Midway

"The glory, the suspense, the spectacular drama of the men who won the most decisive naval battle in our history!"

1976 2h 12m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 343

ActionDramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

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This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.

“The glory, the suspense, the spectacular drama of the men who won the most decisive naval battle in our history!”

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Cast

Charlton Heston
Capt. Matthew Garth
Henry Fonda
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz
James Coburn
Capt. Vinton Maddox
Glenn Ford
Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Hal Holbrook
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort
Robert Mitchum
Vice Adm. William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.
Toshirō Mifune
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Cliff Robertson
Cmdr. Jessop

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jack Smight
Writers: Donald S. Sanford
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $100M — a 25.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jack Smight, shot by Harry Stradling Jr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Swink shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda and James Coburn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The glory, the suspense, the spectacular drama of the men who won the most decisive naval battle in our history!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jack Smight directs. Harry Stradling Jr. behind the camera. John Williams scores. Robert Swink cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $100M — a 25.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
350 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Jack Smight, shot by Harry Stradling Jr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Robert Swink shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda and James Coburn carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The glory, the suspense, the spectacular drama of the men who won the most decisive naval battle in our history!".
9IMDB entry: tt0074899 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 14 themes, including "world war ii", "u.s. navy", "based on true story", "battle of midway".

The technical file

Cinematography: Harry Stradling Jr.
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Robert Swink
Runtime: 132 min · 2h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $100,000,000
Return: 2500% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Midway (1976)

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Jack Smight

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-01-12
★ 6.5/10
They sacrifice themselves like samurai, these Americans. A critical part of WWII gets the big epic cinematic treatment, with all star casting and lots of noise. Though purporting to be exactly how things were during this particular battle, a pinch of salt is also needed. Much of the film is taken up with laying foundations for the air-sea engagement of the title, political posturing and military machinations are joined by needless sub-plots. The dialogue is often cheese laden, some characterisations equally so, while the splicing of real life footage and other war movie moments start to detract. However, the last third of film is thrilling and worth waiting for, a whirl of battle action as the Pacific conflict comes vividly to life both visually and aurally. 6.5/10

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