Midway (2019)

Midway (2019) movie poster.

Disambiguation : this page is about the 2019 Roland Emmerich's Film ; for the 1976 American Movie directed by Jack Smight, look at Midway (1976).

Movie (2019)

Starring:
Ed Skrein (Lieutenant Richard "Dick" Best)
Patrick Wilson (Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton, intelligence officier)
Etsushi Toyokawa (Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto)
Mandy Moore (Anne Best, Dick Best's wife )

1937 in Tokyo : American naval attaché Edwin T. Layton meets Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Four years later, words said by Yamamoto becomes reality : Japan lacking oil ressources is switching to war against USA. From Pearl Harbor to Midway : six months of batles, with machine gun as like as intelligence.

Note: This film utilises a significant quantity of Computer Generated Images (CGI). Aircraft portrayed in this film may not be entirely accurate and have been identified as closely as possible to real aircraft.

Douglas SBD Dauntless

Like any American aircraft, the red is missing on the Star's center. Such roundel was worn only after May 1942 and the Battle of the Coral Sea so most of the movie until Midway is wrong about this point.

Another mistake is the reflector sight used only on later variants (mid-war).

Vought OS2U Kingfisher

Mitsubishi A6M Zero

Most of the aircraft seen attacking are Zeros ... but they were the less numerous japanese type used.

Nakajima B5N

Douglas TBD Devastator

Another major mistake : the Douglas TBD Devastator could carry a torpedo (1 005 kg / 2 216 lb) OR bombs (one 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb or two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs), not such multiple weapons load !
And this screenshot of the raid on the Marshall Islands is deeply wrong as the highest point is 10 meters (33 ft) above sea level !
So the air combat by Best luring his attacker to the enclosed spaces of the Canyon is just a copy of Independence Day of the same director.

As seen at 48mn45 on the desk of USS Enterprise.

Mitsubishi G3M & Mitsubishi A6M Zero

Along the bombers, three fighters of the wrong type as the Japanese just have fixed landing gear type (Mitsubishi type 96 A5M Claude and Nakajima type 97 Ki-27 Nate).

Seen bombing China ...

North American B-25 Mitchell

The aircraft were clustered closely and tied down on USS Hornet's flight deck in the order of launch. Not in such relax face to face line-up. The upper turret is for a J variant not yet in units : the Raid relied on B-25Bs.
(background) USS Enterprise with what should be Grumman F4F Wildcat but close shot are only showing Douglas SBD Dauntless or (see above) Douglas TBD Devastator.