Over the weekend my son dragged me to see a movie. I say this like it was hard for me to do, which isn’t actually true in this case. When he wanted to go see JoJo Rabbit I was deeply dubious (and I should write that review up soon, I suppose). Midway? I was looking forward to. I knew from the trailer it was going to be exactly what it was. It had the potential to go wrong, sure. Not sticking to the history – which is quite dramatic on it’s own, with no need for hollyweird adjustments – would have been an error here. As far as I can tell (and I’m no expert) they did indeed keep it accurate. In fact, they put in a number of things I really enjoyed seeing that weren’t scenes strictly related to the battle of Midway.
I don’t think I’m spoiling the movie for anyone who reads the blog when I talk about what happens. We won. It wasn’t the end of the war, but it was a pivotal moment, and it could have gone badly. In several places, in fact, the war could have pivoted in another direction and been a much longer, bloodier, sadder affair than it was in reality. The movie does a nice job of pulling back far enough to give the big picture glimpses of those through the near prophetic words of the Japanese admiral Yamamoto, before the war, at the time of Pearl Harbor, and just before the battle of Midway. The other part I enjoyed seeing was the role of the codebreakers in this film, and the intelligence analyst who was so famously accurate on Midway. He’s a main character, and that’s a very good thing.
Speaking of side characters, Doolittle’s raiders make an appearance, with a dramatic launch from the carrier to make the point that the raid was, as his autobiography says, lucky. Even Doolittle’s escape from Japanese-occupied territory is in the movie, with the emphasis at the very end on what the Japanese did to the Chinese they thought might have aided the downed aviators. Although the movie is quite sympathetic in the portrayal of the everyday Japanese seamen, it is unblinking in the assessment of what the Japanese would do to China, and by extension other territories it wanted to conquer. I won’t spoil it, but one scene is heartwrenching, and I want to see if it is historical, or extrapolated from events… but that’s a side interest.
The end of the movie gives you thumbnails of what happened to the main characters if you aren’t as familiar with history. Nimitz, capably portrayed by Woody Harrelson (who made me do a double-take once I realized who he was) is a fascinating and compelling character, as I suspect he must have been in person, as well as Bull Halsey, both of whom have great legends if you are a history buff. One of my takeaways from the film was that I’m rusty on the history of the war, it having been an interest when I was in high school – much like it is my son’s passion now – and I want to refresh my memory deeper. So I bought the autobiography of Jimmy Doolittle, and am eyeing the new book on the codebreaker Rochefort (but it’s $15 for the ebook, ouch). I decided that I want a movie about the Doolittle raid, next!
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8 responses to “Movie Review: Midway”
Your review matches my college shipmate’s review; and he (like me) knows the history well.
Ic Johan wants to read more on WW II history I have some be can read, once we unpacck the library at the new home. Or in the library DD 940.5 as I recall from 45 years ago.
He’s got a few 😀 So it was hilarious. He comes to Sanford and I, and said he was interested in military history, and did we have some books on that? About ten books later stacked in his arms, he’s like “enough! I can’t read these all at once!” And I’m like, ok, when you want more come see me again… So I was very interested in MilHist when I was younger. *coff* There’s more than a few books on my shelves and I will buy more. Happy to get recommended titles!
I did a book talk a good few years ago in Fredericksburg, Texas – where Chester Nimitz was born and brought up – the grandson of one of the original old settlers, Charles H. Nimitz (who features as a character in my Adelsverein Trilogy). There is a big museum there now – the National Museum of the Pacific War, which has expanded bigly from the original location in what had been the hotel established by CH Nimitz.
So – the organizer of the book talk said; Oh, Mike is a fan of the books, can’t come to the meeting, he’ll still be at work – you want to stop by his office, before the meeting?
OK – sure!
My contact let me know – oh, Mike’s a retired general.
Me: Oh sure, no problem. Generals. Casually encountered a good many of them in my time.
So – the Daughter Unit and I went to Mike’s office, around the corner from the Museum. Long and lovely talk about the Trilogy with Mike-something-or-other-retired-general. Keen history fanatic. He had a big framed picture on the wall of his office, of the very young Chester Nimitz with his grandfather.
Rest of the story at this link …
http://www.celiahayes.com/archives/320
If you haven’t read it already, I recommend “Shattered Sword” by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. An interesting look from primarily the Japanese side of the battle.
Yes.
I think the virtue of shattered sword lies in its accuracy. The battles are complex and the details can overwhelm, but the general takeaway is that Parshall and Tully overturn several longstanding cliches. Apparently the old standard “Miracle at Midway” by Prange was based — unwittingly — on unreliable information. The key moment is NOT the Japanese failure to launch planes siting on deck, but the explosions and disasters below. Obviously larger Japanese failures are involved — things like dividing forces in the face of the enemy IIRC, but the anecdote is a good starting point. And the book is absolutely solid. I had the great pleasure of reading it while on vacation one early Summer week in Nashville. Somehow the read involved several nice cigars. 🙂
23 skidoo
Great video on the Battle of Midway – as seen from the Japanese perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo
Want a movie about the Doolittle raid? 30 Seconds Over Tokyo https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037366/