I know a lot of younger folks will disagree, but as a guy who, as a child, grew up watching Godzilla and Mothra movies back in the sixties, I prefer watching the Toho studio's models and special effects much more than the overused CGI of today's films. This was a real art form. Not to mention, it's great to see all the Toho greats like Mifune playing the IJN.
I saw these films as a kid and did not remember the fact that the use of models looked so obvious. Daughters aren't particularly fond of war movies but if I tried to show them this film I am pretty sure it would be summarized as very old / laughingly ill-made. That's when you find out you are old.
I totally agree with you. When I was a Japanese primary school pupil, I used to enjoy Godzilla and other Kaiju movies in 1960`s. Unfortunately, motion pictures today depend upon CGI too much. Ironically, overuse of CGI makes today`s movies cheesy.
If you watch those old b&w samurai movies, you would see that the same actors from Toho also appeared in the 1976 Midway movie.(The actor playing Admiral Nagumo was in the movie Samurai Assassin):)
Looked up the movie. Released in 1960. The special effects are on-par with other films of that era. That said, was waiting for Godzilla to pop-up at any time.
LOL. It was released in 1960 and filmed in 1959. Those cheesy effects were on par with the movies of that time period, INCLUDING many lower budget AMERICAN movies hahahhahaha. Yeah, it's silly to us now. We're spoiled because of epic CGI effects.
For the younger crowd who don't understand why all of the changing of bombs to torpedoes and back again was a big deal: because circumstances forced the changings, the US Navy bombers, both dive and torpedo, were allowed to continuously attack the IJN fleet, which also disallowed the launching of another wave of planes. That's why it took relatively few bombs to sink the four Japanese carriers...with their decks littered with bombs and torpedoes, one or two well-placed bombs took out a carrier.
True but japanese deck were not littered with bombs and torpedoes, in fact those decks were empty in order to let the carriers send and retrieve numerous cap patrols that day. It is the hangars which were packed with fueled and armed aircrafts waiting to be launched while the torpedo bombers loadouts were being changed. This is far worse as the japanese had no way to fight the fires caused by the explosions in those cramped space or even get rid of the bombs and burning planes. Hundreds of proficient mechanics died in the flames without any chance to escape that day.
You almost got it totally right. You can read John parshal "shattered sword" and fund out it was the decks full of planes. They were still all in the hangers. The Japanese admiral lied in his book not long after the war and everyone ran with it because it adds to the drama. Half, the ones that didn't fly earlier, would have needed at least 20 minutes to warm up the engines on the flight deck because they couldn't do it in there hangers line American carriers.
@@danielrodriguezpena1585 Japanese aviation fuel tanks were built into the hull of its carriers. This means any hit to the hull, even far away from the tank, often caused leaks from the hull flexing from the hit. This is what happen to the Japanese carrier that sunk on the way to the battle of the Philippines sea by a topedo from a sub, and, I do believe the American carrier Lexington. The Japanese ships also couldn't vent the fumes with closes hanger decks. Japanese also couldn't warm up planes in there hangers. This is a problem 2 fold. They didn't have or had bad, radar. The American carriers knew attacks were coming and could warm up and launch every plane on the ship and did. The Japanese couldn't do that. That is why we see Japanese carriers often destroyed by a couple of bombs. It is the secondary explosions from armed planes and or the fire from exploding fuel tanks on the planes. We have cases on both sides of very good damage control and very bad damage control. Remember both sides have many crews with little experience that were fast tracked to fill needed position that prewar they could have never made the cut. It's why hit ratios from carrier bombing aircraft are better in 1942 and early 43 vs to the battle of the Philippine sea and something like 11 fleet careers alone showing up. They went from the guys that had been around for years and were well trained to putting pilots with minimal experience into to seat because they needed so many pilots. If you look at the big E, a Yorktown class, which by 1943 had been replaced by the Essex class, had kept some of the older pilots and was probably the most effective carrier even late war. I think with many of the sinkings of Japanese ships having to do with major structural shortcomings of the design of there ships, with as many times, like the 2 super battleships, that they preformed very well, with the knowledge that by late mid war both sides had some poor crews that had ships sink that shouldn't have, and by late war, most of the IJN was pretty raw sailors, I don't think the gap is as large promoted. I think this is more a case of American propaganda that has some bases but is overblown.
@@theodoresmith5272 It's an interesting cultural contrast that both American and Japanese culture wanted to believe Fuchida's lie about the dramatic '5 minutes from victory'--that but for a few strokes of luck, the result would have been entirely different--for the same but opposite reasons. For American culture, it reinforced the idea of the underdog pulling the win out with a little luck, and for Japanese culture, it partly absolved them of the shame of loss since they tried their hardest and were that close to winning but for luck. For that, we lost a lot of honest history about what the USN did right and how complacent the IJN was
Japanese movies are amazing! The creative energy shines through, no matter what decade the film originates from. Japanese are such brilliant visual artists, from their food presentation to architecture to theater.
I saw a photo from Toho Studios that showed a small warehouse full of the model airplanes used. It was like a candy store. Zeros, Kates, and Vals oh my!
I walked the streets at night in downtown Tokyo as an 8 yr old with my family . in 1962 January .it was like being in a giant toystore and Disneyland at once .
If they were to remaster this film, and slow the speed of the scenes you're referring to, the water, smoke, and fire would move slower and look much more real. I like the models, but, as you said, they're really obvious.
I am surprised the Japanese made such a movie, especially in 1960. It looks very good. Indeed, it is so good that the 1976 version of Midway copied some of this photography exactly. Indeed, I could almost believe they edited the actual film from this movie into their own.
Yes, the scene were all the pilots on the Hiryu are running and observe the flaming hulks of their sister ships was spliced in with one of the major Japanese characters on Midway.
I think this was pretty well done for the time period. They make the same mistake in displaying airplanes on deck ready to depart when in actuality they were still launching and recovering the CAP on all carriers.
At the time, the main narrative based on Captain Fuchida's "Midway: the battle that doomed japan" was of decks loaded with planes. The title is even from the chapter of that book covering the ambush on the Kido Butai.
@@thenumbah1birdman It’s amazing to me that both from the Germans and the Japanese after WW2 we took a lot of what they said at face value. We are just now learning that a decent amount of what the German Generals told us about their side of the war was “inaccurate.” Glantz has done some incredible work.
@@Whitpusmc Only a few years after this, in Japan, Fuchida's account was discredited as being wishful thinking based on surviving records. It took 40+ years for US Historians to catch up for some reason.
@@thenumbah1birdman I’m assuming it was cultural and language differences plus frankly some laziness combined with cultural snobbery. “They lost why should we care what they say and besides we have real German Generals and real American Generals and Admirals to listen to! “ But a real blunder. Shows how powerful being “first” is.
It is often pointed out that the Japanese who appear in war movies are screaming out loud, but it reproduces the sense of urgency, and during the battle, the sound of the machine gun, the sound of the explosion, the sound of the bombing of the enemy aircraft, etc. Because there is, by yelling out loud, you convey your intention to the other party.
The officer at 1:11 was played by Akihiko HIrata. He played Dr. Serizawa in the first Godzilla film and would perform in many kaiju monster films in the 1960's.
Strangely, that is probably the most realistic part. They did dodge several torpedoes. It was the dive bombers catching them preoccupied with the torpedo attack that did them in..
:P I remember one that said " Smoke, Whistle, Bang." "Fool your friends." Instructions were to attached the metal lead to any spark plug wire to activate. :P
Had me until the toy Zero fell off the deck on take off. Definitely want to see the whole movie since parts were used for the Chuck Heston Midway movie. 🥃
I still think this is the best Japanese-made movie about the period from Pearl Harbour to Midway. It got right the failed attack against the Japanese fleet by 4 US Army B-26 converted into torpedo bombers taking off from Midway. All 4 were shot down without scoring. Absent however was the (also failed) attack from Midway by 6 newly-introduced TBF(later TBM) Avengers. 5 were shot down without scoring either.
If you go in without Fighter cover that what happens. one of the History shows. Said the 3 carriers could not coordinate their attacks or join up correctly. So they went in piece meal. But that helped alot because that spread the fighter covering the Carriers out.
Pretty sure the torpedo planes were Devastators, not TBF Avengers. Though now that I think of it, maybe the TBFs came from Midway, while the Devastators came from Enterprise and Hornet.
I have a beautiful old plastic model of one probably from the early 1960s my uncle had built. You can tell its an old, old kit from the total lack of interior detailing so common on old kits
Now I know where those tank fireworks come from that just kinda fizzle on the ground and spit out sparks everywhere. Didn't realize they made toy boat and airplane versions too
Special effects have always interested me. I wouldn't criticize older and less effective methods compared to today. It's just a stage of capabilities evolving to minimize "errors". For the time more primitive effects still served the intended purpose by showing what could happen in scenes and the audiences were still impressed. Today's movie goers are more sophisticated because they've seen the changes, but still aren't fully aware of what steps have been taken to simulate realism. Today's special effects are nothing short of amazing, but I still appreciate old school as well.
It wasn’t just the transition time. It was a combination of things that occurred. The most important was the fighter CAP came down to engage torpedo bombers and failed to get back to altitude to intercept the dive bomber. All the ordinance not properly stored between the shifting back and forth, and the fact that the Japanese did not pump CO2 into their aviation fuel stores.
@@zerosparky9510 Oh he was definitely there... that is why his book, "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan," was taken so seriously; especially in the West, since it was translated into English. Unfortunately, the hard evidence demonstrates that the Japanese were nowhere near launching an attack on the American carriers. Indeed, Fushida's account was discredited for decades in Japan. It is only recently that the West has learned how wrong his account was. I suggest reading, "Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway," by Parshall and Tully. Excellent and well researched book on the battle from the Japanese perspective.
@@robskalas I just finished reading "Shattered Sword" and I find it hard to read other accounts after reading that book, now knowing what I know. It doesn't take away from the bravery and sacrifice of combatants of either side, it just seeks to set the story straight.
@@johnschuh8616 I was talking about the flight crews, not just the pilots. It takes time to train competent crews that can maintain, fuel, and arm planes. You're right of course, they also they had a big flaw in their training program, as they kept their best pilots in battle continuously until they were killed, while the US rotated their best pilots to help with the training of the new pilots.
@@Briguy1027 also no effort was made by the IJN to recover downed pilots due to their honor code! The USN dedicated resources air and submarine forces to recover down pilots and return to do to share their hard learned experiences. President George H. W. Bush was shot down twice and picked up and returned to fly again.
@@Briguy1027 also no effort was made by the IJN to recover downed pilots due to their honor code! The USN dedicated resources air and submarine forces to recover down pilots and return to do to share their hard learned experiences. President George H. W. Bush was shot down twice and picked up and returned to fly again.
@@Briguy1027 also no effort was made by the IJN to recover downed pilots due to their honor code! The USN dedicated resources air and submarine forces to recover down pilots and return to do to share their hard learned experiences. President George H. W. Bush was shot down twice and picked up and returned to fly again.
Movies went color long before TV could catch up. Color in film started right around the end of WW2. TV came later and went color in the middle late 1960's.
As a number of historians have said, that 5 minutes at Midway after the last american torpedo attack was beaten off without loss to the three carriers burning was one of the most sudden shifts in history. For such a massive attack to rely solely on surprise was always a mistake.
The "special effects"still look better than the stupid cgi.And the hangar scene with the cardboard B5N's is very good also. By the way Cristopher Nolan also used models for "Dunkirk",with excellent results,so this is by no means a "dated" tech.
Just my opinion, but Cristopher Nolan's Dunkirk is pretty much one of the worst war films I've ever had the displeasure to watch. With all the footage and historical records how people think that it was an amazing film astounds me.
@@NoOnionsUK I agree with you,it is a bad film. It lacks a central theme and is disjointed throughout.The same goes with Mendes's 1917,a terrible film with a scenario straight from video games.
They went a bit cheap with their models though, in the last scene you can see a Spitfire burning. Not that it had no fuel to burn... It could also be seen that its prop propeller was held in a place by a stick. I guess the whole Merlin engine got eaten by the flames, lol.
The Japanese, in 1942, never loaded munitions on aircraft spotted on the flight deck. All loading and replenishment of aircraft stores was done on the hanger deck. This is the main reason for the lengthy turn around for strikes during the Midway campaign. The Akagi was actually struck by only one bomb, a 1000 pound bomb dropped by Lt. Best, but it hit in a critical spot[right by the elevator that dropped it into the well]and started the fatal conflagration. Japanese damage control wasn't up to the task compared to it's U.S foe.
I like how they used the sword to spot planes. Very natural progression there, they probably should have released where that piece of tech was going in the ground though.
That was a stick (like a cane) used by the spotter/commander of each gun crew. He told them *which* specific plane to target and pointed it out with the stick. This was so they wouldn't waste ammo on other planes that had already dropped their bombs or torpedoes, but would focus fire on the most important target...one which was still trying to line up its attack run. It was his call, and the gun crew followed his commands.
Contrary to popular belief, Midway did not in fact completely obliterate the Japanese navy’s carrier wing offensive capabilities. A few short months later, they were able to send the Shokaku and Zukaku, along with several light carriers, against the American carriers Enterprise and Hornet at the battle of Santa Cruz. Although they did sink the Hornet, it was the loss of 2/3rds of their air crews that signaled the end of the Kindo Butai’s offensive capabilities.
I give a lot of credit to the producers of this film. It was made 63 years ago (1960). The movie ended a bit strange, with the crews being kept in hiding to not reveal the loss at Midway. What happend to Koji? Did he ever marry Keiko? The world wants to know.
Remarkable in American films of this naval battle the American Dauntless pilots were all dead eye gunslingers but in this Japanese offering the same Dauntless pilots are all cross eyed and only by sheer accident any bombs hit the Japanese carriers.😊
It's entertaining, but for a more accurate picture of what happened on the Japanese carriers throughout the battle, you should read Parshall & Tully's "Shattered Sword".
Some of the footage looks from the 1970s movie Midway. I cannot recall exactly wether Midway or Tora Tora Tora had full Japanese speaking segments that were filmed but this looks to be their version of that movie.
Tora, Tora, Tora was filmed with the US perspective and Japanese perspective filmed separately with crews from each respective country. At one point the Great Japanese director Kurosawa was filming that part, it is said he had creative differences and was replaced by another director.
There’s a fellow at Naval War College who says our whole understanding of Midway is wrong, that in fact most of the Japanese planes were destroyed in the air. But it’s very very difficult to prove
i got a big kick out of that big aircraft carrier turning. i know this is a film technology issue along with the way things were done back then--but aircraft carriers don't turn that fast. =)
Did the '70's Midway use any orginal footage as far as the ships go? I mean there was a lot of US Military stock footage, I just never realized how much of the model work was from a previous film.
The last scene where Nimitz greets Spruance was one. It even had time traveled to be filmed. As the Carrier in the scene was not even launched till the mid 50s at the earliest. It was at least twice the size of any of the Midway flattops and it was quite apparent that it was an angled deck CVA also. It could even have been the Enterprise CVN or the Midway CVA.
Quality of the production I thought for sure Godzilla was going to emerge from the deep all pissed smacking planes out of the sky stomping boats screaming " I'm trying to sleep here ".
The book Shattered Sword says the flight decks of the carriers only had a few CAP fighters, and ALL torpedoes were armed below in the hangers. but this movie shows them arming planes with torpedoes ON THE FLIGHT DECK. And even more crazy, THE EVASIVE TURNING THREW THEM OFF THE DECK! Could this be true? What if the Japanese carrier flight decks were minutes from launching another attack, but the ships defensive maneuvers threw the entire kido butai into the drink?!
Yes, this has been a controversy since the fifties when Japanese historians said there were planes on the flight decks as well as the Hanger decks. American reports have all the planes on the hanger decks. Doesn't really matter - I think.
What happened and what might have happened is something lost in history, nearly all those who were eye witnesses on both sides have now departed, hopefully for a safe harbor.
This type of discussion of whether the planes were there or not is just a smoke screen by Parshall. He doesn’t want any hint that the entire battle plan as wrong by the IJN. It was even issued by the US Naval War College. The IJN should have used their surface ships. Had they been out front where the carriers were and more so some surrounding the island and battleships shelling and with the carriers behind and providing CAP the IJN wouldn’t have lost any carriers and they would have eventually sunk the entire Task Force 16 and 17. The IJN blew it with their battle plan.
Good sequence. The models were pretty good, but I wish the special effects people could have gotten the "seawater" to scale. The waves and splashes are too large for the ships. This is often the case when models are used in seafaring tales. Perhaps using some other fluid?
Surprise is the greatest weapon in wartime, and on that day the American dive bombers held that advantage. The Japanese had already repelled a whole series of American air attacks successfully, but the last one took them very much by surprise...and their fighters were not in position to assist to much of an extent.
@@georgecoventry8441 The IJN fighters were described as surfeited birds of prey after their victories against the low-flying torpedo bombers. The American dive bombers just went through their screen.
@@Charlesputnam-bn9zy - They were not in proper position to oppose the dive bombers when the dive bombing attacks came in. They had been drawn down to low level while disposing of the torpedo planes. You cannot effectively oppose a dive bombing attack when you're flying at low altitude, though you *can* go after the dive bombers after they're pulled out of their dives, but by then it's too late to save the carriers from being hit. Just a series of events that spiraled out of control for the Japanese. Such things often happen in war, but very seldom with such decisive results as to sink 3 fleet carriers at one time. The Japanese were unlucky, that's all....and the American dive bombers did their job well.
I repeat these scenes every night in the bath tub with my toy boats. It just a real beech when the soap or mister winkie floats to the top and gets in the way of the battle.
The AAA wasn't nearly this effective. The dive bombers arrived just after the torpedo bombers, and the AAA was still aimed at sea level. Worse, the combat air patrol was either at sea level or on the deck trying to reload and refuel.
Yes, the Japanese AAA is shown as way too effective in EVERY movie that's ever been made about the Battle of Midway. Why? So the audience will see exciting scenes of planes being shot down. It adds to the drama. Everyone expects to see a bunch of those planes get shot down by the AAA (except us history buffs), and so the movie makers make sure that it happens.
The Zero skidding on the deck was priceless.
No Airfix models were hurt in the making of this film.
Yes I saw that too .
Lol
Pure Jerry Anderson. "Change bombs for torpedoes? Whaat in thunder's goin' on?" "Relax! Everythings ganna be A-ok! What could paasiblly go wraang?"
Better than anything in the Pearl Harbor movie though
Man I love Toho's model and practical effects, especially their sound effects. Really iconic of the era.
I keep expecting Godzilla to come out of the water
My thoughts exactly
Had to wait for the A bomb tests after the war
That’s hilarious!
It wasn’t even the best effect of the time!
At least Mothra
I know a lot of younger folks will disagree, but as a guy who, as a child, grew up watching Godzilla and Mothra movies back in the sixties, I prefer watching the Toho studio's models and special effects much more than the overused CGI of today's films. This was a real art form. Not to mention, it's great to see all the Toho greats like Mifune playing the IJN.
They actually worked at it to get it as real as possible. There is some claymation that is better than some special fx used today
I saw these films as a kid and did not remember the fact that the use of models looked so obvious. Daughters aren't particularly fond of war movies but if I tried to show them this film I am pretty sure it would be summarized as very old / laughingly ill-made. That's when you find out you are old.
I totally agree with you. When I was a Japanese primary school pupil, I used to enjoy Godzilla and other Kaiju movies in 1960`s. Unfortunately, motion pictures today depend upon CGI too much. Ironically, overuse of CGI makes today`s movies cheesy.
@@FrancoisGasnier71 .
Yes, you can't scale down water, it always shows. Problem with modern cgi is that they always go overboard with it.
If you watch those old b&w samurai movies, you would see that the same actors from Toho also appeared in the 1976 Midway movie.(The actor playing Admiral Nagumo was in the movie Samurai Assassin):)
Superb special effects, from the $5.99 toy store aircraft carrier to the $1.99 zero. Priceless.
Michael Bay Level.
Looked up the movie. Released in 1960. The special effects are on-par with other films of that era. That said, was waiting for Godzilla to pop-up at any time.
LOL. It was released in 1960 and filmed in 1959. Those cheesy effects were on par with the movies of that time period, INCLUDING many lower budget AMERICAN movies hahahhahaha. Yeah, it's silly to us now. We're spoiled because of epic CGI effects.
@@Frankie2012channel In Harm's Way had similar effects.
Still better than modern WW2 movies
For the younger crowd who don't understand why all of the changing of bombs to torpedoes and back again was a big deal: because circumstances forced the changings, the US Navy bombers, both dive and torpedo, were allowed to continuously attack the IJN fleet, which also disallowed the launching of another wave of planes. That's why it took relatively few bombs to sink the four Japanese carriers...with their decks littered with bombs and torpedoes, one or two well-placed bombs took out a carrier.
True but japanese deck were not littered with bombs and torpedoes, in fact those decks were empty in order to let the carriers send and retrieve numerous cap patrols that day. It is the hangars which were packed with fueled and armed aircrafts waiting to be launched while the torpedo bombers loadouts were being changed. This is far worse as the japanese had no way to fight the fires caused by the explosions in those cramped space or even get rid of the bombs and burning planes. Hundreds of proficient mechanics died in the flames without any chance to escape that day.
You almost got it totally right. You can read John parshal "shattered sword" and fund out it was the decks full of planes. They were still all in the hangers. The Japanese admiral lied in his book not long after the war and everyone ran with it because it adds to the drama. Half, the ones that didn't fly earlier, would have needed at least 20 minutes to warm up the engines on the flight deck because they couldn't do it in there hangers line American carriers.
The carriers exploded because of the explosion of the fuel fumes, from the refuelling pipes.
@@danielrodriguezpena1585 Japanese aviation fuel tanks were built into the hull of its carriers. This means any hit to the hull, even far away from the tank, often caused leaks from the hull flexing from the hit. This is what happen to the Japanese carrier that sunk on the way to the battle of the Philippines sea by a topedo from a sub, and, I do believe the American carrier Lexington. The Japanese ships also couldn't vent the fumes with closes hanger decks. Japanese also couldn't warm up planes in there hangers. This is a problem 2 fold. They didn't have or had bad, radar. The American carriers knew attacks were coming and could warm up and launch every plane on the ship and did. The Japanese couldn't do that. That is why we see Japanese carriers often destroyed by a couple of bombs. It is the secondary explosions from armed planes and or the fire from exploding fuel tanks on the planes.
We have cases on both sides of very good damage control and very bad damage control. Remember both sides have many crews with little experience that were fast tracked to fill needed position that prewar they could have never made the cut.
It's why hit ratios from carrier bombing aircraft are better in 1942 and early 43 vs to the battle of the Philippine sea and something like 11 fleet careers alone showing up. They went from the guys that had been around for years and were well trained to putting pilots with minimal experience into to seat because they needed so many pilots. If you look at the big E, a Yorktown class, which by 1943 had been replaced by the Essex class, had kept some of the older pilots and was probably the most effective carrier even late war.
I think with many of the sinkings of Japanese ships having to do with major structural shortcomings of the design of there ships, with as many times, like the 2 super battleships, that they preformed very well, with the knowledge that by late mid war both sides had some poor crews that had ships sink that shouldn't have, and by late war, most of the IJN was pretty raw sailors, I don't think the gap is as large promoted.
I think this is more a case of American propaganda that has some bases but is overblown.
@@theodoresmith5272 It's an interesting cultural contrast that both American and Japanese culture wanted to believe Fuchida's lie about the dramatic '5 minutes from victory'--that but for a few strokes of luck, the result would have been entirely different--for the same but opposite reasons. For American culture, it reinforced the idea of the underdog pulling the win out with a little luck, and for Japanese culture, it partly absolved them of the shame of loss since they tried their hardest and were that close to winning but for luck. For that, we lost a lot of honest history about what the USN did right and how complacent the IJN was
In case anyone remembers some scenes from here were recycled for the 1976 movie "Midway".
I thought they looked familiar...
For Midway or from Midway?
Some were. Some weren't. You can tell the difference in quality. Some were filmed with plastic model kits on strings.
Yea they used excepts from that movie from the Japanese side
I thought the bridge scenes looked familiar.
An aircraft carrier with a drift mod. Awesome.
Japanese movies are amazing! The creative energy shines through, no matter what decade the film originates from. Japanese are such brilliant visual artists, from their food presentation to architecture to theater.
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😅🤣😂🤣😅, you're high....
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@@mariodelgado9729 Ha ha ha, high on Japanese art!
@@julbro8451 LOL....
I saw a photo from Toho Studios that showed a small warehouse full of the model airplanes used. It was like a candy store. Zeros, Kates, and Vals oh my!
I walked the streets at night in downtown Tokyo as an 8 yr old with my family . in 1962 January .it was like being in a giant toystore and Disneyland at once .
Practical effects and miniature work, gotta love them.
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You can really tell they are models. The movement in the water and behaviour of the smoke and flame gives it away.
If they were to remaster this film, and slow the speed of the scenes you're referring to, the water, smoke, and fire would move slower and look much more real. I like the models, but, as you said, they're really obvious.
An aircraft carrier that maneuvers like a surfboard. Cool beans
At least 16 feet long.
I was half expecting Godzilla to rise from the waters and blow everyone out of the water
😆
lol, I was thinking all this turkey was missing was Godzilla as well.
@@davea4245 Mothra too
I am surprised the Japanese made such a movie, especially in 1960. It looks very good. Indeed, it is so good that the 1976 version of Midway copied some of this photography exactly. Indeed, I could almost believe they edited the actual film from this movie into their own.
The producers of Midway (1976) bought the rights to the whole 'Storm in the Pacific ' film so they could use as much footage from it as they wanted.
thats amazing. i thought it was the other way around, i recognized some of the footage from the 1976 film but had no idea this came first.
Yes, the scene were all the pilots on the Hiryu are running and observe the flaming hulks of their sister ships was spliced in with one of the major Japanese characters on Midway.
Classic movie!! A lot of scenes were used in Midway (1976 ), stock footage!! Astonishing!!
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Well that explains it. I knew I'd seen the scene with the Japanese pilots running to look at the three burning carriers in the Midway movie from 1976.
@@Robin35758 So what?
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I think this was pretty well done for the time period. They make the same mistake in displaying airplanes on deck ready to depart when in actuality they were still launching and recovering the CAP on all carriers.
At the time, the main narrative based on Captain Fuchida's "Midway: the battle that doomed japan" was of decks loaded with planes. The title is even from the chapter of that book covering the ambush on the Kido Butai.
@@thenumbah1birdman It’s amazing to me that both from the Germans and the Japanese after WW2 we took a lot of what they said at face value. We are just now learning that a decent amount of what the German Generals told us about their side of the war was “inaccurate.” Glantz has done some incredible work.
@@Whitpusmc Only a few years after this, in Japan, Fuchida's account was discredited as being wishful thinking based on surviving records. It took 40+ years for US Historians to catch up for some reason.
@@thenumbah1birdman I’m assuming it was cultural and language differences plus frankly some laziness combined with cultural snobbery. “They lost why should we care what they say and besides we have real German Generals and real American Generals and Admirals to listen to! “
But a real blunder. Shows how powerful being “first” is.
The atmosphere inside carrier is amazing to see
Do those guys in the command station on the bridge ever stop yelling .no wonder they wanted to die .earplugs please .!!!!-
It is often pointed out that the Japanese who appear in war movies are screaming out loud, but it reproduces the sense of urgency, and during the battle, the sound of the machine gun, the sound of the explosion, the sound of the bombing of the enemy aircraft, etc. Because there is, by yelling out loud, you convey your intention to the other party.
The only thing missing from this to make it a classic Japanese film is a monster rising from the ocean to take on the US Fleet.
The officer at 1:11 was played by Akihiko HIrata. He played Dr. Serizawa in the first Godzilla film and would perform in many kaiju monster films in the 1960's.
Very cool! It looks like he could fly just with his hat!
2:25 An aircraft carrier with the agility of a speedboat? I guess the Japanese would have liked to have them at Midway 😂.
Strangely, that is probably the most realistic part. They did dodge several torpedoes. It was the dive bombers catching them preoccupied with the torpedo attack that did them in..
those pratical effects are so cool
@@surtt Well to be honest the American's torpedo had a lot of gremlins that didn't get fixed until late 1943
Expected ultraman to pop in there
This is back in the days when the Japanese made cheap, tin toys.
Gotta love the music. And have never seen a carrier move so quick.
Anytime I see these great special effects I think to myself, " Light fuse and get away!". Those were the days👍👍
:P
I remember one that said " Smoke, Whistle, Bang." "Fool your friends."
Instructions were to attached the metal lead to any spark plug wire to activate. :P
@@barleyeducated8714 I remember those too! Your comment just brought back that memory! Thanks!
We have come a long way with special effects, haven't we?
This scene is on par with the first Godzilla movie that was in color. Toho?
"we" ????? Have you got a mouse in your pocket ?????
@@jamesestes5472 mouse? is that a saying where you live?
Yes, but playing with the toys was still fun.
Wow, was not aware that there was a Japanese movie made about Midway, in the 1960s no less!
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Impressive carrier design allowed it to turn as if it were only half a meter long.
Actually, it was half a meter long. It was destroyed by six direct hits from Diamond Safety Matches.
That does kind of jump out at you, doesn't it?
I was expecting to see godzilla come out of the water at any moment
Miniatures not very convincing
Had me until the toy Zero fell off the deck on take off. Definitely want to see the whole movie since parts were used for the Chuck Heston Midway movie. 🥃
This movie is better than Hollywood pacific war movies
Special effects are sooo much better today than when this film was made.
From a visually entertaining perspective this is solid gold.
I still think this is the best Japanese-made movie about the period from Pearl Harbour to Midway.
It got right the failed attack against the Japanese fleet by 4 US Army B-26 converted into torpedo
bombers taking off from Midway.
All 4 were shot down without scoring.
Absent however was the (also failed) attack from Midway by 6 newly-introduced TBF(later TBM) Avengers.
5 were shot down without scoring either.
Only 2 of the b-26 were shot down , the other two made it back but were scrapped because the were so shot up they were beyond repair
@@Jd-jb9fs
Thank you for the precision.
I stand corrected.
If you go in without Fighter cover that what happens. one of the History shows. Said the 3 carriers could not coordinate their attacks or join up correctly. So they went in piece meal. But that helped alot because that spread the fighter covering the Carriers out.
@@fnusecurity5112 have you listened to Drachinifel's reading of Enterprises after action report? @Drachinifel
Pretty sure the torpedo planes were Devastators, not TBF Avengers. Though now that I think of it, maybe the TBFs came from Midway, while the Devastators came from Enterprise and Hornet.
Wow, those carriers sure can turn on a dime!
Once again we see that waving swords at attacking aircraft is not the best tactic in combat.
I think that they were officers directing firing
@@jason60chev I was not being serious.
It was ass effective as their AA.
@@surtt More so. At least the swords were lethal at close range. The AA not much use at any distance!
The "Jake" almost looked real.
I have a beautiful old plastic model of one probably from the early 1960s my uncle had built. You can tell its an old, old kit from the total lack of interior detailing so common on old kits
I half expected Godzilla to rear his head out of the water at some point.
Now I know where those tank fireworks come from that just kinda fizzle on the ground and spit out sparks everywhere. Didn't realize they made toy boat and airplane versions too
Special effects have always interested me. I wouldn't criticize older and less effective methods compared to today. It's just a stage of capabilities evolving to minimize "errors". For the time more primitive effects still served the intended purpose by showing what could happen in scenes and the audiences were still impressed. Today's movie goers are more sophisticated because they've seen the changes, but still aren't fully aware of what steps have been taken to simulate realism. Today's special effects are nothing short of amazing, but I still appreciate old school as well.
I don't know why but I love these old movies with there model boats and toy plastic planes
It’s interesting to note that even in a Japanese made movie they did not know their own history or doctrine
ミニチュア技術のリアリティが素晴らしい。CGなんかより全然迫力が違う。
Commander Fuchida in his book on Midway, talks about the 5 min. He was there.
He lied.
@@robskalas , was he there?
It wasn’t just the transition time. It was a combination of things that occurred. The most important was the fighter CAP came down to engage torpedo bombers and failed to get back to altitude to intercept the dive bomber. All the ordinance not properly stored between the shifting back and forth, and the fact that the Japanese did not pump CO2 into their aviation fuel stores.
@@zerosparky9510 Oh he was definitely there... that is why his book, "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan," was taken so seriously; especially in the West, since it was translated into English. Unfortunately, the hard evidence demonstrates that the Japanese were nowhere near launching an attack on the American carriers. Indeed, Fushida's account was discredited for decades in Japan. It is only recently that the West has learned how wrong his account was. I suggest reading, "Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway," by Parshall and Tully. Excellent and well researched book on the battle from the Japanese perspective.
@@robskalas I just finished reading "Shattered Sword" and I find it hard to read other accounts after reading that book, now knowing what I know. It doesn't take away from the bravery and sacrifice of combatants of either side, it just seeks to set the story straight.
Id love to see this movie in its entirety with subtitles instead of chopped to bits in other American movies!!!
When drama puts a smile on your face....
Smile?! Howls of derisive laughter! I wish I had this music when I was pushing matchbox and hot wheels cars as a boy!
So many of these top-flight air crew were killed during this battle that the Japanese never were able to fully replace their skilled labor.
That was owing to their training program. They could not turn out competent pilots as fast as we could, even though initially they had better ones.
@@johnschuh8616 I was talking about the flight crews, not just the pilots. It takes time to train competent crews that can maintain, fuel, and arm planes. You're right of course, they also they had a big flaw in their training program, as they kept their best pilots in battle continuously until they were killed, while the US rotated their best pilots to help with the training of the new pilots.
@@Briguy1027 also no effort was made by the IJN to recover downed pilots due to their honor code! The USN dedicated resources air and submarine forces to recover down pilots and return to do to share their hard learned experiences. President George H. W. Bush was shot down twice and picked up and returned to fly again.
@@Briguy1027 also no effort was made by the IJN to recover downed pilots due to their honor code! The USN dedicated resources air and submarine forces to recover down pilots and return to do to share their hard learned experiences. President George H. W. Bush was shot down twice and picked up and returned to fly again.
@@Briguy1027 also no effort was made by the IJN to recover downed pilots due to their honor code! The USN dedicated resources air and submarine forces to recover down pilots and return to do to share their hard learned experiences. President George H. W. Bush was shot down twice and picked up and returned to fly again.
These model ships and planes were so real! Amazing thing is Japan had colored film back in early 1960s!
The Wizard of Oz was made in 1939 and most of it was shot in color as was Gone With The Wind.
Rodan, a Japanese sci-fi/ monster film, was in color and released in the U.S. in 1956.
Movies went color long before TV could catch up. Color in film started right around the end of WW2. TV came later and went color in the middle late 1960's.
ほんとにこの作業なければね。被害はあと1隻大破、1隻中破ぐらいですんだろう。
色んな映画で再現されてますねぇ…
私は「永遠の0」で、宮部が憤ったシーンが印象に残ってます。
As a number of historians have said, that 5 minutes at Midway after the last american torpedo attack was beaten off without loss to the three carriers burning was one of the most sudden shifts in history. For such a massive attack to rely solely on surprise was always a mistake.
Toshiro Mifune was a great actor.
Looks like me in the bathtub playing with my model ships.😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
"I kept waiting for Godzilla to come out and save the Japanese fleet.
The "special effects"still look better than the stupid cgi.And the hangar scene with the cardboard B5N's is very good also. By the way Cristopher Nolan also used models for "Dunkirk",with excellent results,so this is by no means a "dated" tech.
Just my opinion, but Cristopher Nolan's Dunkirk is pretty much one of the worst war films I've ever had the displeasure to watch. With all the footage and historical records how people think that it was an amazing film astounds me.
@@NoOnionsUK
I wonder why Nolan skipped the ss massacre of British POWS at Le Paradis Village.
@@NoOnionsUK I agree with you,it is a bad film. It lacks a central theme and is disjointed throughout.The same goes with Mendes's 1917,a terrible film with a scenario straight from video games.
They went a bit cheap with their models though, in the last scene you can see a Spitfire burning. Not that it had no fuel to burn... It could also be seen that its prop propeller was held in a place by a stick. I guess the whole Merlin engine got eaten by the flames, lol.
@@mmiYTB Correct ,but the dogfight scenes were very,very nice.Those rc models definitely fooled the eye...
The Japanese, in 1942, never loaded munitions on aircraft spotted on the flight deck. All loading and replenishment of aircraft stores was done on the hanger deck. This is the main reason for the lengthy turn around for strikes during the Midway campaign. The Akagi was actually struck by only one bomb, a 1000 pound bomb dropped by Lt. Best, but it hit in a critical spot[right by the elevator that dropped it into the well]and started the fatal conflagration. Japanese damage control wasn't up to the task compared to it's U.S foe.
I like how they used the sword to spot planes. Very natural progression there, they probably should have released where that piece of tech was going in the ground though.
That was a stick (like a cane) used by the spotter/commander of each gun crew. He told them *which* specific plane to target and pointed it out with the stick. This was so they wouldn't waste ammo on other planes that had already dropped their bombs or torpedoes, but would focus fire on the most important target...one which was still trying to line up its attack run. It was his call, and the gun crew followed his commands.
The way the water moves is always a dead giveaway to when models are used. But, hey, what else could they do?
Eh, I’m able to turn my brain off enough to just enjoy the ride.
So realistic, I really believed I was right there in the bathroom watching them film it in the tub!!!
?
Contrary to popular belief, Midway did not in fact completely obliterate the Japanese navy’s carrier wing offensive capabilities.
A few short months later, they were able to send the Shokaku and Zukaku, along with several light carriers, against the American carriers Enterprise and Hornet at the battle of Santa Cruz.
Although they did sink the Hornet, it was the loss of 2/3rds of their air crews that signaled the end of the Kindo Butai’s offensive capabilities.
I Love This.
That feeling you get when you realize you were one of four carriers....and now you are only one.
Hearing the music from Jaws...
Actually, all four of the Japanese carriers participating in the battle were lost.
@@reynaldoflores4522 I didn't say they weren't. Hence the music from Jaws reference.
Acting is wonderful look at the stances of the airmen watching the ships burning!
I give a lot of credit to the producers of this film. It was made 63 years ago (1960). The movie ended a bit strange, with the crews being kept in hiding to not reveal the loss at Midway. What happend to Koji? Did he ever marry Keiko? The world wants to know.
Remarkable in American films of this naval battle the American Dauntless pilots were all dead eye gunslingers but in this Japanese offering the same Dauntless pilots are all cross eyed and only by sheer accident any bombs hit the Japanese carriers.😊
It's entertaining, but for a more accurate picture of what happened on the Japanese carriers throughout the battle, you should read Parshall & Tully's "Shattered Sword".
Some of the footage looks from the 1970s movie Midway. I cannot recall exactly wether Midway or Tora Tora Tora had full Japanese speaking segments that were filmed but this looks to be their version of that movie.
The 1976 "Midway" with Charlton Heston
used some footage from this outstanding Toho movie.
Tora, Tora, Tora was filmed with the US perspective and Japanese perspective filmed separately with crews from each respective country. At one point the Great Japanese director Kurosawa was filming that part, it is said he had creative differences and was replaced by another director.
There’s a fellow at Naval War College who says our whole understanding of Midway is wrong, that in fact most of the Japanese planes were destroyed in the air. But it’s very very difficult to prove
プラモデルの船が動いて、プラモデルの飛行機が飛んでる、何て素晴らしい特撮何だ🤣
CG制作以前なら当時のハリウッド特撮映画も似たようなものです。65年当時なら日本の方が優れていた。だからハリウッドがこの映画の版権を買い取って一部の戦闘シーンをアメリカ版ミッドウェーに流用したんです。
i got a big kick out of that big aircraft carrier turning. i know this is a film technology issue along with the way things were done back then--but aircraft carriers don't turn that fast.
=)
艦船模型よくできている。役者の演技がオーバーアクションで時代をかんじました。
Cool looking TOYS !!!! Where's Godzirra ????
Brilliantly done - although clearly a lot of model work, it is still impressive special effects.
cool models with fireworks bro.
Did the '70's Midway use any orginal footage as far as the ships go? I mean there was a lot of US Military stock footage, I just never realized how much of the model work was from a previous film.
The last scene where Nimitz greets Spruance was one. It even had time traveled to be filmed. As the Carrier in the scene was not even launched till the mid 50s at the earliest. It was at least twice the size of any of the Midway flattops and it was quite apparent that it was an angled deck CVA also. It could even have been the Enterprise CVN or the Midway CVA.
There was some footage of the burning Japanese carriers filmed on a lake as well as shots from real US post-war carriers.
I was disappointed when Godzilla didn't show up.
Quality of the production I thought for sure Godzilla was going to emerge from the deep all pissed smacking planes out of the sky stomping boats screaming " I'm trying to sleep here ".
Same studio and same VFX guy.
Very strategic planning and development
I love the way they used to make movies back then.
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Sometimes cheap effects are the best effects.
For all of you who bash the 2019 Midway movie just remember this film.
Some of these scenes reminded me of Thunderbirds and other Gerry Anderson TV movies.
Those carriers turn and maneuver like a Honda. Wowers! LOL
The new helicopter destroyer carrier Kaga sailed into San Diego in October 2024.
O legal destes filmes é que temos a oportunidade de ver como eram os navios daquela época.
I think admiral Yamaguchi was a drunken samurai earlier in he's life.
The book Shattered Sword says the flight decks of the carriers only had a few CAP fighters, and ALL torpedoes were armed below in the hangers. but this movie shows them arming planes with torpedoes ON THE FLIGHT DECK. And even more crazy, THE EVASIVE TURNING THREW THEM OFF THE DECK! Could this be true? What if the Japanese carrier flight decks were minutes from launching another attack, but the ships defensive maneuvers threw the entire kido butai into the drink?!
Yes, this has been a controversy since the fifties when Japanese historians said there were planes on the flight decks as well as the Hanger decks. American reports have all the planes on the hanger decks. Doesn't really matter - I think.
What happened and what might have happened is something lost in history, nearly all those who were eye witnesses on both sides have now departed, hopefully for a safe harbor.
Please read _Midway Inquest_ by Dallas Isom. Best read after reading _Shattered Sword_.
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This type of discussion of whether the planes were there or not is just a smoke screen by Parshall.
He doesn’t want any hint that the entire battle plan as wrong by the IJN.
It was even issued by the US Naval War College. The IJN should have used their surface ships.
Had they been out front where the carriers were and more so some surrounding the island and battleships shelling and with the carriers behind and providing CAP the IJN wouldn’t have lost any carriers and they would have eventually sunk the entire Task Force 16 and 17.
The IJN blew it with their battle plan.
I like how one plane swerved off the flight deck while trying to takeoff and the prop was not turning 😂😂😂😂
Good sequence. The models were pretty good, but I wish the special effects people could have gotten the "seawater" to scale. The waves and splashes are too large for the ships. This is often the case when models are used in seafaring tales. Perhaps using some other fluid?
Film at a very high frame rate and display at normal, it ‘stretches time’ so waves look bigger because of the apparent propagation time.
I am a WW2 historian, and I never knew the Japanese flew toy planes and boats at Midway, no woder they lost!
Containes some clips of the Japanese naval officers from the American 1976 movie "Midway." One of them is Mr. Miyagi... Pat Morita.
I THOUGHT I recognized Toshiro Mifune as Adm Yamamoto! And yes, Pat Morita played RAdm Kusaka.
I half expected to see Godzilla come to save the day.
If you're still swinging your AA into tracking position after the attack is underway,you've screwed up big time
Surprise is the greatest weapon in wartime, and on that day the American dive bombers held that advantage. The Japanese had already repelled a whole series of American air attacks successfully, but the last one took them very much by surprise...and their fighters were not in position to assist to much of an extent.
@@georgecoventry8441
The IJN fighters were described as surfeited birds of prey after
their victories against the low-flying torpedo bombers.
The American dive bombers just went through their screen.
@@Charlesputnam-bn9zy - They were not in proper position to oppose the dive bombers when the dive bombing attacks came in. They had been drawn down to low level while disposing of the torpedo planes. You cannot effectively oppose a dive bombing attack when you're flying at low altitude, though you *can* go after the dive bombers after they're pulled out of their dives, but by then it's too late to save the carriers from being hit. Just a series of events that spiraled out of control for the Japanese. Such things often happen in war, but very seldom with such decisive results as to sink 3 fleet carriers at one time. The Japanese were unlucky, that's all....and the American dive bombers did their job well.
I repeat these scenes every night in the bath tub with my toy boats. It just a real beech when the soap or mister winkie floats to the top and gets in the way of the battle.
Wow! Didn't know carriers could maneuver like PT boats. I guess for the period that was the best they could do with models.
Japanese actors shout a lot. I expect that the naval officers were a little more dignified
Giant monsters fighting tanks, the stuff dreams are made of.
The AAA wasn't nearly this effective. The dive bombers arrived just after the torpedo bombers, and the AAA was still aimed at sea level. Worse, the combat air patrol was either at sea level or on the deck trying to reload and refuel.
Yes, the Japanese AAA is shown as way too effective in EVERY movie that's ever been made about the Battle of Midway. Why? So the audience will see exciting scenes of planes being shot down. It adds to the drama. Everyone expects to see a bunch of those planes get shot down by the AAA (except us history buffs), and so the movie makers make sure that it happens.
The aa in the latest movie about midway was even more over the top shooting down almost all dive bombers
@@georgecoventry8441 "Sink the Bismarck" had this same issue.
wrong dive bombers came 30 min later
@@bclmax The last torpedo attack began at 1010. The first dive bomber attack began at 1022.
There's an awkward kind of beautiful to this
The REAL Tokyo drift ……
Nice cinematics, but read Shattered Sword. The Kido Butai was no where near to launching when the American attack started at 10:22 am.
welp, so much for my distinguished navy career
I wish someone would upload the full movie with subtitles.
straight up greatness