On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor with the hope of destroying the United States Pacific Fleet at a single decisive blow. Although they destroyed a good many ships and men, unfortunately for them, the US aircraft carriers, a primary target, were at sea and missed the devastating surprise attack. Thus the Pearl Harbor attack was a hollow victory, with five pesky American carriers still at large and capable of unleashing a lethal swarm of angry aircraft.

A mere three months after Pearl Harbor, the Americans retaliated with an audacious plan: land-based twin-engined bombers were launched from an aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet, a thing never seen before. Under the command of Jimmy Doolittle, the flight of 16 B-25 Mitchell long-range bombers bombed Tokyo, proving the Japanese mainland was not invulnerable to attack and providing a decided boost to American morale. This stimulated the Japanese to gain remote bases in the Pacific to stave off further Allied attacks, hence Midway, a strategic atoll in the Central Pacific that held an American communications station and landing strip almost exactly halfway between the mainland United States and Japan.

The Battle of Midway took place on June 4-7, 1942, a scant six months after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The Battle of Midway plays an important role in history as it stopped the Japanese from advancing their empire into the central Pacific. Up to that time, the Japanese had been on the offensive, extending their holdings into China, the Philippine Islands, Micronesia, and Southeast Asia in ever widening circles. After Midway, the Japanese Navy was ever on the defensive, fighting desperate defensive actions trying to hold on to the real estate it had grabbed.

The 1976 film does an excellent job of portraying the history and ambience of the epic sea battle, sticking to the facts and treating the material with respect. Unfortunately, for many viewers this will not be enough, as history is mainly comprised of long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. For the person who demands action - action - action and tremendous CGI effects this will not be impressive, but for those who appreciate history the film is very rewarding.

We are presented with a commander's view of the sweeping engagement. Admiral Chester Nimitz (Henry Fonda) was in overall command of the operation hundreds of miles in the rear at Pearl Harbor. Similarly, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune) the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack commanded from over three hundred miles in the rear on his flagship the battleship Akakazi. Only these commanders could know the frustration of sending your forces to victory or doom and waiting anxiously for word - any word - of progress in those pre-instantaneous communication days. Tactical command was in the hands of Japanese Admiral Nagumo (James Shigeta) and Admirals Jack Fletcher (Robert Webber) and Raymond Spruance (Glenn Ford) for the Americans.

Events leading up to the Battle of Midway were a product of hard work, audacity, valor, chance, and plain dumb luck, mostly in favor of the Americans. First of all, Naval Intelligence cracks the Japanese code and begins to get bits of the cypher decoded. Of the 10% they understand, AF they deduce to be "Midway" and confirm it by sending a fake message saying the fresh water condensers are down on Midway. When they intercept a coded Japanese message relaying "AF's water condensers are down," they know that Midway figures very prominently in the Japanese plans.

Meanwhile, the American fighter bombers are having trouble with their newfangled electric bomb arming switches. Air commander Captain Matthew Garth (Charlton Heston) tells the techs either fix them 100% or rip them out. The Japanese send a secret task force consisting of four aircraft carriers supported by a flotilla of about 200 ships steaming towards Midway. They also feint towards the Aleutians in hopes of drawing the American fleet away from their primary target. Admiral Nimitz decides to defend Midway despite advice to play it safe and defend the West coast of America.

The Japanese have analyzed Admiral William Bull Halsey (Robert Mitchum) the supposed American flotilla commander and hope to exploit his weaknesses, but Halsey becomes sick and recommends a junior admiral, Raymond A. Spruance (Glenn Ford) to command his task force consisting of the carriers Hornet and Enterprise with supporting fleet. He tells Spruance to fight it your own way, you have the experience don't ask yourself what I'd do. His parting advice is "Find Yamamoto and chew his ass." Admiral Jack Fletcher, commander of the task force that just engaged the Japanese at Coral Sea, is ordered back out to join Spruance with his one remaining carrier, the badly damaged USS Yorktown. The USS Lexington had been sunk at the Battle of Coral Sea.

Spruance's plan is to wait Northeast of Midway and "bushwhack" the Japanese. The Americans send out a flight of 22 PBY scout planes in a 700 mile radius flight plan that covers the 180 degree sector West of Midway, the supposed Japanese direction of attack. Sure enough, they spot the fleet and the American bombers and torpedo planes attack in wave after wave with heartrending losses. One bomber attack of 15 planes is wiped out to the last plane with one lone survivor bobbing in the sea. The torpedo planes are nearly all shot down with no effect on the Japanese flat tops but enough bombers get through to put three carriers out of commission. Admiral Nimitz decides to keep his planes looking for the last Japanese carrier, the Hiryu and they eventually sink it, too. For all their losses, the Japanese get the minor satisfaction of sending the crippled Yorktown to the bottom of the Pacific. Four carriers to one; a pretty good day's work for the US Navy.

The film is a virtual Who's Who of the Hollywood of the 1970s. Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Hal Holbrook, Cliff Robertson, Robert Mitchum, Toshiro Mifune, James Shigeta, Glenn Ford, and about a hundred other familiar faces. Because of the epic scale of the screenplay, only two or three characters on either side are fleshed out: Nimitz, Garth, Spruance, Yamamoto and Nagumo the rest just do a competent job but the battle itself is the big star. A minor con is the tacked on love story between Heston's son and a Japanese-American woman. She was the only woman in the testosterone laden cast and her minor part could have been dispensed with. Lots of the battle sequences are composed of actual footage from the battle, gun cameras, etc. Therefore, there is some difference between the quality of the film stock, however it will only bother a purist who demands the latest CGI effects. It would be cost prohibitive and almost impossible to reproduce the props - aircraft, ships, etc. for such a major undertaking. I really didn't think it detracted.

The MCA Collector's Edition DVD is presented in 2.35:1 theatrical format and has a good 5.1 Dolby digital soundtrack. Music is by John Williams and the disk contains a "making of" documentary and many extras. History lovers will want Midway in their film collection.

Enjoy a good film tonight!



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening