Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 4.0
Good, but depends which film you watch
There are several versions of this film, which I can recall. The theatrical release, which I saw in '76, contains two short scenes involving the Matt Garth (Heston) character's love interest, played by actress Ann Sullivan (strangely, both these have been omitted from the VHS release). The ABC TV version, which was broadcast in February '78, contains the hour plus "battle of the Coral Sea" footage (this allowed the network to show it over two evenings) with additional Ann Sullivan material. This was a device used to explain some of Garth's actions that were not always clear in the theatrical version. Add to this the VHS release, which includes none of the above footage, and you have a very confusing mix to choose from. By and large, this is an excellent film, save that the producer's did extensively "borrowing" of scenes from "Tora! Tora! Tora!". All the main characters perform admirably, particularly Fonda, who does a very convincing and powerful Admiral Nimitz. Sadly, Mifune's English must have been pretty bad, to have to overdub his dialog while all around him were speaking perfectly (as a side note, Mifune passed on late last year, well into his eighties). Considering all the "realism" in today's movies (blood, violence, gore and explicit brutality) it's a pleasure to see a film that is shown for pure entertainment. I watch the movie whenever I can and never tire of it.