Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 3.0
Rather disappointing.
As a sequel to 'Tora,Tora,Tora.!' True, Henry Fonda took his role well as Chester W. Nimitz, and only Robert Mitchum could have played 'Bull' Halsey. That side of it was convincing but technically, there were oddities, like shots of American aircraft carriers with 'angled decks.' Even if refitted 'Essex' class carriers of W.W. 2 vintage, they didn't have angled decks in WW2, and the key U.S. carriers at Midway (Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet etc.)were not of the Essex class.To make 'Tora,Tora, Tora' convincing models and mocks ups of Japanese naval units had to be constructed. Similar techniques could have created more fitting images of the U.S. carriers at Midway. Such observations may seem a trifle technical for the average viewer, but they raise questions, when it comes to praising this film for its historical authenticity. There were similar problems with the aircraft - anachronistic dive bomber and torpedo bomber sequences. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't think the genuine war-time film footage blended in that well with the recreated sequences.The film is arguably weak in other respects. The romantic liaison between Captain Garth's son and a young Japanese lady was a distraction from the central focus of the film - the battle for Midway itself, especially as the characters were fictitious. Noting that the young lady was an 'internee' could be seen as a concession to latter-day political correctness.The original version was 2hrs 45 mins. The newer version has been cut to 132 mins. The original version shew scenes from the 'Coral Sea' battle, which had already cost the Japanese skilled pilots, and damaged two aircraft carriers seriously enough, to prevent them participating at Midway. In this respect, 'Midway' suffered from editorial/cutting problems and by contrast, 'Tora,Tora, Tora!' -was a much tighter and more focused film. It is worth noting that Admiral Yamamoto entered W.W.2 with few illusions. Japanese Navy chiefs were more sober than than their countparts in the Army. After Pearl Harbour, Yamamoto promised no more than six months in control of the Pacific. The defeat at Midway followed, almost exactly as Yamamoto had predicted (Dec.7th 41, June 42). He was killed shortly after Midway, when the plane he was travelling in was shot down, on the basis of intelligence reports about his whereabouts. The Americans knew Yamamoto's capabilities. Yamamoto knew America - and the Americans. He recognised the strong spirit of the American people - and America's industrial capacity. In pre-war years, he had played poker with American naval officers in places like San Diego, when Japanese ships did a tour of West coast ports. For the Japanese navy, it was a war of attrition, like outnumbered Samurai. The epic to beat them all, would be a Hollywood version of the 'Battle for Leyte Gulf'- the biggest naval battle since Jutland (1916). It seems a pity that they had to fight at all.@