Richard Herbst

Midway (1976) accidentally turned out to be a good movie. Some of the cast actually contributed to it despite a somewhat stumbling script. Several follow-up movies were ignored or abandoned such as the treatment of Japanese-Americans and the tragic character Yamamoto who fought Tojo and the Japanese wartime government and lost, to Japan's defeat.

Pearl Harbor is a talented mix of history, human struggles, the eternities of love and war. And it was crafted by someone who knows how to handle the cinema paintbox. Pearl Harbor historically was the backdrop, not the theme, unlike the worst war movie ever made, The Longest Day. Michael Bay does a magnificent job producing and directing this epic without selling to the cheap seats. You don’t watch this movie for a history lesson, you get a taste of that anyway. What you get is an inside view of people just like you in period costumes with the same dreams, fears and loves, a story told masterfully.

I had high expectations but got instead weak adaptation of Sam Mendes' family stories. The movie misses every opportunity to put a human face on Europe's destruction of a generation of young men. Instead it slops production cash on a weak melodrama that stops short every time it can say something. Mendes had no business producing the script. He even blamed his grandfather. The 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front deserves being called a classic. 1917 misses every boat.

Midway (the movie) is a well-executed history lesson with a weak script and some gaps in direction. Historically it's enlightening, somewhat. The cinematography and production are masterful but it is an elegantly produced war movie first and human character tragedy second. The Japanese characters are poorly presented especially compared with Tora Tora Tora although both movies tell a different story than what you'd expect from the studio machine.

The Longest Day is one of the worst movies ever made. The background of D-Day doesn't save it. The studio-formula cast is further handicapped by a pathetic script that can't decide whether it wants to be a novel, a documentary or a PR exercise for fading actors. It fails on all counts. There are no redeeming performances, some like John Wayne are ridiculous. As to historical accuracy all you can say is yes, there was a World War Two and yes, there was a D-Day invasion.

The powerful script, masterful production and direction, and cinematography make this one of, if not the best war movie every made. It never tries to be a documentary or a history lesson, it is a human tragedy sprinkled with redemption but not overcome with moralizing. I can't think of any actors who delivered less than outstanding performances thanks to their talent, Spielberg's direction and script. Historical precision was never a requirement, that wasn't the storyline. But it wasn't a Hollywood pump job either.

Weak script, poor directing, worn out plot; waste of Tom Hanks acting.