Movie: USS Indianapolis

[tmark]

Has anyone seen the movie that came out last year or two USS Indianapolis? I haven't seen it but ordered it.

If so, what did you think of it?

[Griff Murphey]

Has anyone seen the movie that came out last year or two USS Indianapolis? I haven't seen it but ordered it.

If so, what did you think of it?

Thanks, had not heard of it... you caused me to look this up. Nicholas Cage plays Captain McVeigh, the trailer looks pretty good. The ship went down rapidly but did get a distress message off. The duty officer in charge of ship movements immediately ordered a search to get underway but the search was called off by Captain Naquin who actually ran the ship movement command.

Naquin (you may remember) was the skipper of the USS SQUALUS which sank on trials with heavy loss of life just before WW-2. I will be interested to see if that is covered. Naquin, not McVeigh, should have been court martialed.

Another point: the trailer shows I-58 using conventional torpedoes. I-58's skipper, Hashimoto, testified at the court martial that he used conventional torpedoes, which weighed against McVeigh who was not zig zagging. Others have long believed that I-58 used Kaitens on Indy, high speed kamikaze torpedoes or mini subs, which in effect could outrun and hunt down INDIANAPOLIS.

Looks interesting!

[Litt'le Lee]

this is a sad story of a lot of sailors being eaten alive in a shark feeding frenzy--and a botched US Navy search..........
it's like watching the twin towers coming down again.....no thank you

[dryheat]

That's a good analogy. I don't want to see anything that gut wrenching again. I guess I would watch this movie though. I heard about it as a kid and it just rocked me. I still consider it one of the most horrifying things I can imagine.

[Griff Murphey]

Agree the fate of the crew adrift was grim to say the least. Survival at sea books and movies are often very hard to get through. Still it was an important loss and I am glad someone made what appears to be a much better movie than that older TV movie MISSION OF THE SHARK.

Captain McVeigh ultimately took his own life in the early 60's due to the Navy's heavy guilting of him. The "value" of zig-zagging as an anti submarine measure was always conjectural as it brought ships into the reach of the subs about as often as it took them out of reach. I understand the crew was very loyal to him and never blamed him for the sinking.

There was an antique book dealer here in FW, Bill Collins, who was on it, decided he wanted off and actually went to the cruiser detailer at BuPers and got transferred to another ship right before the sinking.

[Griff Murphey]

I finally saw the movie on Netflix, I thought it was ok. Some criticisms, the movie opens with Indy under kamikaze attack, decent CGI but the officers on the bridge are all wearing soft covers, not steel pots. Cage is ordering "FIRE!" But I think AA fire was all under local control? There is a segment showing a search by Lt. Marks in a PBY which may have used the worst model used in a war movie since the 1920's. My grandson and I could have thrown the Monogram 1/48 kit together and painted it with a spray can and it would have looked better than that piece of crap. They did use a real PBY, a PBN "Nomad" tall tail to be exact and it made an actual open ocean landing which authentically did fatally damage that relic. It started taking on water and could not be salvaged. The INDY was played by the USS ALABAMA and interior shots of I-58 were done in the USS DRUM. The plane that actually found the survivors is played by a truly beautiful PV-1 complete with underwing rockets.

The reception of the distress message received in Guam is depicted accurately except that the officer who refused to send out tugs was actually Commander Naquin, the guy who lost his new sub USS SQUALUS on trials before the war. In the movie an anonymous LT. is the bad guy.

Some critics have said the sharks were more Sharknado style but I thought they were pretty convincing, the fate of the crew is pretty faithfully acted in my opinion. If you like war movies it is watchable, it's the second and probably last movie that will ever be made about the loss of INDIANAPOLIS. Lots of small goof ups spoil what could have been a real nice movie. You have to wonder who they hire as "technical advisors"'or do the movie moguls just ignore the advice?

I like Nicholas Cage as a military role guy, he did a good job of portraying Captain McVay. Tragic the treatment the USN gave him.