VHS : The Battle Of Midway [1976]

Rating: - Tora, Tora, Midway
I first saw this film at its cinematic release in 'sensaround'. This was a novel seat-shaker device installed in some US cinemas. When the planes' engines turned over the seat shook; when the bombs dropped the seat shook; when the Charlton Heston coughed the seat shook. At the time I was amazed. But then again, I was only nine years old! After watching the video, I was stunned to realize that almost no new action footage was shot for this film. Much was borrowed from the (still fantastic) Tora, Tora, Tora -- including the B17 landing with one wheel down scene and most of the Japanese carrier take-offs. The rest is stock footage from gun cameras and contemporary WWII documentary material. To a nine year old this all appeared rather seamless. To an adult it looks fairly cheesey. Historically it is fair, but leaves out parts of the battle (such as the unsuccessful bomber strike from Midway Island itself). (...)

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Rating: - A Fairly Good History Lesson
THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY moves a little faster than TORA, TORA, TORA and is only slightly shorter. It will be entertaining for those who are intersted in World WarII and the crucial Battle of Midway which is really more of an air battle than it is a good old-fashioned naval battle. The strong cast is led by Henry Fonda and Charlton Heston and includes James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Toshiro Mifune and James Shigeta.

MIDWAY failed to receive any Oscar Nominations in 1976 when the Academy Award competition was dominated by ROCKY and NETWORK.

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Rating: - Chronologisch korrekt
Die Schlacht um Midway beinhaltet alles, was ein Kriegsfilm aus der Sicht Hollywoods benötigt. Schlachtszenen, persönliche Schicksale, und leider auch das Drama um die japanische Freundin eines US-Piloten. Warum haben es die Produzenten einfach nur wieder geschafft, den interessanten Ablauf der Schlacht mit einer völlig fiktiven Story um einen Commander der Navy Air Force zu verstricken. Die Geschichte um die Schlacht der Midway Inseln ist schon interessant genug, so dass dieses Geplänkel eher störend wirkt. Ja die Schlacht selbst lauft Gefahr, zur Nebensache zu werden. Die grosse Riege an namhaften Hollywoodstars trägt sehr viel dazu bei, die eigentliche Story an den Mann (Zuschauer) zu bringen. Doch eines stört noch ein klein wenig: Die zum Teil schon verwendeten Szenen der Luftkämpfe aus dem Film Tora! Tora! Tora!. Ein Filmkenner lässt sich doch auch wegen dieses Fakts nicht aus der Ruhe bringen. Alles in allem ein sehr empfehlenswerter Film, der sich im zweiten Teil der 2-stündigen Laufzeit sehr um die authentischen Abläufe der Schlacht kümmert.

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Rating: - This is an excellent film, and a must have!
The film "Battle of Midway" is one of the many classic war films showing desperation, courage and tactics winning over numerical advantage. The film also has many, fantastic aerial dogfight sceens, is historically acurate, and where possible, original footage from the Pacific war theatre is used to give the film a sense of authenticity. The all-star cast makes the film a classic, and makes the characters roles easily accessable to the watcher. Some of the film is repeated , and some of the aircraft in the original film segments are not those seen on the film set, but a slight inacuracy is a small price to pay for the high standard of the rest of the film. The film also gives a fair view of both the sides who are fighting, and this is good as it makes analysing the film from both sides easy, and does justice to both the commanders and men on both sides whatever thier nationallity. This film has suspense from beginning to end, and action is never far off. Even the titles are more than just names. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and recommend it!