Bad reviews must be from civilians???

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2020)

This film definitely won't rank among the greatest war movies ever, but phenomenal all the same.
As an enlisted US Navy sailor of 19 years now, and having served aboard multiple aircraft carriers while attached to several different aircraft squadrons, I thought it was very well done. The culture has changed since that time, but people haven't. The focus on over the top emotions played out by combatants seeking vengeance on the Pearl Harbor attack was not overplayed, that was the same attitude across all military branches following the September 11 attacks. The raw emotions felt by soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen when heading into an operational area is often intense and over the top.
The movie jumped a lot, and the pacing was fast, but all the events depicted were actually important in order to tell the story of Midway.
I read a review about the suicide bomber attack on the Enterprise, and Bruno Gaido saving the ship from a parked Dauntless bomber on deck, and then being meritoriously advanced two paygrades by Halsey was not only ridiculous, but also never happened? It absolutely happened, which is the only reason to even have it in the film. The purpose of this movie isn't to show the lives of the men and women that individually endured the war, or the overall emotions of the nation as a whole...this film's goal was to show the heroism displayed by American sailors onboard the highest decorated carrier in American history during the navy's most trying time and our most intense battle space to date.
The Navy holds our heritage above so many other things, and pushes us to learn as much as possible about our history. Was this movie perfect? No. Did it do a hell of a job in its representation of the rocky early days of the Pacific war and the sailors that fought valiantly against insurmountable odds? Absolutely.
If you want romance, bad writing, too much time spent on character building at the expense of accuracy, go watch Pearl Harbor. If you want a fantastic movie with a front row seat to one of the US Navy's greatest accomplishments, watch Midway.