gepete An enjoyable and informative movie about the Battle of Midway which attempts to keep to the facts. The main problem with the movie are the continuity errors. I can accept the use of different types of aircraft for the battle scenes even if the types are not strictly accurate in some cases. What is more jarring is when the aircraft taking off is different from the one landing when it is supposed to be the same aircraft. This confuses all viewers of the movie and is simply sloppy film making. There is a smattering of unnecessary footage thrown in that dilutes some of the movie's impact. Overall the movie is quite entertaining but not quite up to the standard of Tora Tora Tora.

joekwiatkowski I tend to lose patience with reviews of movies like this and 'Battle of the Bulge' where equipment used or depicted isn't historically authentic. Back in the day, you used what was available or you blew your budget out of the water. After 'Tora! Tora! Tora! didn't do so well at the box office, I'm sure the bean counters became leery of that idea. (A full-scale mock-up of the 'Nagato'?) Still, it might be high time to take this one back into the studio, have the CDI folks massage the offending sequences, replace the F4Us and F6Fs and what-have-yous with the proper types of aircraft and ships for the time and situation, and re-release it, even if it goes directly to cable TV.I'm pretty satisfied with most of the film. They did a good job of staying historically accurate given the time constraints involved. Two key items that were glossed over were the interception of both Japanese strikes against 'Yorktown' by that ship's defending fighters (out of Koboyashi's eighteen dive bombers, ten were shot down by fighters and one by flak before they released. The seven remaining dive bombers scored three hits. Three of the escorting Zeros were also shot down.) and the submarine attack that finished off 'Yorktown'. The effort to save 'Yorktown' after Tomonaga's torpedo bomber attack would have been another movie in itself.The part I was most dis-satisfied with was the sequence dealing with the launch of the 108-plane Japanese initial strike on Midway which started the battle. Poorly executed, in my opinion, compared to the same sequence in 'Tora! Tora! Tora!'.This is one where you want to watch the movie, then read a good book about the battle. I recommend 'Incredible Victory' by Walter Lord.

ma-cortes This lavish production by Walter Mirish reenacts the events up to famous battle from both American and Japanese points of view . Midway became notorious battle as the site of the overwhelming victory of American carrier forcer over the Japanese fleet . This was the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare which shifted the balance of power in the Pacific . Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy under Admirals Chester Nimitz (Henry Fonda) , Frank Jack Fletcher (Robert Webber), and Raymond A. Spruance (Glenn Ford) decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune) , Chuichi Nagumo (James Shigeta) , and Nobutake Kondo near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in 1863 . The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere . The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific. The Japanese plan was to lure the United States' aircraft carriers into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii itself.The plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions . Most significantly, American code-breakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to prepare its own ambush. All four Japanese heavy aircraft carriers—Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—and a heavy cruiser were sunk at a cost of the carrier Yorktown and a destroyer . After Midway and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's capacity to replace its losses in material (particularly aircraft carriers) and men (especially well-trained pilots) rapidly became insufficient to cope with mounting casualties, while the United States' massive industrial capabilities made American losses far easier to bear . The Battle of Midway, in combination with the Soviet victory against Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad half a year later, are considered by some to be the turning points of the Second World War .A historical picture with well staged scenes , it is accurate and being faithfully based on facts . well documented script shows major and minor blundering on both sides , creating tension enough . Great actors were assembled to bring to the big screen this important battle of WWII . Although many well-known players contribute their skills , they are overshadowed by the realistic re-creation of the climatic attack , abounding stock footage , and shots taken from Tora Tora Tora ! picture . Tremendous scenes , spectacular battles , drama that maintains interest , lots of dogfighting and awesome production design and art design by Walter Tyler . Nevertheless , a subplot involving Charlton Heston , his son Edward Abert and his girlfriend , a Japanese girl is really out of place . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Harry Stradling . Rousing and classic musical score by the great John Williams . The motion picture was professionally directed by Jack Smight.

TankGuy December 7th 1941,the Japanese attack Pearl harbour, destroying many US navy ships and killing and wounding thousands, on April 18th 1942,in retaliation to this event, Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle of the US army air force leads an extensive bombing raid on the Japanese mainland which would later become known as the "Doolittle raid". This caused heavy damage to Japanese cities, namely Tokyo and morale too, the Japanese now knew they were no longer invincible to American attack and planned to attack Midway, a small island just off of Hawaii, hoping to draw the American forces out into the open and obliterate them. The Japanese hoped to also occupy Midway in order to extend their defensive perimeter, therefore enabling them to repel future American attacks, the battle that would decide this provides the basis for this film,MIDWAY,made in 1976.First of all, I fail to understand why everyone hate this movie so much, nearly every reviewer on IMDb bashes it.I thought this movie was awesome,I really enjoyed it and was absolutely awestruck by the way it was filmed and put together. The cast and crew seemed to have put a huge amount of effort into making the film and looked to have given it all they had and what do they get for their pains?, nothing but stick, the film as a whole looked extremely ambitious. Even though it does appear a little cheap, I'd rather have this film over the CGI crap of today, but that's just my opinion.MIDWAY depicts the battle superbly and the battle scenes in the film are just spectacular. Real battle footage and footage from other war movies is used to an amazing advantage, the first battle where the Japanese attack the airstrip on Midway was just fantastic, even though half of it was taken from TORA!TORA!TORA!(1970),the shots of the Machine Gun being fired, Trucks furiously exploding and crashing and a watchtower crashing to the ground were excellent. The two main air battles,especially the first one where the American planes battle it out with Japanese planes and a Japanese battleship really blew me away. The final 3 battles were the best parts of the movie, my favourite one being the first where the American dive bombers destroy 3 Japanese battleships whilst being bombarded with heavy Cannon and Anti-aircraft fire was exciting and really impressive, the explosions were so epic and realistic. The second battle where the Japanese attack the Yorktown was equally impressive and spectacular, watch out for the part where a Japanese Zero comes crashing into the ship's bridge(which is taken from Universal's very own AWAY ALL BOATS from 1956),causing an explosion and engulfing it in flames, again the shots of the heavy artillery giving the Japanese planes hell are ear shatteringly magnificent. The final explosive battle in which Charlton Heston's character and a squadron of Dive bombers destroy and sink the last remaining Japanese battleship was riveting and packed with adrenaline.The special effects were outstanding,especially during the final 3 battles, the shots of the planes and battleships exploding were extremely exhilarating, as were the shots of flames tearing across the decks of the ravaged battleships. The use of real World war two footage was a great idea and looks remarkable spliced into the battle scenes, the fact that this footage is in colour makes it ten times better, this footage was expertly chosen. I was really impressed with the images of Cannons and Anti-aircraft guns bombarding and battling it out with attacking aircraft but what really looked amazing were the shots of two different aircraft crash landing and exploding on the deck of the aircraft carrier.John William's soundtrack is excellent and gives the film a modern feel as does the camera-work, the way certain shots linger add to the seriousness of the film. The acting is top notch, Charlton Heston is perfect as the main character and other stellar performances come from Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum,Cliff Robertson and Toshiro Mifune.Yes,the dialogue does get corny at times, but that's only to be expected of a Hollywood war movie. The romantic subplot between the American pilot and the Japanese girl was irrelevant to the plot but soon becomes forgotten about as the planning and battle scenes take over, so it doesn't spoil the film.MIDWAY is a terribly underrated and spectacular war drama packed with some of the greatest action scenes ever seen in a movie, explosive special effects and excellent acting also compliment the film and make it definitely worth watching, MIDWAY is up there with all the other war classics.10/10.