Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Midway 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 21, 2020

There's an old adage that states that if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. In 1976, Universal sought to capitalize on its latest marketing gimmick, Sensurround, one which had made Earthquake something of a sensation in 1974 courtesy of bombastic low frequency effects that literally shook the floorboards, by adding it to the sound design of Midway. Despite that “new, improved” aspect to the audio element, a lot of the rest of the 1976 version of Midway seemed positively old fashioned, including a rather odd preponderance of stock footage and even snippets from other war films (evidently utilized to help keep budgeting concerns at bay), as well as some patently wooden dialogue that hardly made it seem like the fate of the free world might be at stake. Despite being kind of dowdy and surprisingly unexciting quite a bit of the time, and due at least in part to both a pretty starry cast (albeit one that featured a number of stars who were probably more prominent in the 1950s and 1960s than the mid-seventies) and Sensurround, 1976’s Midway was a rather sizable hit. (Sensurround nonetheless went the way of another low frequency emitting giant, the dinosaur, pretty soon thereafter.) Over forty years later, the Battle of Midway was rejoined courtesy of what I like to call “gonzo epic auteur" Roland Emmerich, who had reportedly long fantasized about making a film version of what many historians consider to be a major turning point in the Allies’ fortunes during World War II. In fact, Emmerich himself states in one of the supplements adorning this release that he had pitched the idea of another Midway to Sony back when he was working with the studio on Godzilla, but that his (not to "WWII pun" too terribly) "overlords" in Japan didn't feel inclined to spend gazillions of dollars on a movie about a battle they had lost so disastrously.

Kind of hilariously, given my joke about Roland Emmerich being a “gonzo epic auteur”, his version of Midway actually spends a good deal of its first act aping another proponent of the same cinematic philosophy, a certain Michael Bay, by restaging the attack on Pearl Harbor. Adding into a no doubt unintentional “meta” irony, Midway kind of humorously also apes the approach of that “other” film about Pearl Harbor, Tora! Tora! Tora!, by offering ping ponging vignettes involving Americans and Japanese, with the Japanese segments featuring Japanese actors and playing out in Japanese with English subtitles. All of this said, it's notable, therefore, that Midway spends as much if not more time in documenting what led up to the ferocious battle in the Pacific, rather than the battle itself.

It’s also notable, and actually commendable, that Wes Tooke’s screenplay shies away from focusing on fictional (or fictionalized) characters, as the 1976 Midway did (marquee star Charlton Heston played a fictional captain named Garth in that version, to cite just one example). That gives this film the perceived imprimatur of authenticity, but it actually takes until the closing credits, when “what happened to” various characters text cards are presented, with pictures of the actual men involved, that the full emotional impact of this decision may be felt by some viewers. The first of these real life characters is Lt. Commander Edwin T. Layton (Patrick Wilson), who is first shown in Japan in the mid to late thirties before hostilities had broken out, but who is later stationed in Pearl Harbor when that attack takes place. The film also relatively quickly introduces hotshot Lt. Dick Best (Ed Skrein), a guy who decades later would have given Tom Cruise a run (flight?) for his money in Top Gun. One of the more surprising casting decisions (to me, anyway) was the choice of Woody Harrelson, here featured with silver hair, as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who assumes command of what is initially seen as a very probably insurmountable lead in naval power Japan has assumed after wiping out much of the Pacific Fleet.

If the emotional element here is arguably as hokey at times as it is in the 1976 film, the fact that some of these stories are ostensibly true ones does give this version a probably more visceral subtext. That’s probably truest in the story of Dick Best, not so coincidentally because it includes at least some scenes with his family. Either by design or perhaps unintentionally, there’s actually very little emotional connection with the Japanese characters, who are on hand mostly to spout strategies. That said, while there’s an obvious attempt to get at some real feeling human emotion, albeit intermittently and to variant effect, there’s also no denying that Emmerich doesn’t shy away from offering depictions in the battle scenes especially that are visually hyperbolic and generate almost instinctive adrenaline rushes, but which may not ultimately come off as “realistic”.

My colleague Martin Liebman gave the 1976 Midway an overall score of 3.5 in his Midway Blu-ray review. I frankly would have been considerably less charitable, as I personally found it to be a pretty ham handed affair and just one example of the kind of shocking falloff in quality in a mere six years from the decade's first notable World War II film other than Tora! Tora! Tora!, Patton. With that in mind, there's no question that this Midway is a considerably more satisfying film at least purely from a technical standpoint, but I'd also say from a general writing perspective as well, though the film doesn't manage to shy away from any number of war film clichés. The spectacle almost always works throughout this film, but the Japanese often come off as types rather than humans, and some of the American stories tend to wallow in a kind of sentimentality that admittedly delivers some emotion, but which can seem manipulative and overwrought.

Midway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.

Midway is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. As I mentioned in the video section of our Midway Blu-ray review, more than one camera may have been utilized, but the IMDb reports a 2K DI. As I also mentioned in the 1080p review, I was actually kind of curious, and daresay maybe a little trepidatious, about how this would look in 4K, but cutting to the chase, I have to say I was generally very favorably impressed with this presentation. The first thing I noticed right off the bat was an increase in highlights courtesy of Dolby Vision, something that's evident almost literally from the get go with regard to the sepia toned and distressed looking mastheads for Lionsgate and several other production entities. But all through this film the palette really pops spectacularly, offering both robust primaries and some beautifully modulated interstitial tones. I was especially struck by an increase in teal tones when some of the characters arrive at a post-attack Pearl Harbor at dusk at around the 20 minute mark, and much later in the film some of the reds in the submarine sequences were incredibly vivid (the red dress of the nightclub singer was also beautifully saturated). Fine detail enjoys noticeable upticks throughout this presentation, and I was actually kind of surprised to see nicer delineation in at least some of the CGI. There's still an unmistakable green screen look to some of the backgrounds, but on the whole, I felt even this element was improved in the 4K presentation. There are still some passing issues with crush in some of the darkest scenes (the early scene with Layton at a dinner party in Japan is one example). With regard to the digital grain, I was once again generally kind of surprised to see how relatively organic it looked in this version. While there are still a few passing scenes where things look slightly "dirty", notably some of the aerial material and at around the one hour mark a sequence with "Bull" Halsey aboard a carrier, on the whole I felt there was even improvement in this aspect. The mottling of the grain can give a somewhat impressionistic look to some of the imagery, as in the reeds underlying the opening credits sequence or even with regard to some of the more heavily laden CGI material.

Note: I've seen some of the posts in our Forum that some members have experienced playback issues with certain selected players. I encountered no issues with my older Oppo.

Midway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This has been an awesome last few weeks for those of us with Dolby Atmos setups in our home theaters, and that's once again the case with the release of Midway. Much as with the recently reviewed Ford v Ferrari 4K, Midway offered this particular audiophile a virtually nonstop listening extravaganza that regularly exploits overhead effects courtesy of the many sequences involving flying, machine gun bursts into the open air, and, of course, bombs dropping precipitously toward their target. Kind of ironically given the less than laudatory reviews the 1976 Midway's Blu-ray release received by some who actually remembered the original Sensurround experience, this Midway absolutely glories in LFE, with huge, rumbling effects emanating from the subwoofer that actually did rattle my floorboards on more than one occasion. The film also benefits from a really expressive, elegiac score by Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser which sounds fantastic as well. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly, prioritization is smart even in the very noisy battle scenes, and dynamic range is incredibly wide.

Midway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lionsgate has commendably included the same package of supplements on both the 1080p and 2160p discs:

• Audio Commentary by Roland Emmerich


• Getting it Right: The Making of Midway (1080p; 14:16) is an okay EPK which speaks to the filmmakers' attempts to keep things factual.


• The Men of Midway (1080p; 12:24) focuses on some of the real life characters in the film.


• Roland Emmerich: Man on a Mission (1080p; 4:57) is an interesting EPK which gets into Emmerich's long interest in the subject.


• Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway (1080p; 15:00) gives some historical analysis of what the Battle of Midway meant.


• Joe Rochefort: Breaking the Japanese Code (1080p; 6:14) is another more historically themed bonus feature which gets into the "Japanese" version of Enigma.


• We Met at Midway: Two Survivors Remember (1080p; 9:29) is an incredibly moving piece with two veterans.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:33)

Midway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I don't know, maybe people should just stop trying to make movies about the Battle of Midway. As the son of one of the "greatest generation" (albeit an Army guy), I've always had a fondness for World War II movies, though I frankly never warmed much to the 1976 Midway. In that regard, while this version wasn't a complete home run for me, there's absolutely no question in my mind that this version manages to stick to mostly real life characters and deliver its story in a relatively concise, understandable way, pausing every once in a while for a requisite explosive action sequence. Emmerich obviously knows how to stage the big set pieces, and there are several breathtaking shots in Midway. Some of the writing comes off as nearly as wooden as the 1976 offering, but that said, this film arguably delivers more on the emotional front than the 1976 version did. It strikes me as interesting and perhaps meaningful that I received not one word of press coverage from Lionsgate's usual PR firms with regard to this release, suggesting maybe Lionsgate itself doesn't have much interest in it. Technical merits are solid, and this enjoys clear upticks in detail and palette highlights in this version, while preserving the same outstanding audio as the 1080p version. With caveats noted, Midway comes Recommended.