Midway (1976)

A dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a 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	...	Capt. Matt Garth
Henry Fonda	...	Adm. Chester W. Nimitz
James Coburn	...	Capt. Vinton Maddox
Glenn Ford	...	Rear Adm. Raymond A. Spruance
Hal Holbrook	...	Cmdr. 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

May 1941. After the Doolittle Raid Japan aims to expand its territory in the Pacific, to make such raids less likely. Their next target: Midway Island. However, the US Navy is intercepting their messages and has partially cracked their encryption code, forewarning them of Japan's intentions. Two US aircraft carrier task groups are sent to Midway, resulting in the one of the most important battles in history.

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Plot Keywords:

airplane shot down | black smoke | war at sea | damaged ship | pacific war | 

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Taglines:

The sights, sounds and actual sensations of combat. So real you can feel it.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was a big success in Japan because it showed the Japanese army very brave and resourceful.

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Goofs

When some of the torpedo squadrons are shown, the planes are actually Vindicator dive bombers.

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Quotes

Officer on Midway: Send this right away.
Pvt. Dombrowski: Hey chief what's this?
[a message saying that Midway's pure water condenser is malfunctioning]
Pvt. Dombrowski: There ain't nothing wrong with our pure water condenser. I was just over there.
Officer on Midway: [annoyed] Dombrowski, *send it*!
Pvt. Dombrowski: [baffled] I think the goddamn *heat's* gettin' to *everybody* here!
[sends the message]

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Alternate Versions

A television version exists, with additional cast and plot. It runs four hours with commercials. The main plot points are a Charlton Heston-Susan Sullivan romance and the Coral Sea battle (reffered to in the other version) is played out like the Midway battle. At the end of the TV version, Sullivan and Christine Kukobo are both shown waiting dockside.

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Connections

Edited from Storm Over the Pacific (1960)

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Soundtracks

In the Mood
Music by Joe Garland
Performed by the Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (as Glenn Miller Orchestra) on the jukebox at the bar in Hawaii

User Reviews

Blast from the past

Saturday night TV is a bit of a dead zone down here so I suppose one should be grateful for the odd watchable movie, even if its 20 years old. This one looks older than it actually is, due to the liberal use of stock footage and a cast that's a retirement counsellor's dream. A relatively youthful Charlton Heston is in the lead, but there's Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Robert Webber and even the great Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. A curious aspect is that every military character with a speaking part is an officer; the grunts just get to grunt. It's very much the view from the bridge (and the pilot's seat). Despite this aspect and the attempt at historical realism it's not made clear quite how it was that the Japanese made the error that cost them the battle, getting caught with their flightdecks full just as the American torpedo bombers arrived. The contribution of the American land-based aircraft is also given scant recognition.

Still you do get a bit of a story, though the less said about the silly sub-plot involving the Heston character's son and a Japanese-American girl the better. The director, Jack Smight had extensive T V experience, as did many of the younger actors, and this shows up in the rather static dialogue scenes you get when you aren't allowed to move the cameras much. The Japanese voices are dubbed, so that Paul Free, the voice of Boris Badenov in "Bullwinkle," (and countless other cartoon characters) is Admiral Yamamoto. The music was written by John Williams who a year or so later did the music for "Star Wars" and you can sense the similarities.

In the film the military operations side of things abounds with anacronisms, partly due to the liberal use of stock footage as mentioned. I don't think you can be too hard on the producers (the low profile but financially successful Mirisch Brothers) for not using a real Japanese World War 2 aircraft carrier since they are all at the bottom of the sea, but the crashed jet on the Yorktown's flightdeck was a bit sloppy. "Tora Tora Tora," which cost more money, was a better film. Not because it cost more money but because it was more carefully made, more balanced (both side's story told well) and more honest, perhaps also because it dealt with defeat rather than victory from the American viewpoint. "Midway" has some suspense, plenty of action, and the the patriotism drum is not banged to the point of pain.

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

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,356,666, 20 June 1976

Gross USA:

$43,220,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mirisch Corporation, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Sensurround (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1