Midway

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Summary: THE TURNING POINT OF THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
Review: The Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal marked the turning point of the War in the Pacific against Japan. As Admiral Yamamoto had prophecied, Japan would raise havoc with the Americans and British for six months, but after that all bets were off. This motion picture gives an interesting, entertaining view of this battle which is one of the most decisive single military engagements in history. The flaws of the film have been noted by others but it is still well worth seeing. I particularly liked the performances by Hal Holbrook as the eccentric genius, Commander Joseph Rochefort who was in charge of the American code-breaking project and Henry Fonda who plays Admiral Chester Nimitz. In a departure from other World War II films about arrogant prima-donnas like Generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur (not to take away anything from their undoubted talents as military leaders), Nimitz is portrayed here as a cool, mild mannered commander who, in spite of these qualities, is willing to take bold risks and who frankly admits after the battle that simple dumb luck was a major factor in his great triumph. Rochefort is seen as a highly competant man representing the finest tradition of American ingenuity but who has many personal foibles such as first appearing in the film wearing a house robe over his uniform and later expressing joy when told that the Japanese were attacking Midway Island just as he predicted. When given funny looks by the men around him, he just shrugs it off and says "Well, you know what I mean!" I also appreciated the performance of James Shigeta as Admiral Nagumo who was the commander of the Midway force. We see his fatal indecisevness and caution (this was also apparent in his refusal to order a second strike at Pearl Harbor to destroy the harbor facilities which would also come back later to haunt the Japanese). He comments that the Americans "fight like samurai" which was much to the surprise of the Japanese commanders who had developed contempt for the Americans during their early run of easy victories (the same flaw that General Robert E. Lee demonstrated at the Battle of Gettysburg). The film shows the almost suicidal attacks by the American aircraft based on Midway Island in their defense against the Japanese aerial onslaught and the tragic attacks on the Japanese carriers by the American torpedo bombers who were wiped out and whose courage even moved the Japanese who witnessed it. Finally, we witness the almost unbearable tension outlined on the sweat-drenched faces of Admirals Spruance and Fletcher sitting on the bridges of their carriers, listing to the transmissions from their pilots carrying out the attacks on the enemy. Watching this motion picture should give us all a better appreciation for the sacrifices made to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today.

Rating:
Summary: Midway between just another parade of stars, and a classic
Review: MIDWAY had pretentions of being another star studded epic drama, heavy on the patriotic drum banging to the exclusion of historical fact, while squeezing in countless cameo appearances by aging Hollywood actors. Thankfully MIDWAY avoided these extremes by remaining fairly close to the facts and limiting the drama to the fictional relationship between Captain Matthew Garth (Charlton Heston) and his junior officer son over the latter's love for a Japanese girl. It does tilt towards being another Hollywood WWII epic with a parade of stars such as Henry Fonda (Adm. Nimitz), Toshiro Mifune (Adm. Yamamoto), Robert Mitchum (Adm Halsey); all of whom put in good acting performances, although Mifune would have been better served with subtitles rather than a dubbed voice. Hal Holbrook was convincing as the intelligence officer who intercepted and decoded the Japanese message that told the US that a strike on Midway was planned.

We all know the significance of this momentous battle which saw Japan lose the mainstays of their carrier force in less than a day, and completely turn the tide of the Pacific war in favor of the US, just 6 months after Pearl Harbor; the movie appropriately spends sufficient time in developing on the important background details with one exception. When we reach the most critical point in the battle - with the US planes catching the Japanese flat tops as sitting ducks, covered with refueling and rearming planes - the movie is silent with explanations of how this happened. Fate, karma, or misfortunes of war may be all there was to it, but it would have helped put this Japanese disaster into its proper context if a little more time had been spent on developing it.

It's a minor point to be sure; a more legitimate grouse is the heavy use of stock battle scenes, especially the cut and paste approach used here. The scenes do not flow and the contrast between the stock footage and MIDWAY production is jarring. It doesn't help either that most of the footage used will be very familiar if you've seen earlier movies set in the Pacific theatre - TORA, TORA, TORA, in particular.

This movie is good enough and I will resist the temptation for comparisons except to say that this one is only MIDWAY there, TORA, TORA, TORA, is the classic.

Rating:
Summary: Suffers from comparison to TORA TORA TORA
Review: The subplots of this movie are weak. This takes away from a strong cast with a strong effort. Hal Holbrook delivers the best performance of the lot. Historically it doesn't suffer "Pearl Harbor" syndrome but I still felt like it was missing something as a movie. Perhaps it was because it older brother TORA TORA TORA is so much better. Of course it was also less of a success moneywise so perhaps the filmmakers made decisions accordingly. Its worth a watch, but don't expect a clasic.

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Summary: The only fleet opposed invasion
Review: In 1942, Commander Rochefort went to Admiral Nimitz, and told him that the Japanese were planning to invade Midway Island then a strategic base, which as its name implies, is midway between the United States and Japan. There's a scene in the movie in which Nimitz orders Midway to send a message saying that they were out of fresh water. Since we'd broken the Japanese diplomatic and military codes, we were able to determine that the letters "AF", which kept turning up in Japanese transmissions was Midway.

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Summary: Manages to Give the Scope of the Battle
Review: This is an interesting concoction of reams of stock footage edited to newly filmed scenes of an all-star cast. It was all done in an effort to retell the Battle of Midway for American audiences in conjunction with our Bicentennial celebration. Director Jack Smight would have been more successful if he eliminated the fictional characters portrayed by Charlton Heston and Edward Albert Jr. and told it in semi-documentary style. The cast includes Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Glenn Ford, James Coburn, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Toshiro Mifune, Hal Holbrook, James Shigeta, Christopher George, Robert Webber, Monte Markham, Glenn Corbett, Dabney Coleman and Tom Selleck. John Williams composed the score. In the end it all seems to work and does not fail to entertain.

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Summary: DVD only has the movie...
Review: If Amazon can get the movie back in stock for their $...USD asking price, then that would be a good price. But the only way to get the movie "new" right now is by purchasing "used" from people. While the movie is excellent and dramatic, the DVD only has the movie. Nothing else! There isn't even an intro screen. It does have a chapter selection screen. What, did they not make trailers for this movie? How about a making of featurette? This DVD is only worth the $..., not the $... I paid for it. But then again, you CAN NOT get the movie on DVD any other way.

Rating:
Summary: "Sunk that flattop!!"
Review: Though WWII raged until 1945, 1942 saw the turning of the tide on all fronst in the allies' favor. With Stalingrad in Russia, Tobruk in the Mideast, the battle of Midway in the Pacidic saw the once-thought Axis steamroller stopped in its tracks. Inventing the tactics of naval aviation, the Pacific was the stage for the first battles between ships that were too far from each other to be seen. In the ensuing battle in which the Japanese had the numerical, technological and morale advantge, US launched planes launched crippling attacks that prevented invasion, sank Japanese carriers and killed the cream of Japan's core of elite carrier-fighter pilots.

With an all-star cast, this film begins with the "Doolittle Raid" over Japan and the Battle of the Coral Sea to set the stage for the Japanese defeat at Midway. The raid was a military non-event, causing less damage to the enemy than propaganda would suggest, and only leading Japan to strengthen its defenses while hunting down those in China who aided American fliers after the raid. The results of the Battle of the Coral Sea were more even - with severe losses felt by both sides (though the Americans were proceeding from a position of presumed inferiority against a military machine that had devestated them at Pearl while overwhelming the British in Singapore as well as other western colonial powers elsewhere in the Pacific. Taking the initiative after the Coral Sea, and knowing that an outright conquest over America is impossible, the Japanese set their sites on America's central-Pacific outpost on Midway. Using their best code-breaking assets, US Navy intelligence cryptologists under Joe Rochefort conclude that Midway is Japan's next target. With their resources already whittled down by the attacks at Pearl Harbor and the battle of Coral Sea, the element of surprise is America's only hope of winning the battle.

The actual dynamics of the battle were complicated - with the Japanese caught off-guard by the unexpected appearance of US carrier fighters, and the torturous dilemma of having to decide which to attack first; the initial waves of US dive bombers annihilated by the Japnese defenses; the Japanese fighters brought down too low after the first attack to deal with a second wave; the devestation of the Japanese fleet; and the Japanese reprisals. While the film deals well with this, many historians might be dismayed by the fatcual lapses in the choice of stock footage - F6 Hellcat fighters appearing a year too early; post-war US Carriers (with their distinctive angled decks) subbing for Japanese ships) - or simply how badly the footgae blends with the non-stock footage. (This is a flaw not too rare on Discovery Channel documentaries that aren't quite as interesting). Still an important film for those who've never heard or understood the significance of the battle of Midway.

Rating:
Summary: Excellient useage of Combat footage
Review: This 1976 film based on the battle of Midway fought in June, 1942 makes great useage of actual combat footage and stays pretty faithful to how the actual battle took place. Whole cast of good actors from Charlton Heston to Henry Fonda, Glen Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchem, and Robert Wagner..To name a few. TV version had bonus footage but makes the film somewhat weaker, this original film version is better viewing, although owning both versions wouldn't hurt either. Featuring music by John Williams.

Rating:
Summary: Star-packed and well-told movie of a momentous battle
Review: I gave this 5-stars. Sure, it doesn't compare with the Saving Private Ryan's and Pearl Harbors...no argument.

But this is an absolutely star-packed cast: Fonda, Heston, Robertson, Selleck...and you'll recognize at least 8 other minor actors such as Ponch from Chips.

There is also a plethora of real combat footage. Some of it isn't spliced that well in...it's a little grainy, or the scene shows a WildCat ditching..and then a Corsair hits the water. But so what...it's great "realistic" footage...and there is a lot of it...everything from Doolittle's raid to Dauntless dive-bomber attacks to Zero-vs-Wildcat dogfights.

The plot...I mean everyone knows the outcome...but it the punch-counterpunch nature of the battle is well-told...as well as the element of luck.

If you like WWII movies...you need to see this. While I'm at it, watching the National Geographic special "Midway" either before of after makes a nice complimentary and educational addition to the experience and one's understanding of the battle of Midway.

Rating:
Summary: Typical Mid-70's Universal Quasi-Epic
Review: This is a standard-issue 1970's Universal movie (think "Airport '75," "Earthquake," etc.) It has a cliche-ridden script, cardboard characterizations, blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameos by older stars and it seems to have raided the stock footage of every studio in town. The great Toshiro Mifune is rather obviously dubbed by voice actor Paul Frees. All that said, they did get most of the facts right, and if you can get past the cheese factor, it has an interesting story to tell. I just think that the pivotal naval battle of World War II deserved a more documentary approach, ala "Tora! Tora! Tora!"