In one of the negative reviews of Mira Nair’s Amelia, a writer from the Kansas City Star says:
And it doesn’t even mention the many rumors about Earhart’s fate: Did she crash on a Japanese-controlled island? Did she die in one of their prisons? The crew of a Coast Guard ship loses radio contact with the pilot in the middle of the Pacific. That’s it.
I don’t really think it’s necessary, personally, to give a rundown of the fantasy-based rumors surrounding her death. Having just watched a PBS special on Earhart I can say that the end of her story is that she lost radio contact in the middle of the Pacific somewhere near Howland Island. It ends there. No traces of her plane were ever found, no piece of news ever emerged thereafter.¬† There were groups who thought they might have found something, but those were never officially confirmed. One way to tell this story would have been to make it a mystery. Another way would be to celebrate her accomplishments. I still haven’t seen it but I assume this film takes on the latter.