Rating: PG
Genre:
War
Release Date: 10/30/2001
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: 5.1/1
Run Time: 132 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children, Adult Language, War Violence
Distributor/Studio: Universal Studios
An expensive war epic,
Midway emulates
The Longest Day and
Tora! Tora! Tora! in attempting to re-create a famous World War II battle from both the American and Japanese viewpoints. The 1942 battle of Midway was the turning point of the War in the Pacific; the Japanese invasion fleet was destroyed, and America's string of humiliating defeats was finally broken. Though the battle itself was sufficiently dramatic to fill two films,
Midway also has plotline involving the mixed-race marriage between Ensign Garth (
Edward Albert), son of Navy Captain Matt Garth (
Charlton Heston), and Haruko Sakura (
Christina Kokubo), a Hawaiian girl of Japanese descent. The real-life personages depicted herein include American Admirals Nimitz (
Henry Fonda), Halsey (
Robert Mitchum) and Spruance (
Glenn Ford), and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto (
Toshiro Mifune, his voice once again dubbed by
Paul Frees, whom Mifune personally selected for the job). For its original road show release,
Midway was offered in the "Sensurround" process, which electronically shook and vibrated the audience's chairs during the battle sequences.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide