Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 4.0
Good, but pales as a docudrama next to Tora, Tora, Tora!
I enjoyed "Midway" as a docudrama. It covers much of what happened during what many consider to be the turning point of WWII in the Pacific. This is the first encounter where the Japanese Imperial Fleet really took it on the chin -- though both navies came out of the scrap badly mauled. The US, however, had the greater industrial resources and was able to rebound more quickly."Midway" pales, though, when compared to "Tora, Tora, Tora!" Another period docudrama. The equipment, bases shown, etc., were second best to what was used and shown in "Tora x3." I also wish that the producers had the Japanese characters speaking Japanese with English subtitles, as in "Tora..."Another reviewer commented on the lack of Heston's son's romantic interest with a ni-sei (2nd generation Japanese) woman, in this version. Why was it cut? Who knows. It did add an interesting slant to the storyline in the original. Perhaps it was pulled because those scenes portray the USA at one of its low points -- the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry.To the movie's credit, the sections about intelligence gathering, good and lucky guessing, and the eventual result of that intelligence work was admirably displayed.I enjoy this show, though I will typically pull "Tora..." off of the shelf before this one.On an aside, this film tries to match up with other epic WWII movies like "Tora...," "The Longest Day," "The Great Escape," etc., in that they all host a large number of well known actors (and some not so well known). Midway is a step below the others listed though (thus the 4 star rating). In Midway it's fun though, to see who you can spot. For example, keep an eye out for a then relatively unknown Tom Selleck as a soldier on the ground at Midway Island.Well worth 4 stars, but not a 5-star offering. WWII buffs will definitely enjoy this show.Happy viewing.Alan Holyoak