This is one I first saw when it was in theatrical release. In that, it had the whole Coral Sea sequences in it, and the film dragged. My thought was, even then, that they had a lot of battle footage they wanted to show, nothing more.
And on the battle scenes. Some of them appeared to be stock footage originally shot on 16mm, then blown up and cropped for widescreen. In the theater, the graininess of the footage was masked by showing the scenes by defocusing them! Although a lot of the film is superfluous, one aspect of it rang true: the cryptanalysis of the Japanese RED cipher, and the "mousetrap" set to determine which target AF was. Commander Rochefort was not treated well at the time, but at least this film gives his efforts the credit they deserve.
The release of the film to videotape helped considerably by chopping out a lot of superfluity, though not all of it.
Compared to The Longest Day, or other equivalent war film, this one doesn't have their stature, but at least it provides the viewer with entertainment.
And on the battle scenes. Some of them appeared to be stock footage originally shot on 16mm, then blown up and cropped for widescreen. In the theater, the graininess of the footage was masked by showing the scenes by defocusing them! Although a lot of the film is superfluous, one aspect of it rang true: the cryptanalysis of the Japanese RED cipher, and the "mousetrap" set to determine which target AF was. Commander Rochefort was not treated well at the time, but at least this film gives his efforts the credit they deserve.
The release of the film to videotape helped considerably by chopping out a lot of superfluity, though not all of it.
Compared to The Longest Day, or other equivalent war film, this one doesn't have their stature, but at least it provides the viewer with entertainment.