Midway (2019 film)
Midway is a 2019 American epic war film about the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Directed by Roland Emmerich, who produced the film with Harald Kloser, it is written by Wes Tooke. The film features an ensemble cast, including Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, and Woody Harrelson.
A passion project of Emmerich's, he had trouble getting financial support for the film before finally fundraising most of the budget and officially announcing it in 2017. Much of the cast joined in summer 2018, and filming began in Hawaii that September, also taking place in Montreal. With a production budget of $100 million, it is one of the most expensive independent films of all time.
Midway was theatrically released by Lionsgate in the United States on November 8, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $125 million worldwide. It also received praise for being more historically accurate than the typical war film.
Plot
In December 1937 in Tokyo, US Naval attaché intelligence officer Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton and his counterpart are discussing the US and Japanese positions in the Pacific Ocean during a state function. Layton is warned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto that if the Japanese oil supply is threatened by the US, the Japanese will take immediate action. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese use their carrier fleet to strike at Pearl Harbor. The attack leads the US to enter World War II. naval aviator Lieutenant Dick Best and the Air Group of the carrier Enterprise,The Attack on Pearl Harbor seriously damages the US Pacific Fleet, but left the base still operational for forward fleet actions, the Marshalls-Gilberts raids, Doolittle Raid, and the Battle of the Coral Sea. It finally describes the planning for the Battle of Midway, depicting the creation of a complicated battle plan. Admiral Yamamoto and Nagumo outline a complicated battle plan to strike Midway using the four available carriers of the Kido Butai. Joseph Rochefort and his cryptology team begin intercepting messages concerning a location the Japanese identify as "AF". Layton speaks with Admiral Chester Nimitz, who informs him that Washington believes "AF" to be a target in the South Pacific. 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 that they are suffering a water shortage, cryptologists working for Rochefort intercept Japanese communications concerning water shortages on “AF”, confirming that "AF" is indeed 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. The gamble pays off and all four of the Japanese carriers are destroyed in the battle of Midway. During the battle, Best suffers from respiratory issues including coughing up blood, but is awarded the Navy Cross and became one of two pilots to hit multiple carriers in a single day.
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. A crashing Martin B-26 Marauder narrowly misses striking a carrier's bridge. A shaken Minoru Genda asks if the aircraft was attempting a suicide ramming, although a uncertain Nagumo nervously suggests that the plane was out of control due to battle damage. Nautilus, a US submarine attacks an enemy carrier but the torpedo misses its target. The destroyer Arashi keeps the submarine pinned down so that the carriers can escape. Upon spotting the Arashi, the Commander of the Air Group 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. Anti-aircraft fire from ships and Japanese planes combined with evasive maneuvers keep the carriers safe. However, the attacks keep the Japanese carriers off balance and unable to prepare and launch their own counterstrike. Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi orders Nagumo to launch his strike as soon as he can. On the Akagi, Nagumo experiences hard knocks while being tossed about the carrier as the bombs drop in the water around his flagship. The buffeting he encounters during the bombing, as well as the destruction of two of his other carriers demoralises him, before Best scores a direct hit on the Akagi. With his own ship in flames, Nagumo goes into a state of shock and is reluctant to transfer his flag but is persuaded by Genda. Admiral Yamaguchi and the captain of the Hiryu go down with the ship. Hiryu is then scuttled.
In Pearl Harbor, Rochefort intercepts the Japanese order to withdraw and passes it to Layton, who then informs Nimitz and his elated staff.
Cast
Allies
Japanese
Civilians
Production
On May 23, 2017, it was reported that Roland Emmerich would be directing the World War II film Midway. Due to its potential lofty budget, Emmerich had trouble getting the film greenlit. When no major studio would bankroll the project, he cut down on potential battle sequences and turned to individuals for the funds, resulting in $76 million; he then got an additional $24 million in equity, mostly from Chinese investors, resulting in the film's $100 million budget. It is one of the most costly independent films ever made. Emmerich had previously attempted to mount the film at Sony Pictures in the '90s, with William Goldman becoming interested in the project. However, as with the final rendition, executives balked at the proposed $100 million budget, and Emmerich moved on to direct The Patriot.Harald Kloser also produced the film.
In April 2018, Woody Harrelson and Mandy Moore joined the ensemble cast for the film. In July 2018, Luke Evans was cast in the film to play Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his role in the Battle of Midway. Robby Baumgartner was hired as cinematographer. August saw the additions of Patrick Wilson, Ed Skrein, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Tadanobu Asano, Dennis Quaid, and others to the cast. Darren Criss, Alexander Ludwig, and Brandon Sklenar were cast in September. Filming began on September 5, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was also shot in Montreal, Quebec.
In November 2018, it was announced that VFX company Scanline VFX will be the main VFX vendor, and that Pixomondo had signed on to provide additional visual effects.
Release
The film was released on November 8, 2019, Veteran’s Day weekend.Marketing
A teaser poster for the film was released on June 4, 2019, which was also the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. A set of 13 still photographs depicting scenes from the film was released on June 26, 2019, and the first trailer for the film was released the following day. The second and final trailer of the film was released on September 12, 2019, with the film's theatrical poster on September 25. All-in-all, Lionsgate spent around $40 million promoting the film.Home media
Midway was released on Digital HD on February 4, 2020, and in DVD and Blu-ray on February 18, 2020.Reception
Box office
Midway grossed $56.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $68.5 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $125.4 million, against a production budget of $100 million.In the United States and Canada, Midway was released alongside Doctor Sleep, Playing with Fire, and Last Christmas, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,242 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $6.3 million on its first day. It went on to debut to $17.5 million, beating box office expectations and upsetting projected winner Doctor Sleep by finishing first at the box office. In its second weekend the film made $8.8 million, finishing second behind newcomer Ford v Ferrari, before making $4.7 million and finishing in fifth in its third weekend.
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 159 reviews, with an average rating of 5.22/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Midway revisits a well-known story with modern special effects and a more balanced point of view, but its screenplay isn't quite ready for battle." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4 out of 5 stars, with 58% saying they would definitely recommend it.Historical accuracy
While the film takes some artistic license, Emmerich and Tooke were both adamant about being historically accurate, and Midway received praise from some combat veterans and historians for being more accurate of events than Midway and Pearl Harbor. Naval History and Heritage Command director and retired Navy Rear Admiral Sam Cox said: "Despite some of the 'Hollywood' aspects, this is still the most realistic movie about naval combat ever made."- Several seemingly "Hollywood-ized" events depicted in the film, such as Bruno Gaido sprinting into a parked plane in an effort to shoot down a crippled plane attempting to crash into the Enterprise, then getting on-spot promoted, occurred as shown, though according to USA Today, "Gaido hid after shooting the plane down, afraid he was going to get in trouble for leaving his battle station. 'They had to hunt him down and bring him to Halsey,' says ."
- The film depicts a Douglas TBD Devastator equipped with a torpedo and a bomb, however in reality it could only carry one or the other.
- The SBD Dauntless aircraft shown prior to and during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the B-25s in the Doolittle Raid, are wearing incorrect US national insignia lacking the red center circle to the star. This is presumably done to avoid cinema audiences confusing them for Japanese aircraft, the same reason why the insignia itself was modified from May 1942.
- Dick Best's friend, Roy Pearce, who dies on during the attack on Pearl Harbor and local teacher Zhu Xuesan who helps Doolittle to get to Suzhou, only to be killed during the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign, are fictional characters. In another scene Admiral Yamamoto speaks aloud "We have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with terrible resolve", a quote which was spoken in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, even though there is no evidence that Yamamoto said this in reality.
- The air battle during the Marshalls–Gilberts raids is portrayed in the film to take place over a mountainous terrain. However, Marshall Islands and Gilbert Islands, where the actual raids took place, are atolls with very low terrain elevation. While the film shows Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters present during the Marshalls–Gilberts raids, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service units stationed in the area did not possess the new Zero type of fighters at the time but operated only the older Mitsubishi A5M fighters.
- The film does not depict Task Force 17 comprised solely of the Yorktown commanded by Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, who was the actual tactical commander in both the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. Instead, the film shows Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance as the tactical commander of all three carriers during the Battle of Midway. However, Vice Admiral Fletcher did cede tactical control to Rear Admiral Spruance after the USS Yorktown was hit a second time.
- The film also omits Lt. Cmdr. Max Leslie, commander of Bombing Squadron 3 of USS Yorktown. Leslie and Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, from USS Enterprise, arrived above the Japanese task force at the precise moment and together released their bombs on the Japanese carriers. Leslie himself did not have a bomb as it was accidentally released via a faulty electrical arming switch. Nevertheless, he also dived with the rest of the SBDs, strafing carrier decks.
- During the initial attempts by Midway-based bombers to strike at the Japanese fleet carriers, ten to thirteen B-26s are depicted with at least five being destroyed when in reality only four took part. In addition, they are depicting dropping bombs, when actually they were armed with torpedoes.
- is depicting attacking an enemy carrier during the battle; in reality, the submarine was attacking the.
- Ensign George Gay is depicting being shot down before he can accomplish anything. In reality, he completed his torpedo attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier before he was shot down, but Sōryū evaded his torpedo.
- During the dive bomber attack, Kaga's island is shown on the port side when in reality it was located on the starboard side. After the Akagi is critically damaged, Minoru Genda is portrayed as persuading Nagumo to save himself. It was actually Ryūnosuke Kusaka.
- The film depicts Bruno Gaido being thrown overboard with an anchor by the Japanese just after the bombings of the aircraft carriers, and Sōryū, though Frank Woodrow O'Flaherty's fate isn't shown. In reality, they were interrogated and tortured and then killed two weeks later, by being tied to water-filled kerosene cans.
- Best's attack on the Hiryu was depicted as a glide bombing attack whereas in real life he performed a dive bombing attack. The real crippling blow to the Hiryu was delivered by Ensign Jack "Dusty" Kleiss, who is omitted in the movie.
- Hiryu is scuttled by two torpedoes causing explosions that engulf the flight deck where Yamaguchi and Kaku are standing; in real life, Yamaguchi and Kaku had moved to the bridge of the stricken carrier waving to the crew who were abandoning ship. When the carrier was scuttled, one torpedo missed and the other struck near the bow without the typical plume of water, although the detonation was quite visible.