Midway 1976

Midway (1976)

Runtime: 132 minutes

Directed by: Jack Smight

Starring: A great all-star cast

From: Universal

Everyone can probably guess which theatrical movie I'll be reviewing next; Midway 1976 was viewed Tuesday night and Midway 2019 was watched last night. I'll do most of the comparison talk in my next review but I can say the two are different looks at this battle.

I have known of this movie for many, many years; a parent is a big fan of Midway and I recall them watching it on television when I was a child. No, I did not view it then at the time, although perhaps I should have. This being a movie of old w/ a great all-star cast and the topic being an old battle is in my wheelhouse so keep that in mind when judging for yourself how valid you think my rating is.

From what I understand, this follows rather accurately the real life events of the Battle of Midway, the 1942 naval combat where the United States did battle w/ Japan and the result was so unexpected and decisive, it changed the tide of the war taking place in the Pacific and allowed for Japan to eventually be defeated. While '19 is more focused on several soldiers and their heroics, this was mainly centered on various commanders on both sides as they try to outwit each other and attempt to use intel or just plan intuition to put all the troops in the right spot or in one important early moment, American codebreakers broke through the gibberish & realized the Japanese were planning a surprise attack on the Midway islands.

As referred to already, this movie has a great cast and while names like James Coburn and Robert Mitchum have glorified cameos, there is still Toshiro Mifune, Charlton Heston, Hal Holbrook, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Robert Wagner, and also some people that would become famous later, such as Tom Selleck, Erik Estrada, Pat Morita, and James Shigeta (the last two have bigger roles that Mifune did). I do understand the complaints... there is drama involving Heston's son having a relationship with a Japanese-American girl, actual stock footage is plentiful, whether it be from previous movies or from the actual Midway battle-and it doesn't match the footage shot for this movie-and some may not like its deliberate pacing or all the talking.

For me, I was never bored as I was a history nerd so all the machinations and strategy was interesting to me... not to mention, the action you do see was fine and I did appreciate that plenty of time is spent with the Japanese side; those who have seen '19 and thought there was a large focus on Japan's viewpoint, it is quite a bit stronger here.