The Navy Vol_64_Part2 2002 - Navy League of Australia

interviewed span time and distance from the sinking of theGerman Fleet at Scarpa Flow to the attack on Pearl Harbor.This documentary abounds with fascinating footage suchas the USS MAINE disaster in Cuba of 1893 - which spurredthe 1898 naval war between the US and Spain, the launch ofHMS DREADNOUGHT by King Edward in Feb 1906 with abottle of Australia w ine, the battle of Jutland with the world'sfirst combat aerial photography of the German High SeasFleet turning for a second time to engage the UK Grand Fleet,the wrecked German Fleet at Scarpa Flow. HMASAUSTRALIA being sunk off Sydney Heads and many moreastounding images and footage.Although a potential anti-climax' for battleship historyenthusiasts, the documentary does deal with the ascension ofthe aircraft carrier over the battleship and rightly so as this ispart of the battleship story. The aircraft carrier is also withoutdoubt the capital ship of today and with the documentary'sfocus being capital ships as opposed to straight out battleshipsthis end to the series is appropriate.Unlike other documentaries on the subject. The Battleshipsis not a Jutland. Iowa. UK or US centric view of the capitalship, nor does it try to emotionalise and sensationalise thesubject as other lesser documentaries have tried to in order toaccount for an acute lack of substance both in historicalinformation and footage.The Battleships is truly the thinking mans navaldocumentary and cannot be recommended highly enough.Pearl HarborTwo DVD Movie setA Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay productionTouchstone Home VideoDistributed by Buena Vista AustraliaI S3 minutes main feature47 minute Making of' documentaryReview ed by Mark Schweikert7\ "FT .'.IMTNOED »OH MATURE[Ml AUDIENCES 'S TEARS AND OVERThe long awaited special edition DVD movie Pearl Harboris now available and thanks to Buena Vista AustraliaTHE NAVY has obtained a copy for review. The special\ NO. 3 THE NAVYfeatures included on this two DVD set comprise the originaltheatrical trailer; the Faith Hill Music Video 'There you'll be":a short documentary on the Japanese Perspective of the movieand a documentary on the 'Making of the Movie PearlHarbor, and of course the movie itself which was reviewed inTHE NAVY. Vol 63 No 3 p30.To those who enjoyed the movie the special edition DVDset is well recommended. The 'Making of documentary givesa whole new insight and understanding of the film and wouldhave served critics well had they seen it.Pearl Harbor is a balanced account of December 7. 1941and was never intended to demonise either side's participationon that infamous day. Leading man Ben Affleck says, duringthe 'Making of documentary that "1 wouldn't have done it(Pearl Harbor) if I thought it was a piece of propaganda".World renowned Japanese actor Mako. who plays AdmiralYamamoto. said that the Japanese are not portrayed as evil ordark and that the absence of sensationism lo promote anemotional response against the Japanese is a selling point ofthe movie to a world-wide audience, to which the makerswished to reach.Pearl Harbor doesn't glorify War or the opening stages ofWW II but the use of special effects and the effort gone intodemonstrating the intense ferocity of the day can make somebelieve, incorrectly, that is anything but an open and honestattempt to describe this tragic eveni. Other criticisms involvethe two characters experiences as being unrealistic and to thispoint many are right. However, as the director explains, thestory of Pearl Harbor was so incredibly large thai no singleexperience could do justice or adequately explain whatoccurred. Thus, in order to tell the story the two centralcharacters are put through a collection of actual experiences,w hat happened to them happened to someone is the director'sphilosophy behind the characters. For example, during theattack on Pearl Harbor two pilots did manage to get airborneand shoot down six Japanese planes.The massive gimble made from 350.0001bs of steel for the movie to depictthe capsizing of the battleship USS OKLAHOMA. Superstructure andbackground was then added by computer later.To get an idea of the real story of December 7 1941 over70 Pearl Harbor Veterans were interviewed for theirperspective. Many also visited the set to act as advisers to the'work in progress". 'Doolittlc Raid' survivors were alsointerviewed and visited the set during shooting. Theinformation and experiences passed on by these veterans'gives the movie a better grounding in realism than manywould think or know.From the documentary on the making of PearI Harbor, eight drums ofpetrol linked by 'del cord' on the bow of a decommissioned Spruance classdestroyer. No miniature models were used in the making of the film inorder to promote more realism.The film was shot on location in Pearl Harbor with thebattle scenes over the harbor taking six weeks to complete.The US Department of Defense gave the movie unprecedentedaccess and permission to use the military facilities andpersonnel not only at Pearl Harbor but at other US Militaryestablishments and ships, such was their confidence in thedirector's work. Aircraft used in the film are actual WW IIaircraft with extra aircraft computer added to give a betterperspective on the numbers involved. The film used acollection of flying 'warbirds' which included four P-40Warhawks. three Zeros, three Kates, three Vals and three B-25Mitchell bombers. The special effects team also receivedpermission to place explosive charges on a number ofdecommissioned ships in Pearl Harbor to create theimpression of an actual attack. This was coupled with actualJapanese aircraft flying over, in and around Pearl Harbor andthe ships. The special effects team used 7.(XX) sticks ofdynamite. 2.000ft of del cord' and 4.000 gallons of petrol tocreate massive explosions on the many decommissioned USNships. It would have been rather perplexing for touristsvisiting the USS ARIZONA memorial to see propellerdriven aircraft with Japanese markings flying around theharbour at low level with large explosions and pillars of blacksmoke rising from a collection of ships just a few kilometresaway.Another fascinating element to the making of the movieinvolved flying condition B-25 Mitcheiis being hoisted aboardthe aircraft carrier USS CONSTELLATION for the at sea'Doolittle Raid' scenes. The B-25s had to compete for deckspace w ith S-3 Viking and F/A-18 Hornets landing and takingoff for their own take off scenes from the carrier. The last timea B-25 took off from a US carrier was during the 50thanniversary of the Doolittlc Raid.Other bits of trivial from the making of documentaryinvolve some of the lead actors actually attending US Armyboot camp to get a better perspective on military life and whatit means to be a service member.Nearly all extras were US military personnel with over8.000 WWII uniforms and other period clothing having tobe made for the film to generate a feeling of realism, forwhich the director and producer are well known for inHollywood.The two DVD set of Pearl Harbor is well recommended.