Great Eye-Candy

Rating: 4/10 (23 February 2020)

This movie, which most say is historically correct, really isn't. There's no way anybody from either the Enterprise or the Hornet could look off the flight deck of either ship and see the Yorktown creeping up behind them on their way to Midway. It left Pearl long after the other two and was way under speed as it was still being repaired on the fly. When Halsey shows up with the Enterprise at Coral Sea, it's stated that "the Enterprise and the Hornet are the only two carriers left in the Pacific". Wrong. The Yorktown's entire story is missing, and as far as Midway is concerned it's one of the most crucial parts. The Yorktown was bombed something horrible at Coral Sea but limped back to Pearl under tow. Then it's repaired and was hit TWICE by Japanese attacks at Midway. And due to the excellent fire and damage control crews of the Yorktown, (which weren't even mentioned) they thought they had hit two separate carriers. Then, even after being hit twice, the Yorktown still manages to exit the combat area under tow, but is leaving an oil slick a quarter of a mile wide. Japanese submarine I-168 finds her and torpedoes the Yorktown before being run off by escort ships. The Yorktown was never sunk by the Japanese, the Americans scuttled it themselves. I did appreciate the lack of any silly love story, but where were Thatch's fighters? What about Ens. George Gay? Midway sends an erroneous radio dispatch about their fresh water condenser without being told to do so? And who can pick up an anchor by themselves and toss it overboard? There's a reason they're used to secure ships, because they weigh a ton. And why was Spruance told to maintain radio silence? They were at sea, in a battle (?) As a historian of the Pacific Campaign, I was truly disappointed that some of the real heroes weren't given adequate credit, or mentioned at all. Namely the entire Yorktown story, which, in effect, sacrificed itself at Midway after being risen from the dead at Coral Sea.