Midway (1976)

A dramatization of the battle that turned out to be the turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.

Director:

Jack Smight

Writer:

Donald S. Sanford

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	Captain Matt Garth
Henry Fonda	...	Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
James Coburn	...	Captain Vinton Maddox
Glenn Ford	...	Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Hal Holbrook	...	Commander Joseph Rochefort
Toshirô Mifune	...	Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (as Toshiro Mifune)
Robert Mitchum	...	Admiral William F. Halsey
Cliff Robertson	...	Commander Carl Jessop
Robert Wagner	...	Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake
Robert Webber	...	Rear Admiral Frank J. 'Jack' Fletcher
Ed Nelson	...	Admiral Harry Pearson
James Shigeta	...	Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
Christina Kokubo	...	Haruko Sakura
Monte Markham	...	Commander Max Leslie
Biff McGuire	...	Captain Miles Browning

Storyline

The summer of 1942 brought Naval stalemate to the Pacific as the American and Japanese fleets stood at even numbers each waiting for the other to begin a renewed offensive. "Midway" tells the story of this historic June battle where a Japanese carrier force, in an attempt to occupy Midway island and lure the American fleet to destruction, was meet valiently by US forces operating off of three aircraft carriers and numerous escort ships. It was the first battle in which naval air power was extensivly used, and at its conclusion the Japanese Carrier force had been completly destroyed which lead the way for the US 1943 and 44 offensives which would eventually bring the Pacific War to a close.

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Plot Keywords:

battle | pacific | midway | midway island | aircraft carrier | 

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Taglines:

The glory, the suspense, the spectacular drama of the men who won the most decisive naval battle in U.S. history.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 June 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Battle of Midway

Filming Locations:

Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Point Mugu, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 2,046,974 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Sensurround (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (archive footage) Black and White (archive footage) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to "The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise," by Edward P. Stafford, the real cause of the loss of almost all of the torpedo planes was caused by problems with radio frequencies. The torpedo planes lost contact with the fighters and dive bombers. As they attacked the Japanese carriers first, the Zeros came down to attack them. All attention was focused on the torpedo bombers. When the U.S. dive bombers arrived over the carriers, there was no air cover. Had the attack been synchronized, as planned, it is possible that the end results would have been quite different.

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Goofs

A title card late in the movie lists as June 6, 1942, which was the last day of the Battle of Midway and the day the Hiryu was hit. In fact, all four of the Japanese carriers were hit all on the very same day which was June 4, with the Hiryu being hit late in the afternoon, not two days later.

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Quotes

Captain Vinton Maddox: Admiral, these enemy radio intercepts that your intelligence unit has been accumulating...
Admiral Nimitz: Very detailed, aren't they?
Captain Vinton Maddox: Too damned detailed, Admiral. Do you remember what happened just before December 7th?
Admiral Nimitz: The Japanese flooded the airwaves with fake messages.
Captain Vinton Maddox: Yes. These could be carbon copies. Washington's convinced that Yamamoto's feeding this stuff to you in order to cover his real intentions.
Admiral Nimitz: Very definite possibility.
Captain Vinton Maddox: Well then, sir, how can you still insist...
Admiral Nimitz: Because it is my judgement ...
[...]

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Connections

Edited from Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

User Reviews

inspiring, in a way

I can't help but agree with most of the other comments: the sloppy production values, the scenes "borrowed" from better movies, the countless anachronisms, the distracting subplot about Lt. Garth and his Japanese girlfriend, and so on. But for me, this movie has two strong points in its favor. One, when they get around to the actual battle, they follow the history with surprising accuracy. (The "Pearl Harbor" makers could have learned something from this one.) So the movie's hard to follow? So was the actual battle! Personally, I think they did a pretty good job of keeping the flow coherent while still remaining faithful to its source material.

The second thing in its favor is that, from the moment I first saw it in the theater as a 10 year old, it ignited in me a passion for the Battle of Midway that remains to this day. I can't think of any other movie that even comes close to getting me as hooked on its subject as this one. Maybe it's a good thing I first saw it when I was young, when I was much less discerning about production values, etc. That way, I could concentrate on the story itself.

If you have even the slightest interest in military history or even in important historical events in general, do yourself a favor. Watch "Midway" to get an overview of the event (fast-forward over the love-story scenes if you like), then go read "Incredible Victory" by Walter Lord (which is a better book than the one for which he is most famous, "A Night to Remember"). You won't be sorry.