and went to escort the others to the Japanese fleet and back, 10 did not return, during the second strike in the afternoon, there was only Fighters and Dive bombers left to go, in total between U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Air Corps, and USMC aircraft on 3 carriers and Midway Island itself, the U.S. Lost 150 aircraft, including 27 Torpedo bombers from Midway, 2 B-17's from Midway, 5 B-26's from Midway, 9 USMC fighters from Midway, 7 Dauntless dive bombers from Midway, all the rest were from the carriers, we also lost 1 Aircraft Carrier (Yorktown) 1 Destroyer (Hamm) and 307 men including 3 that were taken prisoner by the japanese and quickly tortured and executed, but the Japanese LOST A LOT, 4 Aircraft carriers, 1 heavy Cruiser sunk, another heavily damaged, 2 badly damaged Destroyers, 248 aircraft and 3,037 men killed and 37 captured, but the 4 carriers that they lost was 4 of the elite Carriers of the Kito Butai, and the loss of those pilots planes and Carriers was such a devistaining blow, that the Japanese Navy could not possibly recover from, these were the very best in the world at carrier warfare at the time, they had the latest and best planes, pilots there had a wealth of experience, and was a fighting for that was 15 years in the making and training, this was something that we took away from them that they could not get back quickly, and as it turned out, they could not get it back at all, we were not going to allow them to ever replace all of that during the war.

[@Ambaryerno]

The TBF Avenger made its combat debut at Midway, with six assigned to Torpedo Eight being launched from the island, (five were lost, and the sixth was heavily damaged) and had completely replaced the TBD Devastator aboard the carriers and in Marine squadrons in time for the invasion of Guadalcanal in August, 1942. Neither the Hellcat or Corsair arrived in theater until 1943. The Corsair's combat debut was February 12, 1943, with the Hellcat not arriving until the end of August. What made things better for the American fighters was tactics, and learning how to fly their aircraft to their strengths. The Wildcat was an excellent little fighter. Though slow and heavy, she was actually quite maneuverable (in fact more agile than the contemporary marks of the Spitfire and Bf-109). The problem was the Zero was an absurdly maneuverable fighter by ANY standard. The Wildcat was also, pound for pound, perhaps the toughest fighter of the War, sporting heavy armor, good firepower, and superb dive performance. Between the development of the Thach Weave (first put into action at Midway, and STILL one of the most important cooperative fighter maneuvers today) and other tactical improvements, the Wildcat had an 8:1 kill ratio by the end of 1942. The losses to the Japanese air crew at Midway were not as heavy as you think. Many of them were still aboard the carriers when the American attack arrived, so simply abandoned ship and were picked up. The Japanese were still positioned to defeat the US even after Midway. They still had two fleet carriers in service by the time the Guadalcanal Campaign began (the Americans had three). Enterprise was knocked out by damage at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August, and wouldn't return until October. Saratoga was put out of action for the rest of 1942 when she was torpedoed by a submarine in September. Then Enterprise was damaged again and Hornet was sunk at Santa Cruz in October, leaving Enterprise as the sole American fleet carrier in the Pacific, and restoring Japan's numerical superiority. Guadalcanal was a VERY close contest, and could very well have collapsed and put the Americans back on the defensive. Had Enterprise not survived her damage at Santa Cruz the Japanese may have even been able to force the US to negotiate for peace; Saratoga would not return to action until 1943, and none of the new Essex-class carriers would have been ready in time.

[@KoufalKoufax]

15:53 thats why they are called dive bombers

[@aurobinson9309]

One of my favorites

[@spartiate567]

I enjoyed your reaction. This is one of my favorite movies, about one of my favorite military history topics. You gave the kind of reaction I really enjoy and appreciate: Someone with far less knowledge of military history and technology than I have, yet your reactions are intelligent and perceptive. Thank you. A few details I hope you do not find too trivial: I'm not surprised that the planes taking off appear "dorky" to you. You must have seen footage of modern carriers, with those powerful catapults flinging huge sleek jet aircraft into the air. Of course 1942 technology appears primitive in comparison, because it is. And yes, often the pilots flew through an amazing amount of antiaircraft fire without being hit. Radar guidance for antiaircraft did not appear until near the end of the war, and then only for much larger guns. Also, heavy as it appeared, antiaircraft armament for Japanese carriers was considered much too light at that stage of the war. And as for missing with dive bombing: The target ships were maneuvering as hard as they could. Combine that with all the antiaircraft fire made even those huge carriers a difficult target. And the dive bomber pilots had no electronic aiming aids at all. It was all what they sometimes call "the mark one eyeball". And I have read that doctrine said that dive bombers were to release their bombs at 3,000 feet, so as to safely pull out of their dives. But accuracy was much better if the pilot took the chance of getting much lower before he released his bomb, as shown in the movie. I appreciate the touch that his wing tip kissed the ocean as he pulled up, to dramatize this. Finally, Best breathing caustic soda: The oxygen systems on those planes were "rebreathers". If they just pumped oxygen into the masks to keep the concentration high enough, they would have to carry much larger oxygen tanks. This could add a ton of weight, which a plane that size could ill afford. The "rebreathers" had the pilot's breath pass through a system to remove carbon dioxide, so that the system could add oxygen much more gradually. A much smaller oxygen tank could be used, since much more would be taken up by the pilot before it was expelled. Now the system used sodium hydroxide--caustic soda--also known as lye--to absorb carbon dioxide. However, on Dick Best's plane, on inspection after his incredible flight, it was found that there was an electrical short circuit right next to the container of sodium hydroxide, hot enough to actually vaporize some of it. This is what caused his terrible lung injuries. Anyway, thanks again. I will definitely look for more of your reactions. Jay Maupin

[@mikealvarez2322]

The only event that is not totally accurate were the deaths of Bruno Gaido and Frank O'Flaherty. The movie seems to indicate that they were merely thrown overboard. They were both tortured for about a week before weights were tied to their feet and thrown into the ocean. Imperial Japan was every bit as cruel as Nazi Germany, and the navy even moreso than the army.

[@Fallschirmjager4242]

Not true about the navy being worse than the army. Read any account of captured sailors and you will see they were relatively well treated until they were sent to army prison camps.

[@mikealvarez2322]

Admiral Iwabuchi's Marines committed the massacre of 100,000 Filipinos in Manila. Then there are what captive Allied soldiers called the "Hell Ships." POWs being transported to mainland Japan were basically held in dungeons where they were denied food, water, sanitation, adequate air, and received beatings by their captors. There were numerous incidents where captured sailors were beaten then thrown overboard. Admiral Sakaibara ordered the death of nearly 100 construction workers captured when the Japanese took Guam. Let's face it, being captured by the Japanese was going to be hell regardless of which branch of the military held them.

[@Fallschirmjager4242]

The hell ships were under command of the army and as someone with a half Philippineo brother in law I wish he would have got at least one more. As a general rule the Naval officers were not that bad Dick O'Kane was fed in the wardroom of the destroyer that transported him to Japan. He was well treated until he arrived at Omori prison.

[@Alex.Kaleipahula]

They left out Wesley Osmus’ Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber was shot down and he was picked up by the Arashi. The ship’s captain, Watanabe Yasumasa, ordered Osumus killed with a fire ax after Osumus resisted the Japanese.

[@acdc32]

Whats great is the movie director on midway was really there you can watch the real footage from the attack that day

[@keithcharboneau3331]

In the time of WWII, there were 3 ways in order to attack an enemy from the air with attack type aircraft, first was high to mid level horizontal bombing, B-17's B-24's B-25's. B-26's and B-29's and for the Navy it was SB2C's, then there was a far more accurate and dangerous tactic called "DIVE BOMBING" typically they would start their dive from about 20,000 feet, and dive on the target at about a 70 degree angle, the Navy used the SBD Dauntless Dive bomber, when in their dive, they would deploy speed brakes as to not overspeed the airframe, and make the plane stable for the release of the bomb when they released their bomb, usually at about 2,000 feet, the pilot would pull out of their dive,the bomb would continue on it's path, while the plane would fly away, at 2,000 feet of altitude, a 500 pound bomb dropping at 370 miles per hour, would cover the 2,000 feet in about 8 seconds, not nearly enough time for any evasive manuevers to avoid the bomb, and the final way was torpedo planes, they would skim the waters surface till they got close enough to be inside the torpedoes maximum traveling distance, it would also make it extremely difficult to perform evasive manuevers to avoid a torpedo.

[@Ambaryerno]

The SB2C Helldiver was a dive bomber, not a level bomber. The TBF Avenger did perform some level bombing, but not against shipping. The Americans all but abandoned horizontal level bombing against shipping with their multi-engine bombers by 1943, with the change in tactics taking effect at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. You simply can't (reliably) hit a ship at sea bombing from altitude with 1940s technology. Instead, they favored masthead attacks with B-25s and B-26s using tactics such as skip bombing (B-26s were also used to drop torpedoes, and some variants of the B-25 carried massive 75mm cannon for anti-shipping use). Other anti-shipping aircraft were twin-engine light attack aircraft like the A-20 Havoc that had their glass noses replaced with as many .50cal machine guns as could be crammed into them. B-17s largely lacked the range for combat in the Pacific, so mainly flew transport and maritime patrol missions. B-24s had longer range, but even then their primary targets were strategic; airfields, shipyards, etc. The B-29s were almost exclusively used against Japanese industry in the Home Islands, and were not used for anti-shipping duty. The Americans also attacked Japanese shipping with fighter bombers like the F4U Corsair and P-38 Lightning, using glide bombing and rockets.

[@vincentpuccio3689]

The guy in the water is Lieutenant gay. He had a front row seat to the destruction of the entire Japanese carrier force and survive to tell about it. Sadly, he was the only person out of his squadron to survive

[@michaelvincent4280]

Hardly anyone I have crossed have watched this film in the theatre. The ignorance of American History in this country is astonishing and dangerous. You are the first person I have found to watch this film more that the preview. Thank You.

[@k1productions87]

I guess many saw who the Director was and assumed it was going to be another Hollywood bastardization of history, like his other film "The Patriot", and Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor" Worse, a lot of people have a self-imposed aversion to CGI of any kind. So even if it looks great, the mere fact that it is known to be CGI (because obviously they could not film these scenes real for real) means they see it as bad by definition. Sometimes, pre-judgments can be downright infuriating, especially if it negatively impacts what is actually a very good movie.

[@gregwilliams386]

The bombs were released at about 500 meters. Or 1500 feet.

[@KorenVeerz]

Goddammit Dick Best. Greatest name and line in cinematography history

[@k1productions87]

Reminds me of the code name early Astronauts used when doing secret training - "Max Peck" :P

[@dioghaltasfoirneartach7258]

Harrelson did a good job portraying Admiral Nimitz.

[@jamesalexander5623]

From starting out as a Goofy Bartender on "Cheers" , He has become a Brilliant Actor!

[@dioghaltasfoirneartach7258]

@@jamesalexander5623 Agreed

[@mikealvarez2322]

All of the names, with the exception of Roy, were real life people. The events are accurate.

[@michaelandcarina_personal]

Thanks for doing a reaction on this one

[@ATippePodcast]

This movie is nearly perfectly historically accurate. Only one event and two minor details have some inaccuracy to them. The USS Nautless (Submarine) actually targeted a battleship, not a carrier. And some minor details when the Japanese were wargamming. It’s amazingly done. One of the best movies(imo) that has ever been produced in modern times

[@Ambaryerno]

Omitting the American fighter squadrons isn't a "minor detail." McClusky started the War as commander of Fighting Squadron Six, so had no authority over Best's mission or posting. Fighting Six also scored the Navy's first aerial victories during the Marshall Islands raid depicted in the film.

[@k1productions87]

@@Ambaryerno omitting the fighter squadrons where? Almost none of the attacking squadrons at Midway had fighter cover, considering how haphazardly the attack was launched, with all squadrons going their own way with no organization what-so-ever. Its almost sheer dumb luck we even won, with how poorly the bombing attacks went.

[@Ambaryerno]

@@k1productions87 Throughout the ENTIRE MOVIE. Where was VF-6 during the Marshall Islands raids? Fighting Six scored the first victories for a US Navy fighter squadron during the attacks depicted in the film. Where were the pilots that were accidentally shot down by AAA at Pearl Harbor when they arrived after the attack? The fact that McCluskey was CO of Fighting Six prior to Midway as IMPORTANT, because it establishes why he was so inexperienced with dive bombers and attacked the wrong target in the first place. And Torpedo Three DID have fighter cover. In fact it was incredibly important that they did, because this was the first time the Thach Weave was used in combat. With Torpedo 8 and USS Nautilus getting a spotlight during the battle, there was no reason they couldn't have done the same with Thach. Also, Fighting Six DID reach the carriers. They were following Torpedo Eight, but multiple circumstances prevented them from assisting. Instead, they remained over the Kido Butai for HALF AN HOUR past the time they were supposed to be on station, providing contact reports for the fleet before the squadron CO was forced to return to base because they were running low on fuel (and the Wildcats were already limited in their range and loiter time as it was).

[@k1productions87]

@@Ambaryerno Seems like a rather small complaint to make, since every single period film makes the exact same mistake, along with multiple different ones. Even Tora, Tora, Tora, showing Japanese torpedo planes flying around the harbor in groups attacking whoever they wished, or the original Midway which not only shoved in fictional characters, but left out important historical ones entirely while showing its stock footage completely out of order, some even from the wrong battle.

[@Inquisitor-Beals]

Admiral Halsey had shingles and that’s why Nimitz ordered him into the hospital

[@kylewilson2819]

Sadly, what happened to Gaido and Frank O'Flaherty was far worse than what happened in the film. After being picked up by the Makigumo, the pair of them were savagely beaten for information. After confessing everything they knew, the pair were dragged to the stern, weighted down with fuel cans, and tossed over the side like refuse & drowned. One thing the movie doesn't acknowledge very well is that the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was just as brutal and cruel as the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was, and regularly committed atrocities. For example, Wesley Frank-Osmus, a torpedo bomber who was shot down on his attack run, was seized by the Arashi. After beating him nearly to death, he was dragged to the stern and, while he pleaded for mercy, was struck with an ax by one of the Arashi's officers. However, this blow did not kill Osmus, but knocked him over the railing where he clung on for his life. The officer then chopped off his hands and Osmus fell to his death. Another less known example is the The Sandakan Death March. Near the end of the war, the Japanese were being forced to retreat from their strongholds in the small nation of Borneo. The Japanese abandoned the Sandakan POW camp in Borneo, and forced the Australian soldiers imprisoned there to march through the jungle with them until they perished of starvation or disease. Any soldiers who actually made the entire trek were executed by the Japanese. Of the 2,700 internees at the Sandakan camp, only six survived the march.

[@mikealvarez2322]

WW2 dive bombing. You start between 12,000 - 15,000 feet then dive down at a 75° angle and release your bomb 1500 - 1000 feet from your target.

[@alexanderludvigsen1893]

A burning ship seems bad. But the conditilns you are in and the things you gotta watch out for is unbelivable. Most places become inaccessible because you need someone to hose you down constantly to not die from heat exposure. When opening any door you will have to stand to the side since it can be blown open with enough force to kill you. Some of these doors weigh 100 kg or something, probably even more. Steam can be found everywhere and it can boil one alive. Being in a burning building sucks. Being on a burning ship sucks even more