Only a 6.8?

Ya ... it is not a very good film ... just a very good subject.

A bit generous I thought. Tom Garth's story was inserted so boyfriends/ husbands could get their girlfriends/ wives into the movie theaters when this came out. Not much of a stretch acting-wise but I thought the Japanese "contingent" held my interest better than the Americans. Heston and Fonda did what they needed to do and Capt Garth was adequate as the movie viewer's eyes for this movie. The best acting such as it was being the back and forth between Nagumo and his advisors. Though very brief I enjoyed Clyde Kasatsu's portrayal as Yamamato's aid. Maybe under appreciated by me was Hal Holbrook as Rochefort.


Being salary "heavy" may have cut into the special effects effort for the movie. A fair amount of clips from other war movie's were inserted into this project. Maybe one of the experts here can set me straight but I did not see anything as ambitious as recreating a portion of a battleship topside as was done in Tora Tora Tora.

Entertaining for those already interested in the topic of the Battle of Midway but not likely to lure anybody else past the casually curious. Recent history students will have to understand that much was learned well after this was made and that the movie did the best it could do with what was known at the time.

What's great about it? It's a very workmanlike effort by everyone involved, barely adequate in how it gets the story across. Nothing of any particular artistic value, or even exhilarating action, in sight.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

I love this movie but gave it same rating as the majority.. Battle of Midway has fascinated me since I was child, even though my father served in the Army, he was in the Pacific and this was a pivotal Battle.
This movie unfortunately was made in Mid 1970's and THIS is exactly what movies looked like.
Money went to Big Name Stars more then Big Budgets for Reality and SFX. Disaster Movies with Big Stars were Huge and this is what they tried to slip in here.
Midway was an incredible almost unbelievable Story and surely would be treated different today.

I still have copy and watch it every year, even catching it on TV as I type.
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If you are looking for wisdom here, you are going to be disappointed.

Should be way higher. The gold standard of combat strategy films, with excellent acting.

The TONS of historic footage they use for the movie just puzzles me. I guess there wasn't much money left after they hired the cast. Universal had Albert Whitlock, one of the most famous visual effects artists ever, and they don't seem to use him at all in this.