''Midway'' is a 2019

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

about the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under A ...

, a turning point in the Pacific Theater of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film was directed by

Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the industry. His films, most of wh ...

, who also produced the film with Harald Kloser, and was written by Wes Tooke. The film stars Ed Skrein,

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in '' The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and '' Okla ...

, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart,

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

, Tadanobu Asano, Darren Criss and

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards ...

. The film was a passion project of Emmerich's, and he had trouble getting financial support for the film before finally raising sufficient funds and officially announcing the project in 2017. Much of the cast joined in summer 2018, and filming began in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

that September. Some filming also took place in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. With a production budget of $100million, it is to date one of the most expensive

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

s of all time. ''Midway'' was theatrically released by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquarter ...

in the United States on November8, 2019 and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals but criticized the screenplay. The film was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing only $126 million worldwide against a $100 million budget.

Plot

In December 1937 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, American 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 was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed. Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...

that if the US threatens the Japanese oil supply, then the Japanese will take immediate action. After the US cuts off Japan's oil supply, the Japanese use their carrier fleet to strike at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack leads the US to enter

. Naval aviator Lieutenant Dick Best and the Air Group (CAG) of the carrier fail to find the Japanese carrier fleet, exacerbating his rivalry with his commanding officer Lieutenant Commander

Eugene E. Lindsey Eugene E. Lindsey (July 2, 1905 – June 4, 1942) was an officer and aviator in the United States Navy. He is the namesake of the destroyer . Naval career Lindsey was born in Sprague, Washington, on 2 July 1905 and graduated from the United State ...

. Admiral Yamamoto, with the support of Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, proposes his most audacious plan yet—the invasion of

Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...

using the four available carriers of the " Kido Butai", but are overruled by the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. ''Enterprise'' launches raids against the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

in February 1942. During an attack by Mitsubishi G3M Nell bombers, one crippled Nell turns back towards the ship in a suicide ramming attempt, but Aviation Machinist's Mate Third Class Bruno Gaido shoots the aircraft down from a parked Dauntless. The crashing bomber slices Gaido's Dauntless in half, but he survives. Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, impressed by Gaido's courage, promotes him to Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class. In April 1942, following Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle 's raid on the Japanese mainland, Yamamoto, Yamaguchi and Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo are finally allowed to begin their plan to attack Midway. In May 1942, following the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

, Layton, along with

Joseph Rochefort Joseph John Rochefort (May 12, 1900 – July 20, 1976) was an American naval officer and cryptanalyst. He was a major figure in the United States Navy's cryptographic and intelligence operations from 1925 to 1946, particularly in the Battle of ...

and his cryptology team, begin intercepting messages concerning a location the Japanese identify as "AF." Layton speaks with Admiral

Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in ...

, 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 prove that "AF" is Midway definitively. 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," confirming that "AF" is indeed Midway. In preparation for an ambush of the Japanese fleet, Nimitz orders carriers and ''Enterprise'' recalled from the Coral Sea and demands that the damaged be made ready for combat operations. During the preparations, Best is briefly demoralized after one of his proteges crashes during a takeoff. Still, he receives encouragement from the Commander of the Air Group (CAG) of the Enterprise, Wade McCluskey. Best and Lindsey set aside their differences and work together to prepare for the attack. Halsey is put on shore leave by Nimitz after receiving a bad case of the

shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...

and is temporarily replaced by

Raymond A. Spruance Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 – December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral during World War II. He commanded U.S. naval forces during one of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: the Battle ...

. 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. However, Nagumo and Captain Genda are left shaken by the Americans' unexpected bravery when one

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

narrowly misses the bridge of the in its attempt to ram the carrier. The Japanese fleet learns of the presence of the American carriers. American submarine unsuccessfully attacks a Japanese carrier and is chased off by Japanese destroyer . Lindsey and other American torpedo squadrons attack the Japanese fleet but are shot down. Realizing that the Americans' attacks are preventing the fleet from launching their counterstrike, Yamaguchi orders Nagumo to launch his strike as soon as possible. Despite suffering from respiratory issues from breathing a bad mix of oxygen, Best refuses to leave his men behind and leads his and McCluskey's squadrons into battle. Upon spotting the ''Arashi'', McClusky correctly infers the Japanese destroyer is rushing back to the main Japanese fleet and leads his planes to follow its course. Arriving to find the Japanese

Combat Air Patrol Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area ...

out of position due to the previous torpedo attacks, the dive-bombers score several hits on ''Akagi'', and , resulting in fires and further explosions due to unsecured ordinance. Nagumo, demoralized and in a state of shock, is persuaded by Genda to transfer his flag to a cruiser. Frank Woodrow O'Flaherty and Gaido are shot down, picked up by the Japanese, and executed when they refuse to talk. Yamaguchi, aboard , is more willing to fight and launches a strike wave that succeeds in crippling ''Yorktown'', prompting ''Enterprise'' and ''Hornet'' to launch their remaining aircraft. Best leads the squadron, which successfully inflicts severe damage to the ''Hiryu''. Admiral Yamaguchi and Captain Tomeo Kaku go down with their command as ''Hiryu'' is

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

. Yamamoto receives news that his carrier force has been destroyed. After learning that the American fleet has withdrawn, thus depriving him of the chance to use his main force of battleships to win a night battle against the American fleet, he orders a general withdrawal. At Pearl Harbor, Rochefort intercepts the Japanese order to withdraw and passes it to Layton, who then informs Nimitz. Meanwhile, Best is discharged from the Navy for his lung problems and decides to return home to his wife and daughter, who are both overjoyed to see that he survived.

Cast

Allies

Japanese

Civilians

Production

On May 23, 2017, it was reported that

would be directing the World WarII film ''Midway.'' Due to its potential lofty budget (with estimates putting its needed cost at $125million), 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 $76million; he then got an additional $24million in equity, mostly from Chinese investors, resulting in the film's $100million budget. It is one of the most costly

independent films An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

ever made. Emmerich had previously attempted to mount the film at

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

in the 1990s, with

William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...

becoming interested in the project. However, as with the final rendition, executives balked at the proposed $100million budget ($152million by 2019 inflation), and Emmerich moved on to direct '' The Patriot''. Harald Kloser also produced the film. In April 2018,

and

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 The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

. August saw the additions of

, Ed Skrein, Aaron Eckhart,

, Tadanobu Asano,

, and others to the cast. Darren Criss, Alexander Ludwig, and

Brandon Sklenar Brandon Sklenar is an American actor best known for his roles in the films '' Midway'', '' Mapplethorpe'', ''Vice'' and ''1923''. Early life and education Sklenar was born and raised in Northern New Jersey to Bruce Feakins and Francine Sklen ...

were cast in September. Filming began on September5, 2018, in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

. It was also shot in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. 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,

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring Veteran, military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who ...

weekend.

Marketing

A teaser poster for the film was released on June4, 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 June26, 2019, and the first trailer for the film was released the following day (June27). The second and final trailer of the film was released on September12, 2019, with the film's theatrical poster on September25. All-in-all, Lionsgate spent around $40million promoting the film.

Home media

''Midway'' was released on Digital HD on February4, 2020, and on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

and

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional B ...

on February18, 2020.

Reception

Box office

''Midway'' grossed $56.8million in the United States and Canada, and $68.5million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $125.4million, against a production budget of $100million. In the United States and Canada, ''Midway'' was released alongside '' Doctor Sleep'', '' Playing with Fire'', and ''

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK. Described as a "high watermark of mid-80s ...

'', and was projected to gross around $15million from 3,242 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $6.3million on its first day (including $925,000 from Thursday night previews). It went on to debut to $17.5million, beating box office expectations and upsetting projected winner ''Doctor Sleep'' by finishing first at the box office. In its second weekend the film made $8.8million, finishing second behind newcomer ''

Ford v Ferrari ''Ford v Ferrari'' (titled ''Le Mans '66'' in some European countries) is a 2019 American sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Damon and Christia ...

'', before making $4.7million and finishing in fifth in its third weekend.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . 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 Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, 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 CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

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. Barry Hertz of '' The Globe and Mail'' gave the film a score of 2/4 stars, describing it as "a Second World War epic that runs a comparatively paltry 138 minutes yet feels about five times as long", concluding that the film was "a choppy bore, its main source of intrigue centred around whatever New Jersey-ese accent British actor Ed Skrein is attempting as dive bomber Richard Best." Michael O'Sullivan of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' gave the film a score of 2.5/4 stars, saying that it "tells a story that’s vividly and viscerally rendered, with all the entertainment value of a big, old-fashioned war movie", but added: "the kiss-kiss never really registers with quite the same impact as the bang-bang." Wendy Ide of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' gave the film a score of 2/5 stars, writing: "Every tired war movie cliche is unearthed in a film that brings nothing new but will no doubt please fans of men in uniform yelling at explosions." Paul Byrnes of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' gave the film a score of 3/5 stars, describing it as "one of oland Emmerich'sbetter films", but added: "There are a number of earlier versions to pick from, including John Ford's original 18-minute Oscar-winning documentary. We didn't need a new one, unless he had something new to say or a new way to say it. To both questions, the answer is no."

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014 ...

of ''Variety'' wrote: "The film's drama is B-movie basic. But the destructive colliding metal-on-metal inferno of what war is what makes ''Midway'' a picture worth seeing." Kenneth Turan of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' described the film as being "so square, so old-school and old-fashioned, it almost feels avant-garde", adding: "It aims to celebrate heroism, sacrifice, determination and grit, and if you don’t like that it really does not care."

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'' (1976) and ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

'' (2001).

Naval History and Heritage Command The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard. ...

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 etired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Samuel J. Cox, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command" The film depicts the naval attack on the Marshall Islands (February 1, 1942) correctly.

References

External links

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