Battle for Midway (1976)

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Movie
German title Battle for Midway
Original title Midway
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1976
length 132 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Jack Smight
script Donald S. Sanford
production Walter Mirisch
music John Williams
camera Harry Stradling Jr.
cut Robert Swink ,
Frank J. Urioste
occupation

Battle for Midway (Original title: Midway ) is an American war film directed by Jack Smight . It is about the decisive turning point in the Pacific War , which was ushered in with this great carrier battle in June 1942 . The Americans knew how to prevent Pearl Harbor from happening again. The leading roles are cast with Henry Fonda , Charlton Heston , James Coburn , Robert Mitchum , Robert Wagner and Glenn Ford .

The film premiered in the United States on June 18, 1976; in the Federal Republic of Germany it started on October 7, 1976.

action

The Imperial Navy of Japan is undefeated until 1942 and has severely damaged the American Navy . After the battle in the Coral Sea , which ended in a draw, the Japanese chief strategist Admiral Yamamoto created a complicated battle plan. Undetected by the Japanese, American intelligence agents cracked the Japanese encryption code. Americans now know that Yamamoto plans to strike the Midway Islands. US Admiral Nimitz sends his aircraft carriers to Midway before the Japanese show up there. With courage, skill, intelligence and luck, the Americans can win the battle.

Reviews

"A technically perfect war film with a prominent cast, which, however, fatally reduces the war to a 'game for tough men' and shows no historical connections."

background

  • "Battle for Midway" was one of the few films in which (in specially equipped cinemas) the Sensurround sound process was used, which enables a particularly authentic, almost physical perception of the battle noises (through the reproduction of very low tones down to 15 Hz ) mediated. However, the process achieved little worldwide and was soon discontinued.
  • Erik Estrada , Steve Kanaly and Tom Selleck play in supporting roles .
  • The film was shot at Navy bases in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Pensacola. The aircraft carrier scenes (including those on the Japanese side) were filmed on the USS Lexington .
  • The director Smight replaced the first hired John Guillermin .
  • Two-time Oscar winner Henry Fonda played US Admiral Nimitz for the second time in this film. As early as 1965 he played him in the film First Victory ( In Harm's Way ), directed by Otto Preminger .
  • In addition to Henry Fonda , other award-winning actors starring: Charlton Heston (Oscar 1960), Edward Albert (Golden Globe 1973), Glenn Ford (Golden Globe 1962) and Cliff Robertson (Oscar 1969). Dabney Coleman (Golden Globe 1988) and James Coburn (Oscar 1999) were honored later, while Robert Mitchum was not considered in his career.
  • Award-winning employees also worked behind the camera: the producer Mirisch (Oscar 1968), the composer John Williams (Oscars 1972, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1994 and 43 other nominations, as well as Golden Globes 1976, 1978, 1983, 2006), the Art -Director Walter H. Tyler (Oscar 1951), the sound engineers Robert L. Hoyt, Earl Madery and Robert Heman Jr. (each Oscar 1976).
  • Military and technical adviser was Vice Admiral Bernard M. Stream.
  • John Ford made a documentary in 1942 as an eyewitness to the battle. Lead actor Henry Fonda was the speaker in this film.
  • Some original aerial combat footage from the Second World War is incorporated into the film.

Historical background

  • The Battle of the Coral Sea took place on May 7th and 8th, 1942, southwest of the Solomon Islands . It ended in a draw. US troops lost about 540 men, an aircraft carrier, a destroyer and a tanker. The Japanese had about 3,500 dead, lost an aircraft carrier and a destroyer.
  • The Battle of Midway took place in the Midway Islands from June 4 to 7, 1942. This carrier battle marked the turning point in the Pacific War. The US Navy lost one aircraft carrier, one destroyer, 98 carrier aircraft and lost 307 people. The Japanese, on the other hand, lost 4 aircraft carriers with approx. 300 carrier aircraft in addition to a cruiser and recorded approx. 4,800 deaths. The Japanese Navy was unable to recover from this defeat.
  • Yamamoto Isoroku was commander in chief of the United Fleet of the Imperial Navy. Among other things, he was involved in the secret plans for the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. In a conversation before the attack with the Japanese Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro , he said that in the event of a war with the USA and Great Britain he could operate unhindered for several months and inflict numerous defeats on them, but then the economic power of the United States would take hold and Japan would inevitably lose the war within a few years. Yamamoto was convinced that only a quick, decisive blow against the US fleet would give his country enough time to inflict so many defeats on the Allies that they would have to plead for peace with the admission of Japanese sovereignty over East Asia . On April 18, 1943 Yamamoto died when American fighter of the type P-38 Lightning his aircraft with which it to a troop inspection after Rabaul was shot down on the way.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. cf. Lexicon of International Films 2000/2001 (CD-ROM)
  2. ^ Scott Weinberg: Midway. In: Apollo guide. Archived from the original on May 2, 2006 ; accessed on December 27, 2014 (English).
  3. Edwin P. Hoyt: Yamamoto. The man who planned Pearl Harbor . McGraw-Hill, New York 1990, pp. 106 f.