Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

MartinHafer I enjoyed this film, as although it only was tangentially a film about the Battle of Midway (probably the most important naval battle of WWII), it was a billion times better than the 1970s film "Midway". Midway was a very sloppy film--with tons of badly inserted file footage. Often, the footage was too grainy or featured planes that literally changed into different planes in mid-air! Here in "Wing and a Prayer", although some stock footage is used, it's used far less extensively and more seamlessly.The film is about a lone US aircraft carrier who is given a lousy mission--to try to AVOID contact with the enemy and run whenever they are detected. The goal is to lull the Japanese into thinking the Americans are not prepared for war and are more vulnerable than they really were. But instead of just focusing on this 'big picture' approach, the movie specifically focuses on one small unit on board the ship. The impact of these unorthodox maneuvers on the men and their stories are the goal of this film.The film is very entertaining. Much of this is because although the subject might seem a bit dry today, there are lots of nice vignettes and excellent acting. The main stars, Dana Andrews and Don Ameche, are good as always--this is certainly no surprise as both were great professionals. But it also helped that they had some excellent performances from supporting actors--most of which might not even be recognized today (aside from a young Harry Morgan). But to fans of old time cinema, the faces of Richard Jaeckel, Charles Bickford and others are a welcome sight--and provide nice and realistic color to the film. The only real sour note here was the ensign who flew with an Oscar (the award, not the Japanese plane)--this seemed ridiculous and out of place. A few of the real standout scenes were the plane that was stuck and couldn't pull out of a bombing run as well as the great scenes of the men on the ship listening to the airplane chatter as the battle raged on--their faces really said it all.Overall, a nice depiction of the events leading up to Midway as well as of the battle itself. While the footage used wasn't perfect (see below), it was used well and the movie provided good entertainment and an explanation of what was happening to the folks back home during the war. Good and a must for aviation buffs.FYI--For true aviation/navy nuts (like myself) only: Note that in some scenes the SB2C Helldiver dive bomber was featured. This plane did not begin service until later 1943--a year and a half after the events featured in the film occurred. You can't entirely blame Hollywood--they probably made good with what they had available to them at the time, as the Dauntless dive bombers were being phased out when the film was made. Also, while Avenger torpedo planes did fight at Midway, only six were available--as the plane was brand-new to the war in June 1942 Yet, in the film, there are lots of Avengers and none of the more widely used Devastators. Again, this info is only for maniacs like me who care about such details.Also, ironically, footage for the film was shot on the USS Yorktown II-- ship that replaced the Yorktown. The old Yorktown had been lost at the Battle of Midway. Plus, the film almost makes it look as if the carrier in the film (never referred to by name) was the only US carrier in the battle, though the Hornet, Yorktwown and Enterprise all participated. You see other ships in the film, but no real mention is made of them.

lohman48 The movie itself is entertaining and rather predictable at times. Kind of like the movie mill war stories of that era. The roll played by Don Ameche was not a Don Ameche roll. Ameche is better known for his humor, IE: The Bickersons and Cocoon. The roll of a sad, by the book Navy officer must have been a stretch for him, but he did it in perfection. He became a dark shadow in scenes where he just walks through and always alone. The lonely man, hardly cracking a smile. Everyone hating him, tough to the point, lonely, misunderstood and doing the job he was appointed to do. It makes you wonder how many men had to be this way during any war. Ameche should have won an Acadamy Award for his role in this movie.

nick_elliston Picked this up as a cheap DVD recently.Part (small) documentary, part film, part propaganda. Various readers have commented on the accuracy of the aircraft etc, but as WW2 was still going on when this was filmed I guess they made use of what was available.Follows a familiar theme of other WW2 films made whilst the war was in progress - Wake Island, Air Force etc in that historical accuracy is sometimes lacking, but as a flag-waver at the time it probably had the desired effect.Although born some time after WW2 ended, as a story of life aboard a carrier it looked quite realistic to me. It was only the battle scenes where it seemed to lose its way, but this was nothing to do with the quality of special effects. Probably a bit too jingoistic.Some good performances, particularly Don Ameche. It stands the test of time well, and a film that should not be forgotten and that I will certainly watch several times more.

jparker-4 "The True Story of Carrier X". Not. A decent flick, but given that it was made in 1944, there are still some propaganda/intelligence considerations.It's interesting that we pick apart current movies (like Spiderman), yet leave these old films alone - when there are much more egregious errors to it. Pilots in TBFs taking off, when the planes that are launched are SBDs. Place #31 takes off, but it's plane #27 which crashes. The winning planes of Midway are torpedo planes instead of dive bombers.Despite these sort of issues, it does appear to capture the spirit of the carrier air groups of the war. Well worth seeing.My interest was to determine which carrier in fact was used for the film. Definitely an Essex class - the first of which was launched in '42. So it wasn't really at Midway. Looks like the USS Hornet CV-12 - which would be cute, the orignal USS Hornet (CV-8) was at Midway. But the hull number is not visible in the film.