Midway ( the movie )

[hittman]

Not political please.
Just popped up in my feeds. One thing that struck me is look at the names of stars, co-stars and other actors many of us will recognize.




Charlton Heston
Henry Fonda
James Coburn
Glenn Ford
Robert Mitchum
Robert Wagner
Tom Selleck
Pat Morita
…. And on and on ….

 

[contender]

Yep,, a good movie & a ton of talent in it!

 

[WAYNO]

I watch the original movie often. I always enjoy it.





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[Jim Walsh]

I’ve watched it several times. It’s an epic movie which would never be made in this era.

 

[GunnyGene]

My father was crew on CA-34 (USS Astoria) at the battle of Midway and other actions, right up until she got sunk by the Japanese at the battle of Savo Island, and now rests at the bottom of Iron Bottom Sound. Dad survived all that and lived to a ripe old age of 85. Here's some history of the Nasty Asty.
Scroll down about half way for the Midway action:
https://ussastoria.org/Lines_of_Advance.htmlExcerpt:

Battle of Midway
The heavy cruiser remained in Pearl Harbor only until 30 May. On that day, she returned to sea with the hastily repaired YORKTOWN to prepare to meet yet another major thrust by the Japanese fleet — this one aimed at Midway. Air searches from that island spotted the enemy's Midway Occupation Force — made up of transports, minesweepers, and two seaplane carriers — early on 3 June, but the enemy carrier force eluded detection until early in the morning of the 4th.

ASTORIA screened YORKTOWN as the carrier began launching strike aircraft at about 0840. While the planes droned off to make their contribution to the destruction of the Japanese carrier force, ASTORIA and her colleagues prepared for the inevitable Japanese reply.

The counterstroke, however, did not come until a few minutes before noon as YORKTOWN's victorious aviators began to return to their ship. 18 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers came in to attack the carrier. F4F-4 Wildcat fighters from Fighting Squadron 3 (VF-3) accounted for 10 of the intruders, but the remaining eight managed to penetrate the combat air patrol (CAP). ASTORIA teamed up with PORTLAND CA-33 and the screening destroyers to splash another two of the attackers. The remaining six, however, succeeded in attacking YORKTOWN, and three of those scored hits. One of the three hit the carrier's stack, causing fires in her uptakes that literally smoked RADM Fletcher and his staff out of flag plot. At about 1310, he shifted his flag to Astoria.

 

[RC44Mag]

One of my favorites and one of the things that led me to the fleet. Haven’t seen it in some years and I’ll add it to the watch soon list.

 

[Dan in MI]

I like the old one and the newer release (old one best) I have become one of those old men that likes watching war history. I have little desire to study the war in Europe, but anything with the Pacific gets my attention.

 

[WAYNO]

My father was crew on CA-34 (USS Astoria) at the battle of Midway and other actions, right up until she got sunk by the Japanese at the battle of Savo Island, and now rests at the bottom of Iron Bottom Sound. Dad survived all that and lived to a ripe old age of 85. Here's some history of the Nasty Asty.

.

 

[GunnyGene]

Thanks. Asty was a fighter.

A view from the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Luzon, Philippine Islands. The names of the men lost at Savo Island are recorded on these tablets.
-American Battle Monuments Commission photograph

The official casualty data for USS ASTORIA CA-34 at Savo Island reflects 216 killed, 186 wounded. Accurately listing these losses is another matter altogether.

Documentation from the immediate aftermath of the Savo tragedy reflected the names of 247 men killed or missing. These names were compiled under the worst possible circumstances--aboard multiple ships from the memory of survivors while steaming away from the Guadalcanal area. The resulting list was later compared to the June 1942 ASTORIA Muster Roll resulting in multiple corrections. It was September before the families of the fallen began to be notified.

While the number of killed and missing continues to be propagated as 216 officers and men, this number is not accurate. Even the final list circulated among shipmates in later years was incomplete.

In creating the USS ASTORIA website, I have meticulously compared the original 1942 documentation to the names and data recorded by the American Battle Monuments Commission. With a level of accuracy previously unavailable, listed below are the names of 234 shipmates killed, missing and declared dead.

These 234 men came from states across the Union and American territories. Their backgrounds were diverse, as were their motivations for joining the United States Navy and Marine Corps. They spoke with regional accents, differed in the color of their skin, and expressed their religious beliefs in different ways.

In spite of their diversity, they all had one thing in common:

These 234 men gave their lives in service of their country at Savo Island, 9 August 1942.

The list:

https://ussastoria.org/In_Memoriam.html

 

[XUSNORDIE]

GREAT movie! I remember when it came out (summer of '76?) my friends and I couldn't wait to see it. We had a couple of our Mothers drop us off at Church Lane Cinema in Cockeysville Maryland. We were in the 6th grade. No worries back then dropping off a couple car loads of young kids at the movies and picking up later. No, we didn't destroy the theater either like kids seem to like doing today.

Anyway, the "new" sound system that was also in the seats somehow (rumble vision?) was incredible. The lights went dark, the theater got quiet, the opening scene as you recall was flight ops....and it was deafening! The seats were rumbling as if we were on the flight deck! It's one of my greatest movie memories as a kid. I still watch it, and turn my sound system up with a ton of base.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

I also saw it when it first came out, along with Son, in a theater with a great sound system.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Not political please.
Just popped up in my feeds. One thing that struck me is look at the names of stars, co-stars and other actors many of us will recognize.

"This video is private." ????

 

[RonEgg]

I was in flight school when they were filming in Pensacola. They had two Wildcats flying around and they were asking for people to come out to the docked Lexington to be the crowd for the final scene. I think I went to the beach that day and I didn’t recognize anyone in the “crowd.”

 

[Chief]

Midway is one of my favorite movies. It also proved to be the last movie that I would see as a single man. Like the critics of the day, I was not enamored of the fictional love love story. The use of real aircraft and vintage equipment was a plus for me. I loved it! There was a 45 minute longer TV version that is worth the watch if you can find it.

 

[sceva]

They bill Tom Selleck now but it was a bit part ( an officers aide ) , I watched for him last time I watched it and didn't see him.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

They bill Tom Selleck now but it was a bit part ( an officers aide ) , I watched for him last time I watched it and didn't see him.

Because he traded in his mustache everyone associates him with for a Tommy gun...I remember it

 

[Huntfish918]

GREAT movie! I remember when it came out (summer of '76?) my friends and I couldn't wait to see it. We had a couple of our Mothers drop us off at Church Lane Cinema in Cockeysville Maryland. We were in the 6th grade. No worries back then dropping off a couple car loads of young kids at the movies and picking up later. No, we didn't destroy the theater either like kids seem to like doing today.

Anyway, the "new" sound system that was also in the seats somehow (rumble vision?) was incredible. The lights went dark, the theater got quiet, the opening scene as you recall was flight ops....and it was deafening! The seats were rumbling as if we were on the flight deck! It's one of my greatest movie memories as a kid. I still watch it, and turn my sound system up with a ton of base.

Actually one of the first movies with "Surround Sound" and The Who put out Quadrophenia that year also.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Actually one of the first movies with "Surround Sound"

It was something different, that was in the seats that made them vibrate/shake. Not all seats just a section. There was a name for it I can't recall or find.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Because he traded in his mustache everyone associates him with for a Tommy gun...I remember it

View attachment 72435

The earliest movie I remember seeing with Selleck in it is The Seven Minutes, one of Russ Meyer's movies. Russ Meyer did make some interesting movies. If I am remembering right the guy on the right in the picture is Larry Pennell, Dash Riprock from The Beverly Hillbillies.

 

[ProfessorWes]

Let's not forget the late, great Toshiro Mifune in that list of awesomeness. With Henry Fonda, on set. (Getty Images.)

 

[Randyzzz]

I remember seeing Midway and the sound setup was particularly impressive. The theater I went to had removed the last 3 rows of seats and replaced them with huge subwoofer speaker arrays. That movie started my interest in sound systems and surround sound. Drove my wife nuts.

We had one home in UT where there was a stand up crawl space. I built 12” subwoofer boxes and mounted 6 of them in strategic places under the TV room floor. I had to use felt to insulate the lampshades because the subs would rattle everything.

Then I found Pioneer made bass transducers that bolted to your seat. No sound just vibration. Those were pretty cool but I missed the volume.

I ended up with some high end Infinity studio monitors, B&W sub, and a discrete 7 channel Sony ES receiver. It was even better than the prior Marantz. I could watch the lobby scene in the Matrix and it sounded like real gunshots.

My wife always hated the huge speakers and “noise” as she called it. So I’ve been neutered and now have a sound bar, tiny rear speakers, and a mini sub.

 

[JohnL]

Well done. Great piece of history.

 

[Jeepnik]

My uncle Ray didn't think much of the movie. Too clean. Then again he lived it.

 

[steveodtw]

The Gallant Hours is another great retelling of Midway. Told around the personalities and strategies of Admiral Bull Halsey and Admiral Yamamoto.
James Cagney plays a great mature Halsey. More strategy than war footage.

 

[WendyZXZ]

The Gallant Hours is another great retelling of Midway. Told around the personalities and strategies of Admiral Bull Halsey and Admiral Yamamoto.
James Cagney plays a great mature Halsey. More strategy than war footage.

That is a fine one. I liked the staff trying to get the admiral to take his shots, they did finally get it done.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Let's not forget the late, great Toshiro Mifune in that list of awesomeness. With Henry Fonda, on set. (Getty Images.)


View attachment 72549

Mifune was also good in the Japanese movie Storm Over The Pacific where a good amount of film was also spliced into the movie Midway. In Storm Over The Pacific he played Yamaguchi, captain of the Hiryu.

 

[JohnL]

My uncle Ray didn't think much of the movie. Too clean. Then again he lived it.

So did my mother's first husband. Pilot in Bombing One. He did not come home. Lt JG Woody Truax, RIP.

 

[RC44Mag]

Storm over Pacific and Galant Hours added to my must sees. Haven’t even heard of them. Thanks