homepage Forums SimHQ Community Community Hall Devotion (film)

This is a movie about the first black US Navy aviator during the Korean War. There's a lot of news right now in Hollywood that this completely flopped financially at the box office. Do we have any theories as to why so few people were interested in seeing this?

1. Subject matter? I guess no one really cares about seeing a Korean War movie? Admittedly the Korean War seems to be a forgotten war compared to other wars.

2. Poorly marketed? It seems this movie really wasn't marketed very much either online or on TV. Maybe the studio execs already knew this was going to flop so why pour more money into it?

3. Post-Covid effect? Maybe a lot more people will see this movie but not until they can stream it at home?

Either way, I just think it's pretty sad that this movie flopped so badly because it will just discourage studios even more from making films like these in the future.

I was really looking forward to this movie and even I still haven't seen it. It's really such a niche movie that I can totally understand why it flopped sadly. No one I know other than maybe the few veterans I know would have any idea about ANYTHING related to Korea and even they probably won't see this movie even when it goes to Netflix. Your average person off the street has never even heard of the Korean War and even if they sorta remember something from middle school history, they could not care less about it. Yeah, it is sad, but only a blockbuster with big names can draw a crowd now, especially a war movie, but honestly I don't think even Tom Cruise could have pulled in crowds for this movie.... well maybe if it was semi-fictional and wasn't a "modern look at racism" which from the reviews I have read is what is really is. THis is just my opinion, but I don't think black people in general would give two hoots about this movie and the people who might want to go see it might be turned off from the "evil white folks trying to keep black pilots down" historical theme. People are tired of being lectured to in entertainment, but I could be totally wrong. I will see it this week though.

You make some valid points ebud and thanks for that well written response.

If the critics at Rottentomatoes gave it an 82 and the audience score was 92 ..... that's enough for me to give it a chance with me too.

I'll be seeing it on Friday. My wife has zero interest but that's fine. I've been to the movie theater before by myself.


But yes, both the critics and the people who bothered to go see it have given the movie high marks. It just failed to interest enough people.

I'll be seeing it on Friday. My wife has zero interest but that's fine. I've been to the movie theater before by myself.


haha ! ...... i know what u mean Panzer ! ....... while the focus of the movie may not be just about the war ...if one can include the word "war" in it .... then my chances that my wife would want to see it have already dropped 30% lol !


....and I'll add ....% chance my wife would play a sim or mmo with me ..... -200%

Mixed reviews on IMDB.
Varying mostly from 6 - 10, averaging 7.
I will see this when it is available in Norway.
Some people say it is slow, with little action.
Don`t mind that really. A movie about a man and his way towards military aviation is sparking my interest any day.
Hehe, haven`t seen Maverick yet so, yeah.

Did a search on Itunes for it.
Result?
Selena Gomez: Devotion.
I`ll wait.

It's still in movie theaters so it wouldn't be on ITunes yet.

Planning on seeing it Friday. It looks like an interesting story. I was surprised to find out how many theaters in the area have closed down for good as a result of COVID. Also haven’t seen a lot of advertising on the movie.

While my wife has no objection to war movies (as long as I don’t object to chick flicks), she also hates the thought of MMOs or sims.

Have not heard about it.

It's the story of this Naval Pilot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Brown

Ship name after him https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Brown

Fresh https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devotion_2022







The U.S. Navy did not have jets on their aircraft carriers when Korean War began in 1950? Using a 10 years old aircraft?

One review I read

No one did in 1950. It was only 5 years after the end of WWII you know.

You realize that the Air Force still uses H model B52s, right? They last rolled off the production line in 1962...

The Navy and Marines had these in Korea in 1950

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee#US_Navy_and_Marine_Corps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F9F_Panther#US_Navy

Even with new F-35's being bought in increasing numbers the AVERAGE age of all current US fighter aircraft is 28 years old.

The U.S. navy in Korea was still very much using prop planes (along with jets). Even by your own Wiki article, there's a photo of Brown in the cockpit of his F4U.

Saw a post about this in an airplane group on Facebook, where someone asked «Woke-meter reading from 1-10?» and someone replied «0!», so maybe it’s not woke enough.. That, and the fact that if you asked 100 people on the street about the Korean War, I bet 97 of them would go «the whatnow?»

Apart from the Panther and the Banshee, the USN didn’t use jets in Korea as far as I can remember. Even the USAF used F-51s, F-84s and F-80s until they were outclassed by the MiG-15 and relegated to attack duties. They even flew B-29s on bombing missions until the losses became unbearable.

well crap, I tried to stay away from reviews and reaction posts since they usually spoil the movie but since there are no plot twists to this I gave it a go... looks like I will wait for it to make it to rentals or Netflix... sounds like a snoozefest and like I feared, its less about the war and more about the relationships and racism of the era... I know lots of people seem to enjoy it, but just as many think it was slow... but this post on IMDB confirmed what I was thinking about the film... I get it, but that doesn't mean I have to like the direction they took and from what I have read, the flying scenes/combat make up maybe 10% of the movie


"This movie is about Korean War heroes and it should stand on it's own by showing the accomplishments of the service members. Anyone who's slightly aware of American history knows the challenges black citizens faced, especially those excelling in areas where they wouldn't normally, such as flying. Rather than focus on the achievements this movie constantly reminds the viewer every step of the way that blacks were discriminated against and bullied in an overt manner. If you're looking for war action there's very little; it focuses almost solely on the constant discrimination Jeese Brown faced as a young pilot."

Thanks for that info ebud and it's a shame that so little actual air combat is featured.


Take another war movie for example, "Glory". That featured race relations AND it had several really fantastic battle scenes.



So, it CAN be done but you have to have the right people involved in making the film.

There are two heroes portrayed in this film, Brown and Hudner, each of a distinctly different type of heroism. My concern for this film has always been, since I knew it was being made, that it would concentrate almost entirely on one hero at the expense of the other. I will probably end up watching at home on my own TV at some point.