Synopsis:

The Fall of the Pacific is a non-stop war film about the World War II Pacific Theatre from the Attack of Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway. Using scenes from the films Pearl Harbor, Midway and music from the Halo series soundtracks, The Fall of the Pacific is a pure war film, with all the cherry picked best military scenes from the two original movies, and an epic soundtrack to bridge them together.

Intentions:

Pearl Harbor is famous for it's terrible romance focus and Midway is full of awkward writing. My intention was to pluck out the best elements of these two films, the epic battle military strategic command scenes, and combine them together with the Halo soundtrack to make a tight war film with no fluff. I made the cuts where needed to make the narrative flow together, from the intelligence war before the Attack of Pearl Harbor, to the end of the Battle of Midway. I cut out most of the pilots and nurses from Pearl Harbor, and most of the awkward personal dialogue between the Midway characters, so what is left is mostly all business. When deciding which song to place where, I often thought of its parallel in the Halo games. For instance, the first song I use is the first song you hear in the Halo 2 campaign, and both are scene of a Leader chastising his military leadership for failure to prepare properly. Then for the build up and attack on Pearl Harbor, I use the score from Halo Reach, as it was the prequel and was a place where the UNSC lost devastatingly, like America did at Pearl. Later, for the dive bomber runs, I use the Warthog Run music, to give you that desperate in-the-driver-seat feeling of racing to the finish, and at the end I used the ending songs of Halo 3, the end of the core Halo story, to give the ending of the edit a feeling of closure. The Soundtrack is nearly non-stop, with it carrying forward the narrative through its tone and pace.

Change List:

Disclaimer: Since this is over 5 hours of movie cut down to one hour, a lot has been cut out, so I tried to make this a list of things I kept, rather than discarded. Start with Roosevelt talking to generals and song Prologue (Halo 2) Cut to Japanese Admiralty meeting (Pearl Harbor) and beginning of song Winter Contingency (Halo Reach) Cut out dialogue about oil embargo Interweave scenes of Japanese fleet preparation and during Yamamoto’s exposition Cut to Admiral Kimmel discussing Japanese strategy Interweave scenes of Captain Thermon and cut to his exposition of the Japanese fleet intelligence strategy (cutting in the map as well) and interweaving Japanese admirals planning attack b-roll Cut to meeting of Thermon and Admiral Nimitz, discussing the Japanese strategy, interweaving scenes of the Japanese fleet and Yamamoto planning Cut to Japanese fleet the morning of the attack (I cut up a bit of this scene to flow better) Cut in all the scenes of the Japanese squadron approaching and attacking Pearl Harbor and interweave it with the attack in scenes Midway Switch to the main Halo choir theme for the destruction of the Arizona, and interweave the scenes of it’s destruction in both Pearl Harbor and Midway (while also cutting out reaction shots in Pearl Harbor to make it flow better) and continue on to Layton's reaction to it from his car Cut to Dickenson getting shot down (Midway) and switch to song Overture (Halo Reach) Cut back to attack on Pearl Harbor and Doris Miller manning a turret and firing back at Japanese (cut in many spots for flow) Cut to Roosevelt getting news of the attack Cut to sinking of Arizona and Long Night of Solace (Halo Reach) Cut to long series of cuts of the general devastation on the water caused by the attack and Yamamoto being congratulated Cut to Kimmel getting notice of attack too late and Miller recovering the flag of the Arizona and Epilogue (Halo Reach) Cut to Enterprise entering the Harbor and seeing the devastation, and cut the dialogue out (Midway) and back to Long Night of Solace (Halo Reach) Cut to men stuck in Arizona and trying to cut them out only for them to drown (Pearl Harbor) all cut to flow better Cut to funeral scene in Midway Cut to Roosevelt's speech in Pearl Harbor (shortened and cut for flow) Also shortened his meeting with Admirals for flow and so I can set up the Marshall islands battle next instead of going straight to Doolittle Raid Cut to The Last Spartan (Halo 2) and the Marshall Islands battle in Midway (cutting up the battle for flow) During the dive bombers approach, cut to song Tip of the Spear (Halo Reach) Cut to American fleet getting attacked (cut for time and flow) Cut to Roosevelt getting briefed on plan for Doolittle Raid Cut to song Finish the Fight (Halo 3) and the American carrier group preparing to launch the raid (Midway), cut for time and flow and remove Doolittle's underwhelming speech. Cut to Pearl Harbor scenes of the attack on Tokyo, with the emperors reaction cut in from Midway Cut to Roosevelt getting news of the preemptive launch and lack of fuel for Doolittle Raiders (last Pearl Harbor scene) Cut to Doolittle bailing out of his plane (Midway) and song Heavy Price Paid (Halo 2) Cut to Doolittle meeting up with Chinese allies, cutting out scene of them mistrusting him Cut to Japanese bombing raid on their refuge group Cut to loss at Coral Sea with Nimitz and Layton's strategic exposition cut between Cut to This is Our Land (Halo 3) and Nimitz giving medals out on Enterprise with Dick Best giving exposition on the state of the war Cut to repairing of the Yorktown and Admiral Halsey exposition on being tired Cut to Nimitz laying out the American Strategy for Midway battle, interweaved with scene of Midway Island Song changes to Sacred Icon Suite (Halo 2). Cut to Nimitz telling Layton to get some rest (cutting the part about their wives) Cut to McCuskey discussing the tactical situation of the battle with Best Cut to Yorktown catching up Cut to Morning of Midway battle on Midway Island and lace overtop Layton's exposition about the Japanese fleets location Cut to Japanese Air group attacking Midway through to end of Midway Air groups failed attack and No More Dead Heroes (Halo 3) Cut to Japanese discovery of American fleet and Enough Dead Heroes (Halo 3) Cut to American submarine attack on Japanese fleet (cut together when it was separated in film) and end of song Honorable Intentions (Halo 3) when the torpedo is launched from submarine. Cut to Lindsey’s Torpedo Squadron failed attack on the Japanese fleet with This is the Hour (Halo 3) Cut the torpedo missing the Hiyru, then Lindsey's reaction and crash (instead of having him crash and not see that he missed) Cut to dive bombers taking off (cut for flow) Cut to dive bombers looking for Japanese fleet and The Ark (Halo 3) Cut to Submarine shaking off the Japanese destroyer and dive bombers spotting it returning to the fleet Cut to Hornet Torpedo Squadron failed attack on Japanese fleet and Luck (Halo 3) Cut to dive bombers attacking the fleet and Behold a Pale Horse (Halo 3) Cut to Halo (Halo:CE) for Best’s dive bombing of the Akagi (cut out the weird face he make while pulling up) Cut to McCuskey and Bruno being chased by Japanese fighters and continue through Japanese carriers explode and evacuation, switching to part way through from Ghosts of Reach (Halo 2), then to Ending Roll Call (Halo 3) Cut to Best and McCuskey on the Enterprise reporting to Admiral Spruance, switching to song Epilogue (Halo 2) Cut to Best recovering and telling other pilots they have to go back out there (cut dialogue asking about Dickinson) Cut to Best inspiring Murray, switching part way to Finale (Halo 2) Cut to Yamamoto ordering Japanese fleet to attack, through to Admiral Yamaguchi receiving the order Cut to Admiral Yamaguchi making a speech to the remaining pilots Cut to Dive Bombers beginning their attack, through to the destruction of the Hiryu and Best’s wingman crashing on the deck of the enterprise and One Final Effort (Halo 3) (cutting the end of the song a bit for flow and timing) Cut to Dickinson and McCuskey talking about Best and Unforgotten (Halo 2) Cut from Dickinson searching the sky, to crew picking up scrap on the deck, back to Dickinson looking for Best to make it flow all together (originally separated by a scene) Cut up Best getting out of plan to make it faster and cut to Wake Me When You Need Me (Halo 3) Cut to sinking of Hiyru and Admiral and captain staying aboard, cut up partially for time

Additional Notes:

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Other Sources:

HaloCE Soundtrack Halo 2 Soundtrack Halo 3 Soundtrack Halo Reach Soundtack.

Special Thanks: