Victory at Sea (TV Series) Midway Is East (1952) User Reviews

Lose Many Battles, But Win This Particular 'War'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 10 January 2010]

Dramatic narration by Leonard Graves and the sight of seeing many United States losses at sea dominate this episode, although it comes out well in the end with American forces winning a crucial battle the island of Midway

From Japanese footage, we the Asian WWII enemy taking over the Far Pacific by bombing Hong Kong and then taking Singapore, Manila and small islands along the way, such as Bataan, heading toward the most eastern stop: Midway. The goal: the free up the airways all the way to Australia and/or to Hawaii.

We see a lot of hits and misses from both sides, either from bombs dropped from planes or shot from aircraft carriers. There also are a bunch of planes seen shot out of the sky and into the ocean.

This was shocking, frankly, to see how poorly our American guys did until the end when Midway "became one of the most decisive victories in U.S. naval history."

"Hell is on the wing!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 18 May 2010]

Following Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japan surged south and east for control of important resources including oil and rubber. This was a bleak six month period for the Allies, as Japanese victories in Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore brought twelve million square miles of the Pacific Theater under their immediate control. Both Britain and America suffered humiliating defeats, with General Wainwright's surrender in the Philippines the prelude to the infamous Bataan Death March.

But the tide was soon to turn. American air fighters turned a victory at the Battle of Coral Sea, while increased numbers of transports headed for Australia with men and supplies. Midway Island became the focus of both Japan and America, strategically distanced twenty five hundred miles to the east of Tokyo, and a thousand miles west of Hawaii. Japanese fliers, veterans of Pearl Harbor, prepared to slaughter Marines defending Midway. Instead, the Japanese lost four major carriers to determined American fighter pilots following a rocky start with heavy casualties. At the mid-point of 1942, American fighting forces achieved a major victory at Midway, setting the stage for further Japanese retreat.

Some U.S. victories abound in Midway Is East segment of Victory at Sea

[tavm · 10/10 · 22 June 2007]

After the Japanese successfully invade Singapore and the Philippines with the U.S. bases there, the Americans on another base in Midway manage to bomb many of Japan's ship carriers making the Asian country beat a hasty retreat and giving the U.S. some early victory in the second World War...Once again, stirring narration as well as such music from the great Richard Rodgers makes a most compelling episode in this, the fourth installment of the wonderful television documentary series Victory at Sea. For anyone very interested in a visual depiction of World War II as depicted in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Victory at Sea is as good a start as any.