posted
*L* Actually, according to what' I have heard, they were picked up on radar and the commanding officer was duly warned. However it was thought that the incoming fleet of Japanese planes was a shipment of American planes which would have been coming from the same direction. So it was ignored. After tracking the fleet for a few more minutes, the radar station was shut down. It was no more but a nagging in the backs of the minds of the radar techs until the actual attack began.
------------------ "A celibate clergy is an especially good idea because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism."
posted
I think they thought the detected planes were a flight of B-17s they were expecting, never mind they would have been coming from the wrong direction and IIRC ahead of schedual.
There's also the popular theory that that the guys on top knew of the attack (considering everyone else, from the Brits to the Chinese, knew about it) and wanted it to happen.
------------------ "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."
posted
The only thing I find so damning about that theory is that it means FDR was willing to lose the entire Pacific Fleet, and thus a chance to actually win against Japan, just so he could enter WWII. It's just so ... stupid, desperate or no.
------------------ "A celibate clergy is an especially good idea because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism."
a) The ships bombed were old World War I battlecruisers -- their loss would be no big deal. And the Carriers were out to sea ...
and ...
b) The Japanese were well aware that if the US declared war on them, they would lose. They hoped to deliver a strong enough assault that the US would cave in to the Japanese demands regarding raw materials (metal and fuel, which I believe we had stopped selling them). Anyway, I think FDR probably knew that if it came to war, the loss of the Pacific Fleet might lengthen the conflict, but it wouldn't cause irreperable harm to it.
However, I don't believe the conspiracy theory. As I understand it, the Japanese fleet refueled their carriers en-route, which is something that either they had never done before or no-one had ever done before -- in essence, they performed the "Yamamoto Manuever" and caught everyone flat-footed.
Not to mention that there were countless American targets closer to Japan -- the Manila Island, the Philipeanes, etc. -- that were believed to be the most likely targets of Japanese aggression.
Does anyone know when Pearl Harbor opens ... ?
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 *** Card-Carrying Member of the FlareAPAO *** "I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
posted
"Compare, for example, Bad Boys, Rock, Armageddon with any of Kevin Smith's films..."
Smith's are watchable, whereas the others you mention represent the death of everything that is good and right with the world, and can be directly linked to the deaths of babies and old women across the planet?
Duuuuuude ... Bay's movies rock! Okay, sure, they're not excellent "dramatic" story-telling, but they're just ... beautiful ...
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 *** Card-Carrying Member of the FlareAPAO *** "I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
posted
C'mon now, Bay is pretty awful. He can make stuff blow up artistically, yes. But artistic filmmaking goes far beyond having burning cable cars sliding down hills in a visually captivating way.
The one thing that bugs me the most is that every movie he's directed has had an awful script, and as a director he makes no effort to tone it down the schmaltz. Weepy girls, everyday American boys-come-heroes, and rumbling patriotic music as the American flag flaps in the breeze. Puh-leeze.
------------------ "And as it is, it is cheaper than drinking." -DT on arguing with Omega, April 30
posted
Well, Armageddon certainly is heavy on the patriotism ...
Not quite so much the Rock ... and rarely (if at all) in Bad Boys.
But ... er ... I don't judge a shoot-'em up movie by the same standards I do a tear-jerker flick. As far as action flicks go, Bay's on top.
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 *** Card-Carrying Member of the FlareAPAO *** "I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
posted
Bad Boys is hereby absolved of patriotism. But The Rock? C'mon... "We're marines and we're the best!" "Eagle squad one and two." "Step up son and save your country." It wouldn't be so bad if every character wasn't a plain-and-simple stereotype...
(And, if I may digress, you have no idea how much I hatehatehate the entire sequence where Nicolas Cage gets punched, kicked, and knocked flying while a fragile ball of neurotoxin is in his shirt pocket. This is beyond nitpicking, this is being distracted by awful filmmaking.)
Don't get me wrong, The Rock is a fun action movie, and on the whole I find it quite a bit of low-brow fun. Connery is hilarious, there's some cool action scenes. But it's not light years ahead of what John Woo or many other action directors can do.
------------------ "And as it is, it is cheaper than drinking." -DT on arguing with Omega, April 30
Marines aren't the best. Everyone knows that Navy SEALs are the best. Okay, they're not portrayed so in the flick, (actually, there's a supplement on the DVD -- ::awaits the Wrath of Lee:: where the SEALs who worked on the film -- only Michael Biehn was an actor, the rest were real SEALs -- criticize the movie's approach in that regard) but I thought it generally acknowledged that the US Navy SEALs were the foremost Spec Ops group in the world ... ? Maybe this is just my ignorance speaking...
Anyway, in regards to the US, the SEALs and the Marines are the best. You ain't gonna see a bunch of Air Force mechanics storming an island prison, are you ... ?
And The Rock also has a killer score by Hans Zimmer going for it. And Armageddon has one by Trevor Rabin. WOW! Talk about cool music ...
Er. When DOES Pearl Harbor open anyway ... ?
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 *** Card-Carrying Member of the FlareAPAO *** "I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
posted
I'm so fed up with Hans Zimmer's music from The Rock, Crimson Tide and such. It's so full of itself.
And Bad Boys has the most recent example of nauseating "goody-two-shoes" behaviour. You know, the bad guy is at the hero's mercy, and he wants to pull the trigger so bad (although Martin Lawrence had no particular reason to shoot him). But his partner has to go "No, Jim/John/Jack/Frank, don't do it. You'll never get her back that way. And you'll be no better than him if you do. Then, of course, the bad guy has some trick up his sleeve and must try to kill them anyway, making it fully legal and toootally different to shoot him now. I luuuv self defense, baby!!! Talk about hypocrisy...
posted
When I was checking Pearl Habor out I saw that Jurassic Park III is ready. Has it gone up in the states?
Hmm, the plot is about the original JP-crew + T�a Leoni who are rescuing a boy who've para-glided down on a dinosaur island. Gee, I wonder if the boy will make it?
posted
How about someone just post the fucking release date ... ?
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 *** Card-Carrying Member of the FlareAPAO *** "I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
------------------ "Let me ask you something, Mr. Garibaldi, a purely philosophical question. On a scale of 1 to 10, how stupid do you think I am anyway?" - Bester Federation Starship Datalink: Brand new look, fresh minty scent, same great taste!
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