Director: Jack Smight
Starring: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Edward Albert
Running Time: 131 minutes
Synopsis: It's 1942, and the United States Navy is weakened and reeling after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune) wants to press Japan's advantage and plots an attack on the Midway Atoll in the Pacific. A cryptographic unit led by Commander Rochefort (Hal Holbrook) breaks enough of the Japanese code to allow Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda) to plan a high-risk ambush, committing all of the Navy's aircraft carriers. The trusted Captain Matthew Garth (Charlton Heston) is assigned to the USS Yorktown, along with his son Lieutenant Thomas Garth (Edward Albert). With both countries holding nothing back, tense surveillance maneuvers precede an epic battle, with the fate of the Pacific War at stake.
What Works Well: This is a grim-faced and square-jawed recreation of the seminal World War Two naval battle, filled with star presence and impressive hardware. The storytelling represents both sides and seeks the small details that shape history, including a broken radio preventing a crucial transmission, malfunctioning electronics resulting in lost torpedo bombs, and crucial battlefield decisions made within the fog of war and riding on gut instinct. Director Jack Smight admirably translates unfolding battle tactics into comprehensible plot points.
What Does Not Work As Well: A wedged-in romance between Lieutenant Garth and his interned Japanese-American lover is a clunky distraction. Equally clumsy is a hodgepodge of ineloquently inserted historical footage borrowed from other Hollywood productions and unrelated battles. Some stars like Robert Mitchum and particularly James Coburn lend their presence to just a few scenes before cashing their cheques.
Key Quote:
Admiral Nimitz (to Captain Garth): We can't trade them carrier for carrier, Matt.
This film made extensive use of footage from several other better movies (1970’s Tora Tora Tora, 1944’s Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and 1960’s Hawai Middouei daikaikusen: Taiheiyo no arashi), along with archival footage- too much of it. The film also makes little to no mention of the Midway air group’s attacks, and shoehorns a cliché love story into the plot. A for-TV version produced even more soap-opera storylines with another love sub-plot between Garth and a woman who attempts to get him to settle down. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Japanese actors are speaking English, which certainly interferes with the audience’s suspension of disbelief. There was something about Shigeta's Nagumo that's dare I say it - was moving. Even if it is cringey to hear him speak in English, he delivers great lines like "Fifteen brave crews...they sacrifice themselves like Samurai, these Americans" - as if seeing the Americans he is fighting as being no different than his own Japanese crews. I actually felt awful for him in his last scene where the Akagi is bombed. Where he is told, "Admiral, you must transfer your flag. The cruiser Nagara is close by," and he can barley get the words out, "Advise Admiral Yamaguchi", you actually see in that moment, that he knows Japan has lost the war. Of course, the film does remind the viewer that Japan has to lose the war for its own good.
ReplyDeleteEven if the romantic subplot were removed this movie would be slow. Maybe the pacing was deliberate and meant to add a sense of realism to events, or maybe I've become too acclimated to modern action-fests. Still, The Longest Day and even A Bride Too Far didn't seem to drag like this, even though both had their share of quiet moments and extended scenes. I wonder if this film might benefit from a fan edit.
It's an interesting one. There is a lot to like in Midway, including the devotion to some historical details - the film is committed to explaining (patiently) the battle's prelude. The fog of war impact, and how crucial (and sometimes seemingly small) decisions make a big difference, are other strong points. And there is certainly a lot to dislike, as you mentioned. It's very watchable and very debatable.
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