O
ONE OF THE MOST TELLING SCENES IN “Tora! Tora! Tora!” — a movie
often commended for its accuracy regarding the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor — comes near the end, when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, com-
mander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, says: “I fear all we have done is to
awaken a sleeping giant and fi ll him with a terrible resolve.” a73 It’s a dra-
matic moment that foreshadows America’s angry response to Japan’s
sneak attack. There’s only one problem: No evidence exists that Yamamoto
ever uttered the apocryphal statement. There’s a slight possibility he ex-
pressed the sentiment in a letter to an admiral in Tokyo, notes Lawrence H.
Suid, author of Guts & Glory: The Making of the American Military Image
in Film (University Press of Kentucky, pointed or outright pissed off at the is mistakes often are made with the
2002), but that also has been ques- way military people were depicted full knowledge and consent of DoD.
tioned by some military historians. above and beyond the simple techni- “[Motion pictures and television
Errors large and small — medals cal blunders with uniforms, weap- shows] are dramatic productions, so
worn on the wrong side, inappropri- ons, and tactics,” says Capt. Dale Dye, by defi nition there has to be some
ate haircuts or uniforms, actions that USMC-Ret., founder of Warriors artistic license granted to them,”
exceed rank — often anger military Inc., a company that provides techni- explains Philip Strub, whose job as
personnel. Obvious technical and cal advisory services to the entertain- special assistant for Entertainment
cultural inaccuracies ruin the story, ment industry. “I always wondered Media, DoD, is to work with fi lm-
they say, and sometimes are a slap why someone didn’t just fi x it.”
in the face to men and women who Despite efforts to maintain real- Some more successful films in-
have served their country. ism, inaccuracies are an unavoidable clude (from left) “Patton,” “Platoon,”
“I’ve always been a movie fan, war part of the fi lmmaking process, ac- and “Bridge on the River Kwai.”
movies in particular for obvious rea- cording to those directly involved. “Pearl Harbor” (far right) is consid-
sons, and I was always either disap- What many people might not realize ered by some the most inaccurate.
6 6 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R M AY 2 0 0 8 PHOTOS: ALL PHOTOS FROM PHOTOFEST DIGITAL AND INCLUDE FROM LEFT, 20TH CENTURY FOX;
ORION PICTURES; COLUMBIA PICTURES; TOUCHSTONE/BUENA VISTA PICTURES
MMovie
Blunders.indd 66ovie
Blunders.indd 66 44/2/08 10:07:38 PM/2/08 10:07:38 PM
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