Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2019 war film called,
Midway. Spoiler’s ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The movie starts in the year 1937 of Tokyo, Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton attends a
state function dinner along with the British and the Japanese empires,
after dinner, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto meets with Lieutenant Commander Layton to express
the eagerness of Japan to become a world power but with 80% of Japan’s oil supply coming from
America. Yamamoto warns Layton that they will take drastic measures if the oil supply is compromised.
Four years later, the world is now at war where Japan and Hitler dominates the political arena
impacting the global scene whereas the United States of America remains neutral.
As the USS Enterprise conducts a scouting mission miles away of Pearl Harbor, pilot Dick Best,
with his radio man, James Murray, pull a stunt during a routine exercise by landing their plane
without the flaps and the engine switched off which causes the plane to land unsteady on deck.
Dickinson, a friend of Best, tells Best that their superior officer, Wade McClusky, is unhappy with
the stunt, Dickinson also introduces Miller and tells Best to go easy on him as it is Miller’s
last sea duty and the only radioman in his class who hasn’t crashed. Meanwhile at USS
Arizona stationed at Pearl Harbor, Lieutenant Roy Pearce with the crewmen prep for church service on
board when all of a sudden, a surprise attack from the Japanese fleet bombs the ships docked at that
time. A call alerts Layton of the attack, amidst the ambush, Dickinson with his radio man Miller
are on a scouting mission near the station of Pearl Harbor when they too are attacked
by the Japanese planes killing Miller causing Dickinson to bail out as their plane crashes.
Back at USS Arizona, Pearce saves a young rookie to a safer boat staying back to shoot the Japanese
fleets but eventually dies from the explosion of Arizona. The news of the attack soon reaches
the USS Enterprise, Admiral William Halsey with his crew try to navigate the location
of the Japanese carrier to launch a counter attack but failed by mistaking the location
of the Japanese at the South when they are in north. After the attack, the USS Enterprise
arrives at Pearl Harbor witnessing the horror of the immense damage done by the Japanese,
Best hopes to find his friend, Pearce, alive but instead discovers his scorched body
and retrieves Pearce’s class ring and watch for his wife. With the infamy of Pearl Harbor,
the United States of America officially declares war against Japan entering World War II.
In Japan, Yamamoto meets with Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi and receives the news that
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo did not follow the advice of commanding the destruction of the oil
tanks of American aircraft carriers which would have caused detrimental loss for America, with
this overlooked mistake they proceed to propose the plan to target the aircraft carriers next.
Back in America, Admiral Chester Nimitz arrives in Washington to receive the order from the
president as the newly assigned commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and to oversee the war.
Meanwhile, in a bar, Best with his fellow soldiers’ toast to Pearce’s memory while drunk.
Best and Dickinson leave the bar and see the admiral car of Nimitz passing by
then Best shouts at Nimitz wanting revenge against the Japanese.
Upon Nimitz’s arrival at his office Layton greets him and requests to be reassigned to
a destroyer but Nimitz recognizes his talent as an intelligence officer despite the failure
of Pearl Harbor, Nimitz assigns Layton to predict Yamamoto’s next move as he plans to
send Halsey to attack Marshall Islands but needs the assurance that it’s not a trap.
On February 1st of 1942, Halsey and McClusky execute the command to raid the Marshall Islands
of the Japanese, attacking both the aircraft and ships of the enemy. The battle intensifies as both
sides land heavy strikes, the Japanese artillery capably advances through the attacks whereas a
torpedo from the Americans poorly hits a Japanese ship. Best sees a runway full of bombers thus
engaging a skillful attack bombing the airfield and successfully escaping the enemies chasing him.
After the raid, the soldiers return to the USS Enterprise but are surprised when the
Japanese planes retaliate almost destroying their ship fortunately,
Bruno Gaido, an aviation machinist, manages to shoot down an aircraft deliberately crashing
itself to their ship but fails and crashes to the ocean instead. The bravery of Bruno earns
him the respect of Halsey and promotes him to aviation machinist, first class.
After the encounter with the Japanese, Best with his wife, Ann, attends an Officer’s Club party
in Hawaii, Ann meets Dickinson and McClusky and confronts McClusky while Best goes to get them
some drinks. Ann asks McClusky why Best is not in command of any squadron to which McClusky replies
that he is not the one who makes those decisions and that the reckless attitude of Best does not
fit the position to lead. Meanwhile, Layton meets Best at the bar, Best commends Layton as the fleet
intelligence and expresses the need for someone as smart as him after the incident at Pearl Harbor.
Best returns to the table and invites Ann to dance before calling it a night.
On April 18th of 1982 at the East of Japan, a month after raiding the Marshall Islands,
Best is interrupted by Dickinson while in the middle of briefing new pilot recruits
in the USS Enterprise, they see a group of army bombers aboard a carrier near them.
Upon receiving the order to launch a bomb attack to Tokyo, the city of Japan,
with the plan to land on free China, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle,
the commander of the army bombers, and his crew head out to air raid the city.
After successfully bombing Tokyo, Doolittle and his crew run out of oil thus bailing
out of their plane. Doolittle lands in a Japanese occupied territory in China
but is surrounded by armed civilians suspecting his foreign arrival,
luckily a Chinese school teacher comes to the scene to help translate for Doolittle hence
proving himself an alley for bombing Tokyo and they escort him to Qhuzou. On their way to Qhuzou,
Japanese fighter planes suddenly attack the village where Doolittle is, deliberately killing
civilians revealing the tragic situation of China under the hands of the Japanese.
At Hiroshima Bay, Yamamoto is disheartened by the news of the attack penetrating Tokyo
and putting the life of the Emperor of Japan at risk, but he is instantly spirited by the
acknowledgment of his superiors to finally proceed with his plan to take Midway after finishing the
initial operation at Coral Sea. Back at Pearl Harbor, Layton tells Nimitz that the Japanese
are sending their carriers to Coral Sea breaking their lifeline with Australia,
Nimitz immediately sends a secure message to Halsey ordering them to join Yorktown and
Lexington at Coral Sea as soon as possible. Layton then tells a theory about Japan preparing for a
major target to an unknown area but Nimitz insists that Layton finds out the exact target first.
The USS Enterprise under the command of Halsey arrives at Coral Sea 24 hours late leaving them
and the Hornet as the only carriers in the Pacific. Halsey meets with McClusky and Best
to reassign them to different positions, McClusky is now tasked to take charge of the air group
and is also a dive bomber while Best is assigned as a leader of a bombing squadron.
Yamamoto enters a war room where Nagumo and the other Japanese officers are having a dispute on
two different scenarios of their attack at Midway. One scenario suggests the possibility of Americans
already anticipating their attack thus taking the American carriers down to their advantage,
on the contrary, the other scenario presents that the Americans are unaware of their attack
hence giving them time to retreat since the enemy will be coming from Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto then
advices them to reset the simulation suggesting that the American carriers must come from Pearl.
Back at Pearl Harbor, Nimitz receives a phone call informing Layton that the Washington intelligence
thinks that Layton is wrong about his theory and that the USS Enterprise should remain at
Coral Sea but Layton argues that the next target will be their base in Midway, for the reason that
this will lead the Japanese closer into invading Hawaii and the West Coast. After the reasonable
dispute of Layton, Nimitz decides to visit the station of the naval intelligence where he meets
the crypt-analyst, Joseph Rochefort, who Layton describes to be very particular in doing his job.
Rochefort explains that they believe the codename AF, which is referred to as a major target of
Japan, will be happening at Midway whereas the Washington intelligence asserts it to be at
the South Pacific and eventually by Layton and Rochefort’s persistence Nimitz believes them.
Later that day, Nimitz receives information from
Washington intelligence that the intercepted message from Japan claims that their major
target is having water problems thus confirming that Midway is indeed AF.
Best, now a leader of a bombing squadron, briefs his team for training after dismissing them,
a rookie approaches Best telling him he lost his confidence to fly but Best motivates him
and assigns him as his wingman. As Best leads the rookies on deck, his plane encounters a
problem as it takes off thus signaling a message to abort the others from flying after him but due
to miscommunication his wingman falls to the sea and gets hit by the ship immediately killing him.
On the following day, Nimitz visits Halsey and sees his terrible rash condition and orders Halsey
to return to Pearl to get treated, he is later replaced by Admiral Spruance. That night Best
opens to his wife that he feels guilty for the death of his wingman and feels like he doesn’t
know how to lead his men but Ann encourages him which helped him gain his confidence.
As the impending war draws near, Nimitz orders USS Yorktown to be fixed within 72 hours to be used
for battle, he then meets with the high-ranking officials alongside Layton to plan a trap at the
northeast of Midway although the officials are hesitant with the estimation of the position of
the Japanese, Layton reassures them of the exact time and place they are expecting the attack.
McClusky with Best and a few other officers brief about the upcoming battle, afterwards,
Best approaches McClusky asking for advice on how to lead his men and McClusky tells him to
make sure that his men are ready for tomorrow’s battle and bring as many of them back alive,
they are then interrupted by Dickinson informing them of a ship sighting which turns out to be
USS Yorktown thus effectively boosting their confidence for the big battle the next day.
On June 4th of 1942, the day of the battle has come, best motivates his men to prepare them for
battle. At 6:40AM the Japanese Air group attacks the base of Midway and at 7:40AM the American
Air group from Midway retaliates successfully spotting the exact location of Japanese carriers.
Although the men of Midway came prepared it still wasn’t enough to destroy the Japanese ships.
As the planes of USS Enterprise prepare for takeoff a Japanese scouting plane spots them
revealing their location to the commander of the Japanese fleet, which forces them to change their
plan and to attack the American fleet instead effectively falling to the trap devised by Nimitz.
At 7:45AM a USS Nautilus submarine spots a Japanese carrier but their torpedo
misses to hit the target. Meanwhile, the USS Enterprise squadrons finally launch to take off,
as the planes fly higher, Best notices a problem with his oxygen
causing him to cough badly but still continues to fly with his squadron.
While on, air McClusky and his team had a hard time spotting any Japanese carriers
thus thinking that they probably changed course and at 9:38AM Lindsey’s Torpedo Squadron spots
their target and launches an attack with their torpedoes, after Lindsey releases his torpedo,
which misses the target, his plane crashes and he willfully accepts his fate.
After some time, McClusky notices a Japanese ship trailing alone,
McClusky decides to lead his squadron to the direction of the ship,
despite the possibility of running out of fuel. Best follows McClusky.
At 9:55AM, the Japanese commander notices that the Hornet Torpedo Squadron are flying too low,
implying that they are coming from a carrier, thus, preparing to launch an attack against
the American task force. Meanwhile McClusky and Best, finally locate the Japanese Carriers, and
they take charge against the ships. McClusky dive bombs a carrier, but misses it. On the other hand,
Dickinson and Best successfully hit three carriers out of four, and luckily escape the scene.
After the incident, Yamamoto is informed about the three carriers that the American planes destroyed,
Yamamoto figures that the Americans are aware of their attack to Midway.
After the encounter with the Japanese fleet, the USS Enterprise squadrons return to their ship,
leaving an injured McClusky behind. By 4:56PM, Best along with his men, return to attack again.
This time, Best victoriously bombs the remaining carriers exacting his revenge for Pearl Harbor.
Later that day, the Americans conclude the battle, and decide to finally retreat, but Best and Murray
have not yet returned. After a few hours, like a miracle, Best returns just in time before his
plane retires. When the night came, the Japanese commanders have decided to take down the carriers
with them, and Yamamoto orders to officially retreat accepting the ill fate of their lost,
signaling the victory of the Americans in their epic battle against the Japanese.
The movie ends by showing the real life characters portrayed in the movie,
and the accomplishments they earned during and after the war.
Nimitz remains as the commander of the Pacific Fleet until the surrender of the Japanese at Tokyo
Bay within the year of 1945, as for Halsey, he returns to duty after the epic battle at Midway,
and becomes one of the greatest Fleet Admiral of the U.S. Navy. Yamamoto is killed in an encounter
at the Solomon Islands, when the American code breakers intercepted his travel itinerary.
Doolittle receives a Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt upon his return to America.
And Dickinson becomes the first pilot in history to receive three Naval Crosses.
McClusky eventually commanded his own aircraft carrier with his name recognized as an award.
Layton stayed with Nimitz until the end of the war, and even published a book,
explaining the vital role of Rochefort and his code breakers, in winning the Battle of Midway.
And as for Best, he won a Navy Cross for being one of only two pilots,
to hit multiple enemy carriers in one day. He also stepped down from his duty and never flew again.