Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 3.0
Gosh Darn it
"Midway" is a historically accurate recreation of one of the three most important battles of World War II. An all-star cast of the 60's and 70's are led by Charleston Heston, Henry Fonda, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, Robert Wagner, and Glenn Ford. Some of them preen for the camera or contribute to one God-awful script that can give you the chills of embarrassment in the confines of your own living room. With 70's Surround Sound technology, you can here the 5.1 in. Mark II guns go boom-boom as the Japanese attack our carriers.However, the director and writers saw fit to inflict on us a side story of a young aviator who has fallen in love with a Nisei who is interned with her parents. From the barbed wire, she tells her love, "I don't love you, Tom." He replies, "Say that to my face, Gosh-darn it!" Of course she can't, and I can't--get past the script at that point. It has all the drama of Airport, Airport 75, Airport 77 and The Towering Inferno.I recommend this movie for the serious military history buff who doesn't mind some bad acting by Pat Morita, preening by Poncho from CHiPs, and bad writing, or for the serious military history buff who does mind some bad acting, preening, and bad writing but has the power of mute, and is satisfied with just watching the pictures. Either way, I recommend that you get up and get a snack when the two lovebirds meet at the barbed wire.