Synopsis: The Japanese Navy attempts to pry Midway Island out of Charlton Heston’s cold, dead hands.
Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “the Battle of Midway sounded its furious thunder in June 1942, just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Midway interweaves the dramatic personal stories of the men who fought the courageous battle that was to be the Pacific turning point for the United States. The all-star cast and breathtaking war footage convey the Battle of Midway with powerful reality and epic sweep.”
What Did I Learn?: Nobody in the Navy really cares if codebreakers don’t bathe on a regular basis, or if they wear non-regulation smoking jackets in the office and carry jars of strawberry jam into the map room.
You Might Like This Movie If: You’ve always wanted to see a two-hour-and-twelve-minute version of this game.
Really?: Admiral Halsey (Robert Mitchum) is laid up in hospital with a skin condition and one of his flunkies agrees to his request to chop down a tree because it blocks his view of the naval yard.
Rating: Midway is a long, star-studded (watch for brief cameos from Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada and Tom Selleck) epic dramatization of a pivotal battle. Midway is a good movie that tends to drag in places, especially when it turns away from battle strategizing to focus on the love-hate relationship between Heston, his son, and the Japanese girl he wants to marry. 7/10 stars.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074899/
The bit about his son added nothing to the plot, but it was the 70s and they needed a love story I guess.
ReplyDeleteMy guess - and it is just a guess - would be that the studio was nervous about making a movie that would mostly appeal to WWII vets (this was 1976). They probably figured that by throwing in a cute/young couple they could potentially market Midway as a "date" movie. Clearly, though,it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteEES