What begins as a deliberate and interesting game of cat and mouse between two military commanders devolves into a slapped together series of battle scenes.
When I saw that Hollywood was making a new movie about The Battle of Midway, I remembered that I’d seen that movie before. Literally. In 1976, a star-studded war movie also called Midway was released to theaters. Featuring a slew of marquee actors from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the movie is a dramatization of events following the 1941 Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor up to the actual Battle of Midway in 1942.
I first saw the film in in 1976 at a theater with Sensurround, a low frequency bass rumble effect that was created by Universal Studios for a handful of movies in the 1970s. Sensurround was designed so that when an explosion or crash happened on-screen, the theater would vibrate. Barring that, though, I really didn’t remember too much about the film. So, I decided to revisit it.
For those that didn’t pay attention in history class, Midway assumes that you know how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor dragged the United States into World War II. The attack also crippled the Pacific arm of the U. S. Navy. If the Japanese were to deliver a second successful attack on what was left of the U. S. Pacific Fleet, the west coast would be left wide open to invasion by the Japanese Navy. So, that’s exactly what the Japanese are planning to do.
Anticipating where the Japanese were likely to strike next was left up to Admiral Chester Nimitz (Henry Fonda.) The movie introduces us to the many men under Nimitz’ command. One of them, Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston), is a completely fictional character invented to provide a way for the audience to follow along with the historical events. A subplot involves his son, Tom (Edward Albert), a fighter pilot who has fallen in love with a Japanese girl (Christina Kokubo.)
Midway also gives us the Japanese perspective on the battle from Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Tishiro Mafune.) Like Nimitz, Yamamoto has plenty of men under his command. They each offer their opinions on how to approach the attack on Midway.
And, essentially, that’s the majority of Midway. Each commanding officer hears information regarding various situations and makes a decision. The film then shows how each of these scenarios plays out. It sounds as exciting as watching grass grow but seeing how the chain of command works and how each side modifies their strategy as a result is actually engrossing stuff. At least until the actual battle starts.
Once the battle begins, the movie is forced into a quandary. Since Midway was produced in the 1970s, special effects were clearly not what they are today. CGI didn’t exist and miniature effects tended to look cheesy. As a result, the filmmakers — either by choice or by budgetary necessity — were forced to use a myriad of battle footage from other sources. Whether it be from other movies or from the military, the mishmash of different material causes the battle scenes to be hard-to-follow and rife with continuity errors. As an example, a pilot will take off in one type of plane in an external shot, then is shown flying a different plane, and then yet another plane when landing. This is because footage of the correct plane doing all three things wasn’t available or didn’t fit the situation being shown in the film. Other footage is repeated over and over again. (I think I saw the same two Japanese planes explode four different times.)
What begins as a deliberate and interesting game of cat and mouse between two military commanders devolves into a slapped together series of battle scenes. For history buffs, Midway is worth a watch as long as one doesn’t get too rankled by the unnecessary romantic subplot and continuity gaffes. For everyone else, it’s likely two hours best spent elsewhere.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
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