The first trailer for Midway – this autumn’s forthcoming World War II epic helmed by director Roland Emmerich [Independence Day, The Patriot, White House Down] – has been released, promising an explosive take on the Pacific battle of June 1942.
The movie – hailed as ‘the next Pearl Harbour’ – tells the story of the epic fight, which saw the Americans and Japanese clash once more.
Set six months after The Battle Of Pearl Harbour, the film is slated for a November 8 release, and boasts a stellar line-up of stars, including Mandy Moore, Nick Jonas, Luke Evans, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Ed Skrein, Dennis Quaid and Aaron Eckhart.
‘The next Pearl Harbour’: The first trailer for Midway – this autumn’s forthcoming World War II epic helmed by director Roland Emmerich – has been released, starred Mandy Moore and Nick Jonas and promising an explosive take on the Pacific battle of June 1942
The Battle of Midway lasted from June 4 through June 7 and saw the Americans’ first victory of the War In The Pacific since their catastrophic Pearl Harbour defeat.
The battle marked the first step towards America’s three-year plight to defeat Japan in the war.
The trailer opens with Moore, who plays heroine Anne Best, witness the raid on Pearl Harbour, right on her doorstep, as her young daughter plays in the front year.
‘The situation in the Pacific is far worse than reported,’ an authoritative voice reports, as a plane is seen firing shots at civilians and sailors in the streets.
Drama: The trailer opens with Moore, who plays heroine Anne Best, witness the raid on Pearl Harbour, right on her doorstep, as her young daughter plays in the front year
What started it all: A plane is seen firing shots at civilians and sailors in the streets
‘Pearl Harbour is the greatest intelligence failure in American history,’ Wilson [playing Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton] says, as mass funerals are seen carried out in the aftermath of the battle. ‘The Japanese are planning something much bigger,’ he tells Harrelson’s Admiral Chester Nimitz.
Fleets of ships and planes are then seen heading across the ocean as Wilson adds that he believes the target is Midway – the Hawaiian island in the North Pacific.
‘Washington disagrees,’ the same authoritative voice says. ‘Washington is wrong!’ Wilson asserts.
And indeed, they are; as the attack starts on the island.
‘Today we are going to be the underdog,’ admits Skrein’s Lieutenant Dick Best. ‘Today we’re going to prove that the American Navy isn’t a joke.’
Battle stations: ‘The situation in the Pacific is far worse than reported,’ an authoritative voice reports
Explosive: The Battle of Midway lasted from June 4 through June 7 and saw the Americans’ first victory of the War In The Pacific since their catastrophic Pearl Harbour defeat
Historic: The battle marked the first step towards America’s three-year plight to defeat Japan in the war
![Tragedy: 'Pearl Harbour is the greatest intelligence failure in American history,' Wilson [playing Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton] says, as mass funerals are seen carried out in the aftermath of the battle](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/27/19/15341126-7189321-image-a-70_1561659446437.jpg)
Tragedy: ‘Pearl Harbour is the greatest intelligence failure in American history,’ Wilson [playing Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton] says, as mass funerals are seen carried out in the aftermath of the battle
Danger looming: ‘The Japanese are planning something much bigger,’ Wilson tells Harrelson’s Admiral Chester Nimitz
Incoming: Fleets of ships and planes are then seen heading across the ocean as Wilson adds that he believes the target is Midway – the Hawaiian island in the North Pacific
Imminent threat: The attack starts on the island as ships approach across the ocean
He is seen in a series of flashes, as he bids farewell to Moore’s character Anne, slow dances with her, says goodbye through a fence and then takes to the skies in a plane.
As he hurtles toward the ocean, a snap of Anne and their daughter Barbara in the cockpit, he is heard saying: ‘You’ll remember this day for the rest of your life!’
The characters are based on real men who fought in the battle.
Harrelson’s Admiral Chester Nimitz was a fleet admiral of the United States Navy and known for his major role in the naval history of World War II.
Farewell: Skrein’s Lieutenant Dick Best is seen in a series of flashes, as he bids farewell to Moore’s character Anne, slow dances with her, says goodbye through a fence and then takes to the skies in a plane
Real life hero: Skrein’s Lieutenant Dick Best was the squadron commander in the United States Navy during World War II and led his dive bombers to sink one Japanese aircraft carrier, damaging another in the process
Epic: The movie – hailed as ‘the next Pearl Harbour’ – tells the story of the epic fight, which saw the Americans and Japanese clash once more
Taking the plunge: He hurtles toward the ocean and says – ‘You’ll remember this day for the rest of your life’
![Base on real events: The characters are based on real men who fought in the battle [pictured: Aaron Eckhart]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/27/19/15341070-7189321-image-a-119_1561660486827.jpg)
Base on real events: The characters are based on real men who fought in the battle [pictured: Aaron Eckhart]
Touching: A snap of Anne and their daughter Barbara is seen in Bests cockpit
Evans’ Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky was an aviator in the war and made the decision to continue the search for the enemy during The Battle Of Midway, which, in the words of Nimitz ‘decided the fate of our carrier task force and our forces at Midway.’
Skrein’s Lieutenant Dick Best was the squadron commander in the United States Navy during World War II and led his dive bombers to sink one Japanese aircraft carrier, damaging another in the process.
Jonas plays Aviation Machinist Mate Bruno Gaido – a character written for the purpose of the movie – and Quaid portrays Vice Admiral William ‘Bull’ Halsey who commanded the task force centered on the carrier USS Enterprise in a series of raids against Japanese-held targets.
Wilson is Edwin Thomas Layton, a rear admiral in the United States Navy, most noted for his work as an intelligence officer during and before World War II.
Sink or swim: The USS Yorktown under aerial and submarine attack during The Battle Of Midway. The ship was later sunk by a submarine torpedo
Art imitating life: Smoke billows from the bridge of the USS Yorktown, damaged by aerial attacks on the second day of the battle on 4 June 1942
Going under: The Japanese cruiser Mikuma burning after being bombed by American planes during the battle
Writing history: The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theatre of Operations was one of the most important naval battles of World War II
The film is in fact the second movie detailing The Battle Of Midway; the likes of Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson and Robert Wagner featured in a 1976 version, with the same title.
Emmerich told Military.com: ‘The first time I had the idea to do Midway, it was really like 20 years ago. I had a deal at Sony, but the movie didn’t come together because the studio was owned by Japanese, so they were not very inclined to do a movie where they felt like the big losers of a battle.
‘I always wanted to tell them that I will not show the Japanese as losers. Decision-makers started this war. The Navy did not start the war.
‘That movie didn’t come together, and then Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer did Pearl Harbor. I always wanted to start my movie with Pearl Harbor because you can only understand Midway when you show Pearl Harbor. Midway is more or less a movie about the six months in-between Pearl Harbor and the battle.
Captain of the ship: Director Roland Emmerich is pictured on set
Films gone by: [L-R] Kate Beckinsale is pictured in 2001’s Pearl Harbour; The film is in fact the second movie detailing The Battle Of Midway; the likes of Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson and Robert Wagner featured in a 1976 version, with the same title
‘Then, I thought about our political climate right now where everybody has forgotten how wars are fought and how heroic these people were. I wanted to put a monument to these guys because it’s amazing what they did and how selfless they were.’
He went on: ‘I don’t like really that we in our day and time still kind of are patriotic nationwide. We should all be patriotic as humans and try to figure a way out to save this planet. Right now, politically, it’s America against the rest of the world. It’s the Muslims against the Western World; it’s the Russians against the West. It’s become very, very nationalistic in the last 10 years, which I don’t really like because that means that there are maybe wars on the horizon.
‘For me, that’s also a reason why I wanted to make a movie about Midway. It’s the right movie at the right time because the movie doesn’t really, like, talk about politics very much. It talks about strategy, and you realize all of a sudden that mistakes were made on both sides. They’re all normal human beings, and none of these people in the movie started the war. Politicians started the war.
‘For me, that was the interesting part about it. That’s why I really tried to also be very honest about how we portrayed the Japanese. If they’re not full-fledged characters — just the enemy — then I think it would be the wrong movie.’