MovieChat Forums > Midway (1976) Discussion > New Documentary Show With Midway Episode

New Documentary Show With Midway Episode

posted 11 years ago by Redhooks
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I just happened to noticed on the Military Channel last night while checking out things to DVR, that there was an episode last Tuesday of Ultimate Warfare that dealt with Midway. It is being rebroadcast tomorrow night at 9 PM EDT followed by a new episode about Okinawa. I will be DVRing it to see how the writer(s), director, and producers followed the true events of the battle that have been documented in the last 15 to 20 years. Will the inaccurracies of previous books, movies, and documentaries be repeated or will we have a more definitive story about Midway?

The show will use CGI recreations of some of the actions according to the brief synopsis of the show on TiVo. How will the animation look?

Has anyone on here seen this episode yet? If yes, what did you think of it?

Redhooks

"You don't get something for nothing, you don't get freedom for free." Neil Peart

[–] lvrepoman 11 years ago

I read so much about Midway 20+ years ago that I have probably neglected it since. What are some of the newer revelations for which you will be looking?

"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak

[–] Vulcans_Rule 11 years ago

John Parshall and Tony Tully's "Shattered Sword" reveals several myths about Midway.

One example is the old claim that the delayed launch of the Tone #4 scout caused a delay in sighting the American carriers, thus leaving Nagumo to make an untimely decision to rearm the bombers for a second attack on Midway. In truth, the pilot of the #4 scout compensated for the delayed launch by flying an abbreviated route that apparently caused him to encounter the Americans a little earlier than he otherwise would have if he had flow the full assigned search pattern.

Another example is the myth that Nagumo was almost ready to launch a huge wave of bombers from his 4 carriers to attack the American carriers, and the US Navy dive bombers fatally hit three of his carriers just barely before they would have launched. In truth, Nagumo was still some time from launching, and still had not brought his bombers from the hangars to the flight decks.

Live long and prosper.

[–] Redhooks 11 years ago

One other thing that was revealed in Shattered Sword was that Yamamoto's Operational Plan called for only one attack wave to destroy Midway's airpower and shore batteries. The other half of Nagumo's planes were to be held for possible sea action against USN surface forces even though part of the plan was to lure the US carriers from Hawaii. That trip would have taken at least two days.

Redhooks

"You don't get something for nothing, you don't get freedom for free." Neil Peart

[–] Redhooks 11 years ago

The show was OK with no glaring mistakes. It focused though on the TBF attack from Midway due to interviewing the surviving ventral gunner/radioman from the lone TBF to make it back to Midway. It also focused on the Enterprise dive bombers and the last surviving dive bomber pilot from that day, "Dusty" Kleiss (sp?) with interviews with him and a few historians like Jon Parshall. More for the novice watcher than people familiar with the battle.

Redhooks

"You don't get something for nothing, you don't get freedom for free." Neil Peart

[–] L84AD8 11 years ago

I thought it was really a thrill to see the survivors. Also comparing the Japanese getting their planes into the air and in formation in 10 minutes, whereas we were SNAFU.

I came on this board to see if they had decided to make the 2014 3D Midway, but, alas. Every American should know about when we "fought smart, not hard." I just listened to the commentary on "Tora, Tora, Tora" and the author of "The Emperor and the Wolf," dual bio of Kurosawa and Mifune, talked about how much work Kurosawa put into the screenplay of "Tora, Tora, Tora." What about being excited about a movie about Midway??

Sh-it's a secret!

[–] Marvelouis 10 years ago

This is the day to watch this.

[–] ronatola (312) 4 years ago

I think you meant PVR