Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I stopped watching this sloppy Chinese production within 10 minutes because of blatant historical inaccuracies, bad production values, and poor acting. It begins with an early scene labeled “Eglin Air Force Base.” There were no “air force bases” in 1942 because the “U.S. Air Force” (USAF) did not yet exist as a separate service. It was an autonomous branch of the Army called the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name of Eglin Air Force Base in 1942 was simply Eglin Field. Then came main character Jack Turner’s shaggy haircut, which would have been completely non-regulation in the American armed forces in 1942. His uniform was also a bafflement. On his right collar he wears the “U.S.” insignia, which is standard on the service uniform jackets of both the Army and Air Force to this day. But instead of being worn vertically (upright), it is worn horizontally (sideways). Go figure. On his left shirt collar, he wears a little brass airplane figure (also mounted sideways), which I suppose represents the Army Air Forces. Trouble is, no such insignia existed in that branch of service. The branch insignia of the Air Forces in 1942 was a pair of gold wings flanking a silver vertical, two-bladed propeller. During Jack Turner’s debriefing with a pair of Eglin officers following the Doolittle raid, he clearly addresses an officer wearing the silver eagles of a full colonel as “Lieutenant” – about four grades below his actual rank. Nor is it possible he was addressing the other officer in the room, who is wearing the silver oak leaves of a major, two grades above lieutenant. There was in fact no lieutenant in the room, unless it was Turner himself. (We never learn his rank because he wears no rank insignia.) Then we have the CGI used to re-create the 1942 aircraft carrier USS Hornet and the B-25 Mitchell medium bombers used by the Doolittle strike group. In comparison to the evolution of American CGI technology, about 1995 in quality-level and very cheesy. As for the human acting, Emile Hirsch is just barely passable as Jack Turner. His performance is more appropriate for a Lifetime made-for-TV movie than the big silver screen. As for the Chinese actors, they were speaking Chinese through much of the film, so I have can’t possibly rate their authenticity or believability. Everybody has their own standard of quality when it comes to movies. Many here rate this one very high. I rate it very low. Your results may vary.