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arodrig6
Reviews
Midway (1976)
OK War Film, Great Documentary?
This film is not an action-packed war film filled with constant loud heroism and stirring speeches. It is, however, a film which gives a good overview of how the battle of 'Midway' unfolded. Fewer explosions, more dialog - almost like a documentary in its pacing and focus. It has a large cast, and thus cannot focus much on character development, instead looking to the events to power the story (again, like a non-biographical documentary).
Though the 'goofs' page is filled with anachronisms and inaccuracies (stock footage from the wrong era, using Essex-class ships for Japanese, etc...) the film does get the major 'plot' points down. i.e.: American signal intelligence intercepts revealing the Japanese plan, the sequence of carrier and land attacks, the critical decision(s) to arm and rearm the Japanese attack craft, etc...
Overall, this film seems to be one of a lost genre - big-budget semi-documentaries. Similar to 'Tora Tora Tora' or 'The Longest Day'. A large cast of big-name actors, focus on factual retelling of the events.
Victory at Sea (1954)
Not a Documentary
Its not a documentary, its a propaganda piece.
Victory at Sea presents little to no new information or insight into the War. While it does contain a large amount of footage, the footage is badly edited, without label, and without source.
If you want to watch many hours of things exploding, set to music and (somewhat pompous narration), this is a very very good series. If you are looking for information or insight into WWII naval battles, there are a number of more in depth documentaries, or semi- documentaries like 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' or 'Midway.'
Also, I have heard comments from several people on-line that the audio is poorly mixed in some versions, and that the Music drowns out the (already minimalist) narration. I didn't have a problem with this, but beware.