Midway *** (1976, Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Edward Albert, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Robert Mitchum) – Classic Movie Review 6,254

Jack Smight’s 1976 World War Two movie Midway is a detailed, intense re-creation of the heroism at the Battle of Midway in 1942.

Director Jack Smight’s 1976 World War Two movie Midway is a detailed, intense re-creation of the heroism at the Battle of Midway in1942, when a small, under-prepared, outnumbered US Navy task force daringly counter-attacked and defeated a large Japanese fleet on the strategic island, six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The movie is muddled mixture of drama and quasi-documentary, over-using contemporary newsreel footage and under-using the all-star cast, who are rather lost in the vast scale of the proceedings. But occasionally ‘you-were-there’ urgency and dynamic sequences emerge.

Making most impression are Charlton Heston as Captain Matt Garth, Henry Fonda as Admiral Chester W Nimitz and (very briefly) Robert Mitchum as Admiral William F Halsey. It also stars Glenn Ford, Edward Albert, James Coburn, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Cliff Robertson and Robert Wagner.

It is perhaps most notable for its score by John Williams and cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr.

Also in the cast are Robert Webber, Glenn Corbett, Christopher George, Monte Markham, James Shigeta, Ed Nelson, Tom Selleck, Kevin Dobson, Pat Morita, Dabney Colman, Erik Estrada, Steve Kanaly, Bill McGuire, Gregory Walcott, Kip Niven, Robert Ito, Dennis Rucker and Ken Pennell.

Filming took place at the Terminal Island Naval Base, Los Angeles; the US Naval Station, Long Beach, California; Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida; and San Diego, California; with the on-board scenes shot in the Gulf of Mexico aboard USS Lexington.

Midway is directed by Jack Smight, runs 131 minutes, is made by The Mirisch Corporation, is released by Universal Pictures, is written by Donald S Sanford, is shot in Technicolor and widescreen by Harry Stradling Jr, is produced by Walter Mirisch, is scored by John Williams, and is designed by Walter Tyler.

It was originally shown in cinemas in Sensurround sound to lend extra realism to the battle scenes, pumping up audience sensations of engine noises, explosions, crashes and gunfire. 

It is the second of only four films released in Sensurround. The others are Earthquake (1974), Rollercoaster (1977), and Battlestar Galactica (1978). Sensurround required special speakers to be installed in cinemas, limiting its audience. It was a good idea, successful and fun up to a point, but ultimately it was only a gimmick.

Release date: June 18, 1976 (US).

Midway was released in the UK as Battle of Midway.

It cost a low $4 million, the budget no doubt kept down by the widespread use of stock footage, and was a major box office hit, earning $100 million.

Midway (2019)

The story is retold in the 2019 war film Midway directed by Roland Emmerich, one of the most expensive independent films of all time with a production budget of $100 million.  The film grossed only $127.4 million worldwide and was judged a box-office bomb, It stars Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, Darren Criss, and Woody Harrelson.

Harry Stradling Jr

Harry Stradling Jr (1925–2017).

RIP Harry Stradling Jr, two-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer for 1776 and The Way We Were, who died on 17 October 2017, aged 92. His most recent of 47 credits is Caddyshack II (1988). He shot four Blake Edwards films and six Burt Kennedy films, as well as 87 episodes of Gunsmoke, and the Western comedy Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6,254

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