The Midway Atoll is just a speck of land in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and the mainland United States. Its 2.4 square miles of flat land is barely enough to support an airplane runway. Freshwater supply is minuscule. But Midway becomes of strategic importance in the struggle between Japan and the United Sates during World War II.
The Japanese invasion flotilla makes its way in a northerly arc to take the island. The U.S. has cracked the Japanese code so the U.S. naval forces steam north to confront them in a battle where the main forces never see each other. Aircraft from carriers on both sides meet to battle it out. The Japanese are repulsed and return to their homeland.
The film starts with back-flashes to the attack on Pearl Harbor as we follow a Navy pilot and his wife as their lives are forever changed by the war. All of the combat scenes are believable.
“Midway” should be required viewing by the younger generation as a tribute to all World War II veterans. It gets an A rating and is now showing at the Old Mill Playhouse in The Villages. Don’t miss this one.
Villager Jack Petro reviews movies for Villages-News.com.
