Product: Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976)
Rating: 5.0
Great Story, Well Done
Midway is a fascinating look into one of the key battles of World War II. Pearl Harbor has already been hit, and the US fleet has some problems. The movie goes back and forth between both sides, showing how insights are gained, mistakes are made, as the two forces move towards each other for the decisive battle on Midway Island.They use a lot of real footage from the war to help to add authenticity to this movie. What really makes it soar, though, is the AMAZING cast that you've got all in one movie. You very rarely get this many named actors all pulling together as an ensemble. Henry Fonda. James Colburn. Glenn Ford, Charlton Heston. Toshiro Mifune!! Robert Wagner. Robert Mitchum. Pat Morita. Tom Selleck. Heck, even Erik Estrada is in there.There is a small amount of "love interest" in there, but mostly that is used to show the issues with Japanese-Americans and their treatment. It is by no means a soap opera, as other movies have done. Instead, it's a nicely done touch - to show that in addition to the attacking Japanese and defending Americans that there was a third group caught in the middle.You really get a sense here on how key the planning and second-guessing of the generals was. You might say some things were "luck" - but as the saying goes, luck always favors the well prepared. All of the generals think they are making the best decision, based on the circumstances, but sometimes it's that extra bit of planning or research that gives the edge.It really is amazing - and poetically beautiful in a way - to see the squadrons of aircraft sailing across the sky. It turns into brutal chaos as the gunfire opens up, bombs dropping and machine guns blaring. Midway does a great job of showing all sides of the war. Some of the stunts are a little cheezy, but this is 1976 after all. They didn't have great CGI effects back then.The movie doesn't skimp on the story. It's over two hours long, which gives time to show the hesitations, the discussions, and the small changes of mind that often had huge ramifications.Interestingly, there are two versions of the Midway movie that can be found. The original movie had a Battle of Coral Sea sequence. However, this made the movie really long, and when the movie was shown for TV, they edited that out. Then, for some reason, they began using that same truncated footage to create new DVDs to sell. It's a shame, because this is an important part of the story.Watching the movie is a fascinating way to learn more about this important battle. Yes, sometimes they have the wrong planes in the air, but it's not like there are hundreds of these planes lying around for filmmakers to use. They use what they have, and the footage they have, and I feel they put together a nice story.Note: The film was actually filmed in California and Hawaii, although historic footage does of course show Hawaii.