“Midway”, Examining Emmerich’s 2019 Film

I watched this film for the 2nd time last night, and I must say I hadn’t done so many jump-in-the-air fist-pumps since Steph Curry’s Olympic Finals performance. The movie has an “Independence Day” feel (another Roland Emmerich classic), yet ALL THESE EVENTS REALLY HAPPENED! Midway may not only be the greatest event in American military history, but also the most underrated moment in the kick-butt American exceptionalism genre (a truth is greater than fiction moment).

“Midway”, a 2019 Film by Roland Emmerich. If not the perfect film, surely an accurate depiction of one of the most important events in our history.

Background: For those of you who don’t know, the Japanese sunk our old battleships at Pearl Harbor, drawing us into war (possibly doing us a favor), while neglecting our three carriers out at sea. About seven months later, Admiral Nagumo (who is rather by-the-book) is sent by Yamamoto (egged on by the nutso Japanese Army and the Doolittle Raid) with a large task force intended to finish off those carriers. Somehow, the Americans, using the hastily repaired Yorktown and a ragtag group of pilots, find and sink four Japanese carriers near Midway Island. This turns the tide of the war, though at great loss of life to many of our brave pilots.

Emmerich: Why is a German Guy Making Kick-Butt US Military Movies? Are you kidding? They make money! But this one really is a delicious story, more or less Luke Skywalker et al destroying the Death Star. Going back to “Independence Day”, Emmerich…