Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 5.0
Another Underrated War Film
This is another one of those war films that the critics never have anything good to say about. I saw it in the movies and own it on DVD. It is a terrific film with the exception of one problem.This is an exciting film, fairly historically correct with a nice combination of new footage and actual W.W. II news footage. The cast is excellent with Charlton Heston, his usual heroic self and Henry Fonda, wonderful as Admiral Nimitz. Glenn Ford is great as Admiral Ray Spruance, one of the major heroes of the battle and Hal Holbrook terrific as Commander Rochefort, the colorful character who helped break the Japanese codes. Robert Mitchum has 2 scenes as Admiral Halsey. (I'd heard that Mitchum was originally offered the starring role in this film but turned it down. He did agree to a cameo appearance and did his 2 scenes from a hospital bed since Halsey missed the battle due to a skin condition.) James Coburn, Cliff Robertson and Robert Wagner have little to do but stand around and look serious.The problem with this film is an implausible and idiotic romance between Heston's pilot son and a Japanese-American girl whose family has been put into an internment camp. The scenes of Heston's son, played by Edward Albert, whining about his girlfriend are quite annoying and Heston and the audience wind up both being disgusted. I guess this subplot was an ode to political correctness. It should have wound up on the cutting-room floor. I only wish that the DVD had the almost hour long Battle of the Coral Sea segment that was originally shown on NBC and is sometimes shown on tv instead of this pathetic romantic subplot. It truly hurts what is an otherwise excellent film.The critics like to give the impression that this film was a failure: it was not. It did very well in the United States and also in Europe. It was released in 1976 and led to 2 excellent W.W. II films the following year, MacArthur and A Bridge Too Far, both of which unfortunately did not do so well.The DVD includes a decent retrospective. I only wish the full version of this film could be released on blu-ray someday. That would be nice to have.