Movie Rec.

J

Just Dad

5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2015
Messages
534
First, best wishes to all the plebes and their parents. My own DD is an alumnus now, but the USNA was such a powerful experience for DD and our family that I find myself returning here to follow the progress of others. Your kids made such a GREAT choice! Unlike most colleges, the USNA actually cares about your DD's/DS's education; this is gonna work out great for them......."Trust the Goat".

That said, I watched 'Greyhound' a couple of days ago. A movie following the actions of a Fletcher Class DD in convoy duty crossing the Atlantic in WW2. Really a great, intelligent, action movie that makes you feel the weight of command, (Tom Hanks did a great job). No theater release and (sadly) Apple-TV is the only provider currently streaming it. If you have apple-tv don't miss it; if you don't have Apple TV, but know somebody who does, I'd offer to bring the beer in exchange for a seat on the couch. For me, Greyhound is the best WW2 Naval film since 'In Harms Way' and 'Das Boat'. Better than 'The Enemy Below', and yes I have seen both Midway movies---meh.

Still waiting for a movie based on The Battle of Samar ('Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailor') and US Navy at Guadalcanal ('Neptune's Inferno')

BTW: DD is now in the DC area doing some academic work before heading off to USN schooling in her service area, and I have learned a valuable lesson.
Paying private school tuition really sucks! (figuratively and financially).
 
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Oh my .... I would so love to see a movie creation of the battles, battle fatigue, heroism and perseverance on Guadalcanal. I think Tom Hanks would be too old for a rifleman’s role, but he could show up in another role.
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I have to say I didn’t love it as a “movie”. It seemed to be just constant commands with no real dialog or character development. And I hated that every time the wolf pack came on screen, they played the menacing theme. Works well for Darth Vader a couple of times in Star Wars movie, not so much in this. I don’t regret watching it but prefer more of a “movie” than just battle scenes.
 
NJDadofDSUSMA2024Hopeful said:
I have to say I didn’t love it as a “movie”. It seemed to be just constant commands with no real dialog or character development.
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That's a common criticism of the Movie from an artistic perspective, and I can't disagree. That said, from a Naval perspective, it was very good...but it certainly helps to know the background of the Battle of the Atlantic , and how a ship operates. It was an engaging movie, as I found myself to doing MoBoards in my head, and second guessing Hank's actions at time.

The movie was based upon a book, CS Forestors, The Good Shepard. I just downloaded and will be interested to see how it reads.
 
I enjoyed the movie but found the Duke Nuke em emblems on the subs over the top along with the taunting from the German sub commander. School me if they really did that.
 
@Oldavy BGO

Mo Boards in your head! Yes!
I’ve always thought in addition to crosswords, sudoku, logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, I’d like some good ol’ Navy brain work to have in my ditty bag of stuff to have in my senior years for brain honing.
 
Capt MJ said:
@Oldavy BGO

Mo Boards in your head! Yes!
I’ve always thought in addition to crosswords, sudoku, logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, I’d like some good ol’ Navy brain work to have in my ditty bag of stuff to have in my senior years for brain honing.
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I still have a sextant, Rude Starfinder and HO249 tables if you really want to play some deep mind games. Just need some nautical Almanac info to use 'em for real and that can be found online if you don't want to actually get the current edition.

You can do the same thing with calculating local tides from the tide tables and figuring actual sunrise and sunset from the nautical almanac.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
That's a common criticism of the Movie from an artistic perspective, and I can't disagree. That said, from a Naval perspective, it was very good...but it certainly helps to know the background of the Battle of the Atlantic , and how a ship operates. It was an engaging movie, as I found myself to doing MoBoards in my head, and second guessing Hank's actions at time.

The movie was based upon a book, CS Forestors, The Good Shepard. I just downloaded and will be interested to see how it reads.
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Yeah, I'm with you. Too often war movie "dialogue" is very silly from a veteran's perspective.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
Yeah, I'm with you. Too often war movie "dialogue" is very silly from a veteran's perspective.
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I don’t doubt it, but we could have used a little more on him or any other character. All we knew is it was his first command.
it did capture the mayhem of a sea battle back then.
I also couldn’t help thinking, what would it be like today? Could anyone even come close to hanging with the USN in a shooting battle at sea? Also I guess there’s no such thing as no air support (for us) these days.
 
NJDadofDSUSMA2024Hopeful said:
Could anyone even come close to hanging with the USN in a shooting battle at sea? Also I guess there’s no such thing as no air support (for us) these days.
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The history of war has always been about measure ...countermeasure. Each time someone comes up with some new technology, there is a temporary advantage until someone comes up with the counter. With todays weapons systems, my prediction is that the next War at Sea will be short and violent, and we should never let the Fleet (both equipment, technology, and training) lapse to the point that we don't have the advantage.

When it comes to continuous air support, there are still places in the world that we probably can't keep maritime patrol aircraft on station for a prolonged period, but the advent of satellite surveillance and now maritime patrol drones would provide some cover. Of course, the submarines are better as well..quieter, more powerful weapons (including subsurface to surface missiles), and better sensors. The Battle of the Atlantic would be a lot different in 2020 than it was in 1944. Let's hope we never have to fight it !
 
I read the book before I saw the film, maybe that helped. The book really did a deep dive into his background, character, time at USNA etc and gave me a perspective on his thought process. I think that made me enjoy the movie a bit more since I had that in the back of my mind when viewing. I loved it, an incredibly difficult time and the Atlantic crossings are not something most history teachers bring up in high school classes.
Merchant Mariners, coaltion forces all teamed up with USA to move incredible numbers of of people and goods through tough seas teaming with Uboats.
My grandfather was a USNA grad and submariner. Many times I wish I had asked more questions, or that he had put pen to paper about his time aboard subs in WW2.
 
NJDadofDSUSMA2024Hopeful said:
Also I guess there’s no such thing as no air support (for us) these days.
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Submarines can be a threat in bad weather and in places that are very remote from fixed wing bases. The bad weather tends to keep own-ship aviation on the deck.
 
NJDadofDSUSMA2024Hopeful said:
I have to say I didn’t love it as a “movie”. It seemed to be just constant commands with no real dialog or character development. And I hated that every time the wolf pack came on screen, they played the menacing theme. Works well for Darth Vader a couple of times in Star Wars movie, not so much in this. I don’t regret watching it but prefer more of a “movie” than just battle scenes.
Click to expand...

My wife said the same thing. I have no idea if German Uboat commanders played Tokyo Rose on Allied frequencies, and I bet German Captains avoided insignia that would make them easier to spot on the surface. I do understand that at the height of the German Uboat campaign in 42 and 43 the allies were losing around 1500 ships and 10,000 lives a year to Uboat attacks. They were worthy of the Darth Vader theme music.

Re non-stop action; from what I've read, the movie/book seemed fairly accurate. If a wolfpack could set up a common intercept, under a broader attack on a convoy, you'd see multiple independent actions occurring in quick succession across a convoy stretched over miles of sea, with individual DD's, DE's, and Corvettes racing from threat to threat within their respective stations.

I was a kinda moved by this movie. I was struck by the terrible weight of responsibility the captain carried as he gathered data and moved through decisions in a constantly changing tactical environment. Here's the thing, if the guy screws up, it wasn't just his DD and crew at stake, it was all those defenseless merchantmen of the convoy who'd also pay the price. I think Hanks did an awesome job of quietly conveying that stress in this movie. For me, that "burden of command" was the emotional theme flowing behind the action scenes of the movie. Thinking about it; I wonder if there was any other instance of a small-unit commander carrying anything close to the responsibility that the captain of a DD/DE assigned to Atlantic convoy duty in WW2 did?

I doubt I'm telling anyone anything they don't already know, and "to each his/her own".

Back to plebes and plebes-to-be.
 
What kind of shoes was the USN issuing in the 40's that Capt.'s feet were bloody from standing up for days? Is that a thing? Would make more sense to me if marching or something.

We enjoyed the movie but agree with the criticisms above, too.
 
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