Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 3.0
Quarter of the Way
Overall, MIDWAY is a good film. There are not enough military history buffs in the general population to financially justify an all-star blockbuster. Docu-dramas are usually more miss than hit. Mirisch clearly had memories of TORA, TORA, TORA, which was not a great financial success in the United States, in mind when MIDWAY was in pre-production. As such, the dramatic compromises can be forgiven in order to get the story on film.The historical backstory: The Battle of Midway has often been called the turning point in the Pacific. It was a significant American victory, but in reality it has more in common with Britain's stunning success during the 1940 high point of the Battle of Britain. As Admiral Yamamoto forecast the Japanese armed forces ran wild in the Pacific. Admiral Nagumo and his carriers raided with impunity in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. However, Japanese military might became dangerously extended. Despite what boundary lines might be drawn on maps, it is difficult to defend an ocean. The United States, suffering bad news from Pearl Harbor to the Philippines, was itching to strike back. Thus the daring strike by B-25 Mitchell bombers on the Japanese homeland. The Japanese hoped to cripple the US Navy once and for all and they devised a complicated battle plan. No doubt about it, the Japanese carrier force was a force with which to be reckoned. However, at the time of its sailing toward Midway Island there were fewer flight ready aircraft and the number, and quality, of pilots noticeably dropped since December 7th, 1941. The Japanese navy was already beginning a shallow downward spiral.Meanwhile the US Navy, still licking its December 7th and Coral Sea wounds, went over to an active defense of Midway. The American aircraft involved in the battle, both land and carrier based, were a potpourri of types. The Navy was able to dispatch the aircraft carriers Hornet and Enterprise, as well as coax the still battle damaged Yorktown out to face the Japanese. The resultant American victory was a combination of code breaking brilliance, a gamble with aircraft carriers as the table stakes, courageous pilot determination, and incredible good fortune.MIDWAY captures the essence of the battle, albeit in summarized form with some goofy subplots. The movie is packed full of movie stars, though many really should have had more appropriate 1942 Navy haircuts before posing in front of the camera. I have great memories of this film from when it premiered in SENSAROUND equipped theaters in 1976. I had the opportunity to see this film several dozen more times while working in a stand-alone single-screen cinema. Without SENSAROUND the film lacks much of its original excitement, but is none-the-less enjoyable.War films began to die out in popularity in the early 1970's. MIDWAY and A BRIDGE TOO FAR were the stand alone exceptions in the middle of the decade. MIDWAY has its flaws, but given the choice between MIDWAY and the dopey THE EAGLE HAS LANDED I would choose MIDWAY every time.The good: Colorful, action packed, mostly historically correct and loud. Not so good: Sappy love story subplot, action footage liberally inserted from numerous other motion pictures including THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN and TORA, TORA, TORA, and the longer version of the movie is not offered as a DVD option. Other reviewers noted that DVD is missing several minutes of footage including additional scenes with Charleton Heston and action footage summarizing the Battle of the Coral Sea. I can assure you that the original 1976 theatrical releases I enjoyed in 1976 did not include those sequences. The additional footage was inserted when the film was edited -- i.e. lengthened -- for its premier on network television. The DVD has, as a special feature, some of the missing television version footage. The additional scenes, involving Charleton Heston, were an attempt add some depth to Heston's character, as well as make MIDWAY more of a Charleton Heston movie. The additional scenes are limited to apartment or nightclub sets and conclude with a close-up of Captain Garth's girlfriend, inserted into the scene where Tom Garth is evacuated from the carrier. In scrutinizing these scenes you easily conclude that they were filmed well after MIDWAY was released. Heston is heavier and his hair is a different color and style from the rest of the movie. The DVD special features do not include any of the Coral Sea montage.Unlike its predecessor TORA, TORA, TORA, all of the Japanese characters speak English. Unfortunately the impeccable English spoken by the cast made iconic Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune sound out of place. Mifune's voice was subsequently dubbed and sounds obviously dubbed. Despite the fact that the film employs subtitles to identify ships, squadrons, and key players the Japanese map boards are labeled in both Japanese and English. This film was obviously targeted for an audience who would find reading a chore.In addition to scenes taken from other war films MIDWAY also includes combat footage. Most of the combat footage is from much later in the war, but does give the film the feeling of authenticity. The combat footage and borrowed movie footage has a lot of continuity gaps. You could spend the whole movie pointing out incorrect aircraft types, dive bombers bombing without bombs on the racks, cheesy rear screen projection, and other inconsistencies, but you would end up missing the point of the movie. My recommendation is that you watch the movie from beginning to end without interruption and keep the surround sound cranked up loud.