As the Battle of Midway was fought mainly with aircraft, dive bombing-a flying technique that requires a pilot to steer an aircraft directly at its target for accuracy-features heavily in the film, vividly re-creating the American pilots' bravery as well as the fierceness of war.

"I was mainly interested in showing the world how wild and dangerous dive bombing could be. These pilots were pretty much like human rockets, trying to deploy bombs as low as possible at a constantly moving target," explains Emmerich.

The director's enthusiasm for such scenes explains why the movie sets a lesser-known bomber pilot as one of its leading characters.

The pilot, Richard Halsey Best, is played by English actor Ed Skrein, perhaps best known for his role as Wade Wilson's dastardly foe, Francis, in the box-office hit Deadpool. The movie re-creates Best's two strikes against the Japanese navy, sinking two of its most powerful aircraft carriers.