Midway (Blu-ray) (2019)

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General		Extras
Category	War	Audio Commentary-director Roland Emmerich Featurette-Getting it Right: The Making of Midway (14:15) Featurette-Joe Rochefort: Breaking the Japanese Code (6:13) Featurette-Roland Emmerich: Man on a Mission (4:56) Featurette-The Men of Midway (12:23) Featurette-Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway (14:59) Featurette-We Met at Midway: Two Survivors Remember (9:28)
Rating
Year Of Production	2019
Running Time	138:10
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Roland Emmerich
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Patrick Wilson Ed Skrein Woody Harrelson Mackenzie Davis Luke Kleintank Aaron Eckhart Dennis Quaid Etsushi Toyokawa
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Thomas Wander Harald Kloser

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The defeat of the Japanese navy by American carrier borne aircraft in the Battle of Midway in June 1942 turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. In telling the story of the battle director Roland Emmerich’s Midway spends the first hour of the film on the six months prior to Midway starting with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 and including the Americans starting to fight back in the Marshall Islands and in the Coral Sea, the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and the deciphering of the Japanese naval code that was so vital to the success at Midway.

     Midway does this primarily by following the actions of a number of individuals. Although the Japanese side of the battle, including Admiral Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa), is covered the emphasis is on a number of the Americans including Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson), the intelligence officer who headed the team breaking the Japanese code, Admiral Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) who commanded the US Pacific Fleet after Pearl Harbour until the end of the war, and a number of the pilots from the USS Enterprise instrumental in the victory; Dick Best (Ed Skrein), Wade McCusky (Mackenzie Davis) and Clarence Dickinson (Luke Kleintank) as well as Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart); all were real people.

     For such a master of big budget mayhem as director Roland Emmerich, Midway is an almost restrained, old fashioned telling of the story with few false jingoisms or extra histrionics; the battle itself was so dramatic that none are needed. It is old fashioned in the scene of telling the story chronologically and plainly, reminding one of classic war films such as A Bridge Too Far (1977) or Tora, Tora, Tora (1970) with their ensemble casts rather than the more heavily dramatised earlier Midway (1976) or Pearl Harbour (2001). There are, of course, lots of scenes of combat with tracers, machine guns and antiaircraft guns as aircraft attack ships and each other and explosions as ships are destroyed all with extensive CGI effects; some are very good giving at least a sense of realism although some of the effects during the attack on Pearl Harbour or the in destruction of the Japanese carriers look fake; I guess that explosions as well as water effects always struggle to convince the eye.

     A text at the start states that the film is based upon fact. There is a long list in the IMDb where people have criticised the film’s goofs and factual errors but in the context of watching an exciting battle film, not a documentary, none strike me as disastrous; indeed in many things including the presence of famed American film director John Ford on Midway who shot some incredible footage of the Japanese attack or the Enterprise dive bombers following a Japanese destroyer racing to regain the fleet after hunting an American submarine, the film gets it right while the heroics shown during the battle are pretty much based on fact albeit with a bit of elaboration. The film also takes the time to visit the personal lives of Dick Best and Edwin Layton in the build up to the battle which is effective in providing background to these men. Like Pearl Harbour, Midway also spends more time on the Doolittle Raid, and the assistance Doolittle received in China after the raid, than is really necessary for the story of Midway. However, I guess it makes sense when one sees that two Chinese companies are major funders of the film!

     Midway is a big, spectacular, loud sprawling film that is entertaining and, as far as I can tell, does justice to this pivotal battle of the Pacific War. The critics on rottentomatoes.com gave it a score of 41% but in this case the audience were much more attuned to what Emmerich was about, giving the film a score of 92%. That may be a tad generous but for entertainment value I am more with them!

Video

     Midway is presented in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Shot digitally, the print is shows firm detail; in the dive bombing sequences, for example, with antiaircraft tracers flying past, black smoke from exploding shells, the aircraft jinxing about and Zero fighters flashing past everything is solid in motion. Close-ups of the pilot and his aircraft are solid, although the CGI carriers they are aiming for are less firm. The print is, however, clear enough for the eye to detect the less than real CGI sequences in which battleships explode and turn over, carriers explode or aircraft catch fire and crash into the sea. Colours are glossy, whether the green of the Hawaii Islands or the red / yellow of explosions, blasts and destruction. Blacks and shadow detail are excellent, skin tones natural, contrast and brightness consistent. Marks and artefacts are absent.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     Audio is English DTS HD-MA 5.1 plus English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Midway has all the effects one expects in a film in which aircraft dogfight, strafe and attack ships with tracers flying all around the sound stage, engines roaring, impacts and explosions. Not surprisingly, the subwoofer was in full voice, adding boom and reverberation to explosions and general mayhem. I did, however, find that in some sequences of the dive bombing attack when the music was added the sound stand became rather too chaotic and indistinct. Outside of the action, there was always the throb of ship’s engines and machinery, or voices. Dialogue is always clear. The music by Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser is appropriate and not too obviously bombastic.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Audio Commentary with Director Roland Emmerich

     This is a conversational commentary as Emmerich tends to describe what is happening on the screen, outlines plot points and says “you know” “kind of” very, very frequently. He talks about which sets were built and where the sequence is mostly or all CGI (he notes very little was real), points out historical events and where events were “somewhat based” on real events and where they overdid some of the action. Not one of the best commentaries but not the worse either.

Getting it Right: The Making of Midway (14:15)

     A decent overview of the making of the film and the intention of the filmmakers, as Dennis Quaid observes, to “make believe as authentically as they can” starting with the screenplay, shooting on the actual Pearl Harbour locations, building the USS Enterprise almost to scale on a sound stage in Canada, constructing, full size dive bomber and torpedo bomber replicas, and the intention to show both sides of the battle. The extra includes film clips and on-set behind the scenes footage plus comments from director Roland Emmerich, screenwriter Wes Tooke, production designer Kirk Petruccelli, special effects supervisor Guillaume Murray, two producers and cast members Luke Kleintank, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Darren Criss, Dennis Quaid, Nick Jonas, Woody Harrelson and Ed Skrein.

Joe Rochefort: Breaking the Japanese Code (6:13)

     A look at the personality and career of the man who was instrumental in breaking the Japanese naval code that was so crucial to the Americans winning the battle of Midway. Film clips, photos and comments by a range of authors who wrote about the battle Craig L Symonds (The Battle of Midway), Elliot Carlson (Joe Rochefort’s War), Timothy Orr (Never Call Me a Hero), Liza Mundy (Code Girls) and the Director, Naval History and Heritage Command Samuel Cox.

Roland Emmerich: Man on a Mission (4:56)

     How Emmerich had wanted to make this film for two decades, his “big picture” mentality, methods and character. This includes on-set footage and comments from most of those who commented in the “Making Of” extra above plus cast member Aaron Eckhart.

The Men of Midway (12:23)

     Casting the film and the actors playing real people who fought in the battle. It includes thoughts from Roland Emmerich, producer Harald Kloser and most of the principal cast.

Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway (14:59)

     Outlines the history leading up to the battle and its legacy; how for 6 months after Pearl Harbour the Japanese had been undefeated across the Pacific, the arrival of Admiral Nimitz to take command of the Pacific fleet, or what was left of it after Pearl Harbour, Yamamoto’s plan to entice the American carriers into a trap defending Midway, the breaking of the Japanese Naval code and Nimitz’s own gamble. Film footage plus comments by most of those who commented in the Joe Rochefort featurette above plus academic Daqing Yang and authors David Jourdan (The Search for the Japanese Fleet) and Liza Orr (Never Call Me a Hero).

We Met at Midway: Two Survivors Remember (9:28)

     Two of the surviving veterans who flew at Midway, Charles Munroe and Ervin F Wendt, talk about their experience of the battle and their friendship since. This extra includes archival war and newsreel footage of the Pearl Harbour attack and Midway.

     The US Region A Blu-ray of Midway has the same extras as our release and adds the film’s trailer. In addition, it includes Dolby Atmos audio, making it a superior version for those who have that capacity.

     Midway is an old fashioned ensemble war film, and that is not a criticism but an advantage after such bloated war films as Pearl Harbour. It is even handed, almost restrained, storytelling with few false jingoisms or over-dramatisations; the battle itself and the heroics, pretty much based on fact, are dramatic enough.

     The video and audio are very good, if not reference quality. The extras are worthwhile and we get the same as is available elsewhere.

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