Customer Reviews

Midway [VHS]

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I saw the movie play in a theatre and I was greatly impressed.
I still enjoy the movie BUT! at the same time I am disappointed.

When it was released first on VHS and now on DVD I was greatly disappointed to see how much film footage has been cut out from the original theatrical release.
In its original release MIDWAY ran for almost 2 hours 45 minutes.
On VHS and DVD it runs for 2 hours 10 minutes. What happened to all the othe extra scenes???
Where is the Battle of the Coral Sea which was shown in the original movie?

Furthermore they cut out the surround sound and made it Mono.
It is ridiculous that the have a Special Feature on Surround Sound, but the DVD was made in Mono sound.

And they call this DVD a Special Collector's Edition???
Come on Universal give us the full extended theatrical release along with 5.1 Surround Sound.

Looks like they forgot to include the other hour and fifty minutes of the COLLECTORS EDITION !The sound is mono...yes mono!They forgot the movie portrays history!They also forgot that this is cinematic history as well.For years,I enjoyed watching this movie with my dad and brothers.It was one of the few subjects my dad and I could talk about for hours.Universal has short changed everyone looking to buy the four hour version.I hope they see the error of their ways by the poor sales of this version and begin to re-store the long sought after four hour version on dvd....they owe it to the veterans(of which,I am one),and history buffs.

This film is very close to what did take place in June of 42.The actors did a good job of telling the story.The dvd version left out all of the Coral Sea battle and Charlton Heston's Matt Garth love interest along with the meeting between the young Japanese pilot and admiral Nagomo about the war and how Japan might loose it.Why all of this could not have been included into this version of the movie I do not know.Overall the quality of the dvd was very good.The audio was very clear and the video sharp and clean.It seems as though they even managed to keep the low bass of the Sensearound audio track.I found this dvd video a lot better then my vhs copy in quality.Overall worth the price and worth seeing again.

Why won't someone put out a complete version of this movie on DVD or even VHS. It is a much better movie when complete and you almost never see it that way. TNT seems to be the only one who shows it that way and they almost never do so, TBS and TCM also show it but in various cut down versions. If the people who put these DVDs and VHSs out are so fond of the cut down version, why not release a two DVD set with the cut and complete versions on it so us werdos who like to watch complete movies can get our fix.

I have seen "Midway" countless times, and find it impressive for many reasons: The many scenes that contain original war footage, the fabulous cast, and the degree of historical accuracy, which is exceptional for a Hollywood epic.
Some of the WWII footage is riveting, and is edited to blend in well with the 1976 cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr., which is also marvelous; a good score by John Williams also adds to the atmosphere, though mostly we hear the sounds that would have been heard at the time...the roar of the sea, the wind, and the exploding bombs.

Many of the fascinating figures of history are represented well, and a few brilliantly, like Hal Holbrook as Commander Joseph Rochefort, the man who intercepted and broke the codes. Holbrook's portrayal is much like the real man, who working many times 20 hour shifts in a bunker, was a little scruffy, and had crucial information that was an essential part of the battle plans.
Henry Fonda is great as Admiral Chester Nimitz, and other big stars include Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Toshiro Mifune, James Coburn, Cliff Robertson and Robert Wagner. I love the way the battle is planed like a chess game by both American and Japanese leaders, moving little "boats" around on a big map, each side trying to outwit the other. It also lays out the basics of the battle and makes it fairly understandable for the non-military person.

Charlton Heston is terrific as Captain Matthew Garth, the fictional character in the script, who has to deal with his son (Edward Albert), in love with a Japanese-American girl (Christina Kokubo), who has been interned with her parents. This little bit of "romance" I imagine was included in the film to round out the "human interest", and though I could have lived without this non-historical addition, it is peripheral to the action.

Admiral Nimitz said that the Battle of Midway was "The battle that made everything else possible", and this film is an excellent way to get a feel for the momentous events of that time, with its heroism, tragedy, extraordinary battle tactics, and men who changed the course of history.
Total running time is 132 minutes.

Having read that the "Collectors' Edition" DVD would include footage omitted from the theatrical release, I assumed that Universal Studios had finally awoken, smelled the coffee, and included the 30 minutes or so of footage of the Battle of the Coral Sea that one can see when one watches the television version of this film. No such luck. Instead, the studio compounds the mistake it made when it included the goofy and anachronistic "son's fiance" sub-plot by adding not the Coral Sea footage, but two utterly goofy and superfluous domestic scenes with C. Heston and his wife before he leaves for work. Who does Universal thinks watches this type of movie, anyway? If Universal wants to tap into the latent market for DVDs of this film (and in its full version, sans fiance, this IS a good film), they should do the obvious: 1) include in its entirety all the missing footage of the Battle of the Coral Sea (an important context for what follows), and 2) relegate to the status of out-takes all the scenes involving the son's fiance -- they don't ring true in the context of the film, and most people who like the rest of the movie delete them out of hand. There IS a market for a true "collectors' edition" of this film -- but this isn't it! Bring on the Coral Sea footage, drop the silly "son's fiance" subplot, and give us the DVD that many of us can't wait to buy but can only find at present on TV! Until the studio gets the message, I'd hold off on buying this release and stick to watching the complete film whenever it comes on TV.

The Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal marked the turning point of the War in the Pacific against Japan. As Admiral Yamamoto had prophecied, Japan would raise havoc with the Americans and British for six months, but after that all bets were off. This motion picture gives an interesting, entertaining view of this battle which is one of the most decisive single military engagements in history. The flaws of the film have been noted by others but it is still well worth seeing. I particularly liked the performances by Hal Holbrook as the eccentric genius, Commander Joseph Rochefort who was in charge of the American code-breaking project and Henry Fonda who plays Admiral Chester Nimitz. In a departure from other World War II films about arrogant prima-donnas like Generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur (not to take away anything from their undoubted talents as military leaders), Nimitz is portrayed here as a cool, mild mannered commander who, in spite of these qualities, is willing to take bold risks and who frankly admits after the battle that simple dumb luck was a major factor in his great triumph. Rochefort is seen as a highly competant man representing the finest tradition of American ingenuity but who has many personal foibles such as first appearing in the film wearing a house robe over his uniform and later expressing joy when told that the Japanese were attacking Midway Island just as he predicted. When given funny looks by the men around him, he just shrugs it off and says "Well, you know what I mean!" I also appreciated the performance of James Shigeta as Admiral Nagumo who was the commander of the Midway force. We see his fatal indecisevness and caution (this was also apparent in his refusal to order a second strike at Pearl Harbor to destroy the harbor facilities which would also come back later to haunt the Japanese). He comments that the Americans "fight like samurai" which was much to the surprise of the Japanese commanders who had developed contempt for the Americans during their early run of easy victories (the same flaw that General Robert E. Lee demonstrated at the Battle of Gettysburg). The film shows the almost suicidal attacks by the American aircraft based on Midway Island in their defense against the Japanese aerial onslaught and the tragic attacks on the Japanese carriers by the American torpedo bombers who were wiped out and whose courage even moved the Japanese who witnessed it. Finally, we witness the almost unbearable tension outlined on the sweat-drenched faces of Admirals Spruance and Fletcher sitting on the bridges of their carriers, listing to the transmissions from their pilots carrying out the attacks on the enemy. Watching this motion picture should give us all a better appreciation for the sacrifices made to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today.

I saw this in the theaters when it first came out in ,76. I was so excited (I was in the eighth grade). But as I got older and wiser, the cracks in this movie started to show. Over time, those cracks seemed to me to be gaping maws. I don't fault the actors, most did fine, I still think. It was the filmmakers. They assumed that audiences were either stupid or that they wouldn't notice things. In short, they were lazy and had no respect for the audience.

For example, "Midway" uses stock footage from three films. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," "Away All Boats" and of course most heavily, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" And of course, documentary footage made during the war.
"Thirty Seconds" supplied the Doolittle raid sequence (which opens "Midway"), "Away All Boats" supplied the scene with the Zero crashing into the "Yorktown," and of course, most 90% of the rest came from "Tora!"

During the real battle, the Navy used Wildcats, but in the movie, Hellcats are seen frequently. But to me, the most egregious error is that Charlton Heston's character, "Matt Garth," a fictional creation (I don't like fictional characters playing major roles in actual historical events), flies three different planes for the last mission to attack the final Japanese flattop, "Hiryu." He boards a Dauntless, takes off in a TBM Avenger and crashes in a Helldiver (or a Hellcat, it's been a long time since I've last seen this movie).

You don't have to be anal to notice these kinds of things. It was 1970's Hollywood at its laziest and frankly, worst. I can take stock footage, "Midway" was hardly the first film to make use of it, but it was the manner that they did it. Just because the footage was made during the war doesn't always mean accuracy. There's plenty of footage of Dauntlesses and Wildcats taking off from carrier decks. But the editors seemed to just throw anything in with the attitude of "Just put something in, the audience won't be able to tell the difference anyway!" Which is insulting.

So, this movie has aged rather badly, which is a great shame. The Battle of Midway deserves a good filmed treatment. Sadly, this isn't it.

A good friend of mine (and a contemporary) rode in the backseat of a dive bomber at the battle of midway. He's dead now, like three quarters of the men who fought in World War Two. Can you imagine riding backwards in a dive while the people below are doing their best to kill you? Unless you've been there, probably not.

This is, historically, one of the most accurate portrayals of the war. One critic complained that "the writing was weak. There was no suspense at all in the film." Perhaps there'd have been enough suspense if he'd been there, like Bill. But Bill survived the battle and died of old age, so I can't ask him about whether he felt any suspense, although we talked a lot about the battle of Midway.

In the film, they used top notch actors. For "Bull" Halsey they used Mitchum. Not a look alike, but of course Bull's dead, too, and Mitchum did a good job. Heston, of course, represented a fictional character (Matt Garth), but virtually all of the names of people in the film were real men who fought a real battle, and it was the turning point of the war. After Midway, we took a lot of lumps, but they were on the run from that point on.

Of course Hollywood took some liberties, and since they used a lot of actual combat shots, some of the aircraft used were out of place (F6F "Hellcats" for F4F "Wildcats" several times, and the ditching scene where Ensign George Gay went in showed a "Hellcat" instead of the TBD Douglas torpedo bomber that he actually flew. And the shot of the "Hellcat" being torn apart on the carrier's island was well-known footage from the technicolor documentary, The Fighting Lady, which was shot on the old Enterprise during battle, with narration by Lt. Robert Montgomery (qv). Garth's (Heston's) fictional son was supposed to be flying it in the film, but it was an actual crash on board the "Big E", in an actual battle. "Hellcats" (F6F) were Grumman fighter planes (the big brother of the "Wildcat" (F4F) which was obsolescent when the war started, but in use at the Battle of Midway--as was the old Brewster "Buffalo") and the F6F never saw combat until late 1943 (on my birthday, as a matter of fact.) The battle of Midway was in June of 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor.

It helps when you know a little history. For instance, Ensign George Gay actually did ride out the battle in the water, after he ditched, and was debriefed personally by the commander-in-chief, pacific fleet (CINCPAC), Admiral Chester Nimitz. He was the only survivor of his torpedo squadron, VT-8 (torpedo squadron 8).

Altogether, when you see this picture, you are watching history (as near as Hollywood will ever get to it), and many of the people who died to entertain today's movie audiences are named in the movie.

So, try to overlook the lack of a plot, at least in the battle sequences. History wrote them, not Hollywood script writers.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

As a sequel to 'Tora,Tora,Tora.!' True, Henry Fonda took his role well as Chester W. Nimitz, and only Robert Mitchum could have played 'Bull' Halsey. That side of it was convincing but technically, there were oddities, like shots of American aircraft carriers with 'angled decks.' Even if refitted 'Essex' class carriers of W.W. 2 vintage, they didn't have angled decks in WW2, and the key U.S. carriers at Midway (Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet etc.)were not of the Essex class.

To make 'Tora,Tora, Tora' convincing models and mocks ups of Japanese naval units had to be constructed. Similar techniques could have created more fitting images of the U.S. carriers at Midway. Such observations may seem a trifle technical for the average viewer, but they raise questions, when it comes to praising this film for its historical authenticity. There were similar problems with the aircraft - anachronistic dive bomber and torpedo bomber sequences. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't think the genuine war-time film footage blended in that well with the recreated sequences.

The film is arguably weak in other respects. The romantic liaison between Captain Garth's son and a young Japanese lady was a distraction from the central focus of the film - the battle for Midway itself, especially as the characters were fictitious. Noting that the young lady was an 'internee' could be seen as a concession to latter-day political correctness.

The original version was 2hrs 45 mins. The newer version has been cut to 132 mins. The original version shew scenes from the 'Coral Sea' battle, which had already cost the Japanese skilled pilots, and damaged two aircraft carriers seriously enough, to prevent them participating at Midway. In this respect, 'Midway' suffered from editorial/cutting problems and by contrast, 'Tora,Tora, Tora!' -was a much tighter and more focused film. It is worth noting that Admiral Yamamoto entered W.W.2 with few illusions. Japanese Navy chiefs were more sober than than their countparts in the Army. After Pearl Harbour, Yamamoto promised no more than six months in control of the Pacific. The defeat at Midway followed, almost exactly as Yamamoto had predicted (Dec.7th 41, June 42). He was killed shortly after Midway, when the plane he was travelling in was shot down, on the basis of intelligence reports about his whereabouts. The Americans knew Yamamoto's capabilities. Yamamoto knew America - and the Americans. He recognised the strong spirit of the American people - and America's industrial capacity. In pre-war years, he had played poker with American naval officers in places like San Diego, when Japanese ships did a tour of West coast ports. For the Japanese navy, it was a war of attrition, like outnumbered Samurai. The epic to beat them all, would be a Hollywood version of the 'Battle for Leyte Gulf'- the biggest naval battle since Jutland (1916). It seems a pity that they had to fight at all.�@