Things In Midway You May Not Believe Were True

Roland Emmerich's Midway is a historical war movie that has audiences shaking their heads, with plenty of things that just seem too insane to be true. But sometimes reality really is stranger than fiction. Here are the things in Midway you won't believe were true.

Most of Midway's characters are based on real people, including Nick Jonas's Bruno Gaido. Remember that unlikely scene where the USS Enterprise is raided by Japanese bombers, only to have them all miss... except for one, badly damaged, about to crash into the ship? Gaido hops into a nearby dive bomber and starts shooting, only to send the bomber careening away at the last minute, at the same time the plane he's in takes a direct hit.

Surely Hollywood drama, right? It's absolutely true. Gaido really did take a running leap into a parked plane, then opened fire on a Japanese bomber intent on crashing into the Enterprise, just like the movie depicts. The Japanese bomber really did clip Gaido's plane, slicing off the tail and sending it skidding across the deck.

There is a tad bit of creative license that was taken. In the aftermath of the real incident, Gaido extinguished a gasoline fire and then disappeared. He had been afraid he was going to get reprimanded for leaving his watch position, but instead, he was found, taken in front of Admiral Halsey, and promoted on the spot just like the film shows.

Even the bravest military is going to fail without reliable weapons and equipment, and that makes it all the more shocking that Midway suggests the Pacific front was fighting with torpedoes that didn't exactly work. The film makes several mentions of torpedoes not being tested or reliable, and even showing one scoring a direct hit only to break apart and sink. Unlikely-sounding? Yes. True? Also yes. Keep watching the video to see things in Midway you may not believe were true!

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Bruno Gaido's showdown | 0:18
Torpedo duds | 1:18
Playing chicken with the ocean | 2:01
The daring Doolittle raid | 2:53
A sidelined admiral | 3:41
Repairing the Yorktown | 4:24
Japan's deadly mistake | 5:22