Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 4.0
Pretty good history
As someone who has always been interested in the history of WWII I am impressed with the way this movie takes pains to stress the factors that played important parts in this turning point battle. - the critical nature of the efforts of the navy's intelligence section, without which neither Midway nor the Coral Sea battles would have happened; - the courage displayed by the commanders; Adm. Nimitz to order the attack at all, risking everything against great odds; Adm. Spruance launching his entire attack force at long range (which was a critical decision in the timing of the battle); - the courage of the pilots attacking in suicidal conditions; - the importance of the sacrifice made by the virtual annihilation of the American torpedo squadrons, in clearing the way for the dive bombers. - the importance of the Japanese commanders indecisiveness in trying to decide between targets (Midway Island or fleet action) and ordnance (bombs or torpedoes). - as well as little, often overlooked, things such as the problems the US had with the quality of their torpedoes (which failed more often than they worked), the Herculean effort it took to have the Yorktown repaired in time for the battle, and the serendipitous circumstances leading to the replacement of Adm. Halsey with Adm. Spruance. My only criticism of the history shown is the frequent inclusion of scenes of Kamikazi style attacks on US ships, which in 1942 was a very rare occurrence and, to the best of my knowledge, did not happen at all in either battle depicted. I do understand that this is not a historical documentary, however, I don't think that adding these sequences improved the picture at all. Overall, the movie is well worth seeing for anyone who is interested in WWII.