Midway:SE I hope this is untrue..... (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

When Image first released Midway. I was disappointed they did not include the Battle of Coral Sea footage. Which lasts almost 45 minutes. So when they announced that Midway was coming out as an SE with the tv footage. I got very excited. But, someone mentioned that it still does not have this footage. It is just more of Charlton Heston's son and girlfriend. Is this true? And if so, why was this footage left out again?? I guess I am going to have to keep my taped off tv vhs version.

 

[Rich Allen]

Every description I read of it says it includes the footage from TV about the Coral Sea battle. It is a major last minute change if it doesn't.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

I just received my copy in the mail and haven't looked at it yet. It does show a screen shot on the back cover, along with a list of Special Features. One of them is the TV footage.

 

[Craig S]

Well, according to the http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video_4/midway.html
Also, they list the feature running time as 96 minutes! I hope this is a typo, because Midway in its theatrical release ran well over 2 hours (IMDB confirms this - 132 minutes).
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Too many DVDs, too little time...
AFI 100 Challenge - 36 to go!

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Just got this one to review. The back of the DVD case says the running time is 2 hours, 12 minutes.
The Special Features listing mentions "additional network scenes", but does not specify what the footage is. If you like I can give it a spin and let you know what I find.
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Scott Weinberg
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http://www.ofcs.org

 

[todd s]

They did NOT include the Coral Sea Battle scenes. What a shame.

 

[Rich Allen]

Guess I'm not picking this one up. Was all set to get it too.
I wonder if the Coral Sea footage was only available in 4:3 and that's why they didn't include it.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

Well that makes it a no-buy for me too

 

[Blu]

Was the Coral Sea footage actually in the original theatrical release or something deleted out of it?

 

[Eric Paddon]

The Coral Sea battle footage as well as all of the subplot involving Heston and his girlfriend, was all shot long after the original theatrical release for TV showings only. There are a couple glimpses of the Coral Sea footage in the documentary on the film and it's quite evident that none of the extra footage was shot in the theatrical aspect ratio since it's only mildy matted.
Personally, I would not hold the absence of the Coral Sea footage from the supplements against the DVD in terms of whether one should buy it or not.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Personally, I would not hold the absence of the Coral Sea footage from the supplements against the DVD in terms of whether one should buy it or not.

I agree with that sentiment. I find it odd that someone wouldn't buy a disc just because it left off some extra footage. The DVD of Midway has lots of supplements and it presents the movie uncut in its OAR and original sound - it seems weird to skip it due to the lack of the TV shots...
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Colin Jacobson
DVD Movie Guide
www.dvdmg.com

 

[Blu]

I purchased it, mainly cause it is a great war movie! And for nostalgic reasons since my dad took me to see it when I was 6. A great movie with a cast of stars you are unlikely to see again.

 

[Eric Paddon]

I would add that the supplement they do include of the TV shots involving Heston and Susan Sullivan is presented in a TV ratio so there's nothing special about seeing it this way unlike say the TV shots of "Jaws 2" and "Jaws" which are presented in the theatrical ratio. Having an off-air recording of the TV version more than suffices in terms of having the TV footage IMO and Midway I think is just about the only one of the Universal movies with extra shot TV footage that still plays that version on TV today.
I hope Universal also reclaims some of it's other titles with not so stellar releases from Image and Goodtimes like "Earthquake" the Airport sequels and "Gray Lady Down".

 

[Rich Allen]

I've got the first version already. I was going to buy the new version if it had the Coral Sea footage. Since it doesn't, there is no reason for me to buy the latest version.

 

[Craig S]

there is no reason for me to buy the latest version.

The new version is anamorphic and is a MUCH better transfer than the non-anamorphic original. That was reason enough for me to upgrade right there. The new Laurent Bouzereau documentary and other featurettes are just icing on the cake.
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Too many DVDs, too little time...
AFI 100 Challenge - 36 to go!

 

[Rich Allen]

As i said...

 

[todd s]

I am almost positive that the Coral Sea footage WAS in the original theatrical release. But, the long running time hurt the movie in the original release. So it was recut.

 

[Tony Scello]

I watched some of this last night and was pleased. The new anamorphic widescreen transfer looks very good on my widescreen television. I also watched the documentary on the film which was pretty good. There's lots of other goodies that I haven't gotten to yet. Overall, this looks to be a good package from Universal. Not getting access to all of the footage shot for TV presentations seems like a silly reason to me for any fan of this movie not to buy it.
I'm also looking forward to The Andromeda Strain:SE and hopefully other movies Universal originally licensed to Image. As another person has stated, I would also like to see better versions of the Airport movies, Earthquake, etc. once they get their rights back from Goodtimes.

 

[Craig S]

I am almost positive that the Coral Sea footage WAS in the original theatrical release.

I can state with certainty that the Coral Sea footage was NOT in the original theatrical release.
I was working at our local cinema in Shreveport when Midway came out in the summer of 1976. I remember opening day VERY clearly for two reasons: (1) We were up until late the previous night pulling the back rows of seats on either side and installing the Sensurround speakers, (2) Our manager had "assumed" that a war movie would not draw any business and had only scheduled 2 of us to work opening afternoon (we had two screens). We knew we were in trouble when folks started showing up 45 minutes before the 1st show. He had neglected to consider that Barksdale Air Force base (with a large retired military population nearby) was 2 miles down the road. Midway turned out to be a huge hit for us that year, but that first afternoon was a killer!
At any rate, being a budding WWII buff I loved the film (except for the silly subplot concerning Heston's son and his girlfriend) and watched it several times while we had it in house. Coral Sea was mentioned, but the extensive battle footage was not there. IMDB confirms this as well (says Coral Sea footage was part of the TV version).
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Too many DVDs, too little time...
AFI 100 Challenge - 36 to go!

 

[Eric Paddon]

The Coral Sea footage was NOT in the theatrical version. All of that was shot for TV because none of the principal actors in the theatrical version appear in any of the TV scenes, it only sports Mitchell Ryan as Admiral Aubrey Fitch the Coral Sea Task force commander.
For heaven's sake people, don't boycott the DVD just because of that, the transfer is great and the supplements are terrific too.