Product Details

• Directors: John Ford
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Quality Information Publishers, Inc.
• Run Time: 18 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001BX0BMC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,639 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Battle of Midway received the Academy Award for best documentary in 1942 because of its stark and harrowing footage of an actual World War II battle. Famous director John Ford was stationed at Midway Island. When the base is attacked, Ford was shooting film from atop a power plant and actual took a shrapnel wound! The footage that he risked his life to capture is nothing short of spectacular. Henry Fonda provides narration that leans heavily on American war propaganda. But the true treasure of this fantastic film is in its rare and honest footage. The Battle of Midway is a crucial piece of documentary filmmaking that will forever be part of the bedrock of cinematic history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A documentary made during and then shown right after the battle, September 10, 2010

By 

Charles H. Berlemann Jr. (Oak Habor, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Ford's Battle of Midway DVD (1942) Award Winning Documentary from World War II. Narration by Henry Fonda. (DVD)

So this documentary was made by John Ford. The famous American film maker best known for helping to create John Wayne as the action power house that he is, along with creating the modern mythology of the American west for the better part of two decades. After the US entered World War 2, John Ford offered his services to the United States Navy and commissioned as Lt. Commander in their combat camera service. He was offered a chance to film the upcoming battle for Midway Island from the island itself as a way to prove to the American population that their Navy was doing something in trying to win the war with Japan. Soon after the battle John Ford and his camera crew were back in Pearl Harbor splicing all their combat footage together with other official Navy Documentary film from the battle and a quick narrative by Henry Fonda, Donald Crip, and Jane Darwell. This film was first shown to Nimitz and then later to President Roosevelt, before being pushed to all of the movie houses around the nation. It won the 1942 Academy Award for Documentary, and John Ford himself was injured during the filming when splinters of a bomb hit him.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disapontment, February 21, 2010

By 

Charles R. Fox "CF" (Gaithersburg, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: John Ford's Battle of Midway DVD (1942) Award Winning Documentary from World War II. Narration by Henry Fonda. (DVD)

Basically a collection of color film clips which do seem to be from Midway. But no narrative describing the battle or its significance or what you are looking at. If you don't know what the battle of Midway is about before you see this, you won't know afterward either.