Midway (1976)

This movie is a mixed bag. It features some wonderful actors and really cool battle sequences. But half of those scenes are stock footage from other films or actual war footage, which is neat if anything. Some of the actors were hardly in it like James Coburn and Robert Mitchum. But Mitchum's scenes were some of the better ones. He was a brilliant actor who elevated every scene he was in. Sadly, the biggest problem with the movie wasn't anything to do with the production of the movie, but it's timing. It was released at the height of the New Hollywood Era of the 1970s where films were much more realistic and moved away from more classical elements of filmmaking. If this movie had come out a decade earlier I think it would have been better remembered and much more impressive for the time. But it tried to be a Classic Hollywood movie in the New Hollywood Era.

Wanted to see this after Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and to my dismay, they stole all the action scenes from that and re-purposed them in this starting at 1:17! Watch both flicks and you'll see, what a rip-off. The other thing that p|ssed me off was the time wasted on the subplot about the kid and his Japanese GF wanting to get married while she was in an internment camp. They wasted so much time on that crap, I am convinced this was cobbled together without writers! Hacksaw Ridge or Letters from Iwo Jima were better films.

The extended version of Midway which was produced for a TV special, if I recall, included the prelude and actual battles of the Coral Sea, which preceded Midway. It is an Important piece that is missing from the widely released video version. The Coral Sea component gives proper context in time and in explaining the damage to our carriers which occurred at Coral Sea. One truly gets an appreciation of how the turnaround in such a short time happened , which was miraculous, from Coral Sea to Midway. Historically, it is a must be inclusion into the "complete" contextual understanding of events.Warren G

If You are Young and not that Familiar with the Stock WWII Footage that was used in this Film for that "The way it was." Feel, this Might be a Somewhat Satisfying Entertainment and a Primer for the Important Naval Battle. You also have to be a Youngster and New to Movies to Gloss Over the Bad Acting and Dialog and the Cartoonish Presentation of the Non-Battle Scenes and the Battle Scenes that were Lifted from Numerous Other Movies.Problem is that the Non-Battle Scenes are So Bad that Wading through the Waves of Anachronistic Haircuts and Over the Hill Actors Paraded Out for a Scene or Two do Nothing but make the Whole Exercise Quite Laborious.This is a Bomb. A Misfire. It is a Bad Production with Clunky Intertwines and Confusing Scenes of Aircraft and Flattops Floating and Flying Around with Hardly a Hint at their Position and what it All Means. Despite the Laughable On Screen Titles like...such and such Airplane, 30 Miles from such and such Ship. Even the Filmmakers Knew that None of this made much Sense to the Audience and so They Literally had to Spell it Out.Listing the All-Star Cast is Futile (some are only on screen for half a heartbeat and others like Glenn Ford just stare out a window), but Suffice to Say that Charlton Heston and Crew All Look Bored and Firmly Planted in the 1970's not the 1940's both in Style and Script.