The image of the Doolittle Ride in Pearl Harbor is “Just as bad,” according to a historian. Directed by Michael Bay and written by Randall Wallace (Brave), the 2001 war film depicts the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, following a love story between a combat pilot and nurse leading to the attack, followed by the Doolittle Raid, a counter attack by the United States. The movie stars Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Colm Feore, and Alec Baldwin.
In a video from InsideHistorian John McManus rated the accuracy of World War II battles in movies and television shows, including the Depiction of the Doolittle Raid in Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 14:03 minute mark:
The historian of World War II claims the image of the Doolittle Raid in Pearl Harbor is highly exaggerated and historically inaccurate, especially in terms of the destruction caused, the altitude of the planes and the depiction of Japanese antiaircraft fire. generally, He rated the scene a 4/10 In terms of historical accuracy. Read his full comments below:
OK, where to start? This is just so bad. I’m sorry. I mean, way too much destruction. The Doolittle Raiders, in total, dropped 16 tons of bombs on Japan. It was, relatively speaking, a pin. Not that it’s pleasant to be under 16 tons of bombs, of course, but it didn’t cause anywhere near that much destruction.
The B-25 was supposed to drop anywhere from 7,000 to 8,000-plus feet, and it looks like they’re right down on the deck when they drop their bombs here. So in this attack, by the way, I don’t think they are quite that low. You know, they’re low enough to see what’s below them and to drop on their targets and whatever, but I don’t think quite as low as is portrayed here.
That’s the kind of artillery or antiaircraft artillery that they would have there, and they’re manipulating it more or less the right way. You know, a couple of people in the crew trying to find targets out there, shooting at what they can. The problem is that the attack mostly catches them off guard. It is described as too suffocating and too exacting. The Japanese would have liked their anti-aircraft fire to have been so effective against the Doolittle raid.
They seem to portray at the end of the clip that one of the planes is shot down over Japan, that one of the planes is shot down over Japan, which is just 100% inaccurate. They all moved by water, most of them to China, one to the Soviet Union. Many of them, of course, were copied, of course, later by the Japanese. This is another matter. What bothers me about it is that these are not hard things to figure out. The Doolittle Raid is really famous. Most of the veterans lived and told their accounts, and there are great books about it. It wouldn’t have been hard for the filmmakers to really explore it and try to tell it a little more accurately. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened here, and that makes for a neat fight, I guess. But in terms of is it history? Well, not so much. I give this one a 4.
How historically inaccurate is Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor?
The Doolittle speech is the most historically inaccurate aspect
Michael Bay’s movie presents a heavily fictionalized account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, centered on a love story leading up to the attack, and the American counter-attack called the Doolittle Raid. in turn, Pearl Harbor Received mostly negative reviews from criticsEarning a 24% Rotten Tomatoes score, especially for its historical inaccuracies. Although most of the movie gives a mixed bad in terms of historical accuracy, the depiction of the Doolittle Raid’s planning, execution and aftermath is considered one of the most inaccurate aspects.
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Historian John McManus mentions many of the historical inaccuracies found in Pearl Harbors depiction of the Doolittle Ride. One of the most serious inaccuracies Is that the attack, named after Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle who planned and led the attack, caused much less destruction than shown in the movie, as it was more of a symbolic strike that caused minimal damage. Furthermore, the movie also exaggerates how effective Japanese antiaircraft fire was, as all American planes made it out safely.
Our take on Pearl Harbor’s historical inaccuracy
Michael Bay prioritized bombast, for better or worse
As John McManus mentioned, historical inaccuracies like these present in Pearl Harbor are easy to avoid, given the available historical records. This is why it is likely that Michael Bay simply prioritizes bombast and action over historical accuracyAs he often does in his films. In this case, it is difficult to argue that the director did not succeed in his goal, vi Pearl Harbor Earned much praise for its spectacular 40-minute action sequence, received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, and won one for Best Sound Editing.
Source: Inside