Midway

Was there ever any doubt I wouldn't be going to the theatre to watch this newest Roland Emmerich epos?

This war movie, in the style of Pearl Harbor, tells about the attack on the island, and the resulting largest naval battle in the history of America, and turning point of the war in the Pacific.  

The battle for a small and insignificant airstrip called Midway...


A few years before the start of World War II the US Naval attaché in Tokyo and his counterpart discuss the US and Japanese positions in the Pacific Ocean during a state function. Isoroku Yamamoto quietly informs intelligence officer Edwin T. Layton that they will take action if their oil supplies are threatened. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese use their carrier fleet to strike at Pearl Harbor.

The attack leads the US to enter World War II. Shortly thereafter, a command shake-up occurs at Pearl Harbor as Admiral Chester Nimitz assumes command of the badly damaged US Pacific Fleet. Layton speaks with Nimitz over his failure to convince Washington of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. Nimitz instructs him to stick to his guns in the next battle with Washington so as to avoid a repeat of the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor.
In April 1942, following the Doolittle Raid, the Japanese turn their attention to the Coral Sea. Meanwhile, Joseph Rochefort and his cryptology team begins intercepting messages concerning a location the Japanese identify as "AF". Layton speaks with Nimitz, who informs him that Washington believes "AF" to be a target in the Aleutians. Layton disagrees, believing the intended target to be Midway Atoll. After meeting with Rochefort, Nimitz instructs the team to find a way to definitively prove that "AF” is Midway. After Layton instructs Midway to telegraph in the clear (unencrypted) that they are suffering a water shortage, cryptologists working for Rochefort intercept Japanese communications concerning water shortages on “AF” - thus confirming that "AF" is Midway. In preparation for an ambush of the Japanese fleet, Nimitz orders carriers Hornet and Enterprise recalled from the Coral Sea and demands that the damaged Yorktown be made ready for combat operations within 72 hours.

On June 4, the Japanese launch an air attack against Midway. Initial attempts by US land-based aircraft to strike at the Japanese fleet carriers fail and no aircraft succeeds in striking a carrier. Nautilus, a US submarine, successfully locates and attacks an enemy carrier but the torpedo misses its target. Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders the Arashi to keep the submarine pinned down so that the carriers can escape. Meanwhile, US carrier planes are launched in an effort to destroy the Japanese carriers. After reaching the last known location of the Japanese fleet the US forces discover that the carriers have moved. Upon spotting the Arashi, the Commander of the Air Group (CAG) of the Enterprise, C. Wade McClusky, correctly infers the Japanese destroyer is rushing back to the main Japanese fleet and leads his planes to follow its course.
Meanwhile, Admiral Nagumo learns of the presence of the US fleet and orders his men to rearm his planes for the anti-ship attack. As his personnel switch out the aircraft ordnance, US carrier-based planes abruptly appear. Anti-aircraft fire from ships and Japanese planes combined with evasive maneuvers initially keeps the carriers safe. However, Enterprise squadron commanders C. Wade McClusky and Richard Halsey Best successfully lead their planes through the anti-aircraft fire and destroy the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi, and squadrons from the Yorktown destroy the Sōryū. Attempting to salvage the battle, Hiryū commanded by Tamon Yamaguchi attempts to rally the remaining Japanese aircraft for an assault against the US carriers. Locating Yorktown, the Japanese bomb and disable the carrier.

Upon returning to the Enterprise, Best receives word that about half of his squadron is either missing or destroyed. Informed that there is a surviving Japanese carrier, Best rallies what pilots he can and sets off to attack the Hiryu. Japanese anti-aircraft fire fails to stop the attack, and Best scores a critical hit that destroys the Hiryu. Raymond Spruance, informed of the destruction of the last Japanese carrier, decides to withdraw for the night rather than press his luck. Informed of the loss of his carriers in battle, Admiral Yamamoto orders his fleet to withdraw from the battle rather than risk his battleships without sufficient air cover, thus bringing the Battle of Midway to a close. In Pearl Harbor, Rochefort intercepts the Japanese order to withdraw and passes it to Layton, who then informs Nimitz and his staff of Yamamoto's decision to withdraw, and by extension the US victory in the Battle of Midway, followed by a coda depicting the fate of the various participants as well as Japanese reprisals after the battle.

The only thing for me missing in this movie, compared to other epos like war movies, is an accompanying epic soundtrack.  You know, the kind that keeps sounding in your head even long after leaving the theatre.

But the movie is awesomely made and entertaining, not turning into a drag at any point as the action follows smoothly.  Not using a heap of A-list movie stars also helps, as this means it doesn`t turn into a big star fanaddoration film, but actual emotion with the viewer.

But Noshi, who doesn't really like the genre, thought it a good movie, and that is saying something!