Midway, released in the United Kingdom as Battle of Midway, is a 1976 American war film that chronicles the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II. Directed by Jack Smight and produced by Walter Mirisch from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford, the film starred Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda, supported by a large international cast of guest stars including James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Ed Nelson, Hal Holbrook, Robert Webber, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Pat Morita, Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada and Tom Selleck.
Plot[]
On April 18, 1942, a squadron of B-25 bombers from the USS Hornet launches a raid on Tokyo. The strike stuns the Imperial Japanese Navy and its commander American Pacific Fleet, Yamamoto is permitted to use his plan to invade Midway Island. At Pearl Harbor, Captain Matt Garth is tasked with gauging the progress of decryption efforts at Station HYPO, headed by Commander Joseph Rochefort, which has partially cracked the Japanese Navy's JN-25 code, revealing a location the Japanese refer to as "AF". Garth is asked by his son, naval aviator Ensign Tom Garth, to help free his girlfriend Haruko Sakura, an American-born daughter of Japanese immigrants, who has been interned with her parents, by calling in favors to have the charges against the family dropped. Yamamoto and his staff present their plans for Midway to the commanders who have been chosen to lead the attack, Admirals Nagumo and Yamaguchi of the Japanese carrier force and Admiral Kondo of the invasion force.
After the inconclusive Battle of the Coral Sea, Rochefort uses a simple ruse to confirm that "AF" is Midway. Knowing the location of the attack, Admiral Nimitz and his staff send the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, augmented by USS Yorktown, hastily-repaired after being damaged at Coral Sea, to a point north of Midway and lie in wait for the Japanese fleet. Meanwhile, Matt has been unsuccessful in freeing the Sakuras, infuriating Tom.
On June 4, the Japanese fleet is spotted by scouts; the American carriers launch their planes in response. Nagumo's carrier force launches its air attack on Midway Island. The American base is damaged but the airstrip remains usable, meaning Midway can still launch aircraft. Nagumo learns of a sighting by a scout plane of the Yorktown, disrupting his plans for a second strike on Midway; he orders that his planes be rapidly re-armed with torpedoes for an attack on the American carrier. Torpedo bombers find the Japanese fleet and attack without fighter protection and are destroyed by the Japanese Combat Air Patrol leaving only one crew member George H. Gay Jr. surviving. When American escort fighters cover another wave of torpedo bombers, Tom is wounded and severely burned. The Japanese fighters are drawn down to wave-top altitude by the low-flying torpedo planes, leaving them out of position when dive-bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown arrive. As the Japanese prepare to launch their second wave, the American bombers attack and reduce three of the Japanese carriers – Kaga, Sōryū and Akagi– to burning wrecks. Nagumo, having received a concussion, is told to transfer his flag to cruiser Nagara.
The remaining Japanese carrier Hiryū launches aircraft. Following the returning American bombers, the Japanese find Yorktown and inflict severe damage. The crew manage to bring the fires under control as a scout plane reports that Hiryū has been spotted. Below decks, Matt meets Tom and reconciles with him. Due to a shortage of pilots, Matt joins the counterattack against Hiryū just before its second wave of aircraft strikes. Yorktown is crippled and the order is given to abandon ship. Hiryū is reduced to a burning wreck, and Yamamoto, during a general withdrawal, takes responsibility of apologising for the failure to the Emperor. Returning to Enterprise, Matt, his plane badly damaged, is killed when the plane crashes. As Enterprise docks at Pearl Harbor, the injured younger Garth is carried off the ship, seen by Haruko, as Nimitz and Rochefort reflect on the battle. Nimitz suggests that Matt would have noted that Yamamoto "had everything going for him", and asked "were we better than the Japanese, or just luckier?"
Cast[]
Allies[]
Actor | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|
Charlton Heston | Captain Matthew Garth | |
Henry Fonda | Admiral Chester W. Nimitz | Henry Fonda was one of the narrators of the 1942 John Ford documentary The Battle of Midway, some footage from which was used in the 1976 film and had played an unnamed admiral (based on Admiral Nimitz) in the 1965 film In Harm's Way. |
James Coburn | Captain Vinton Maddox | |
Glenn Ford | Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance | |
Hal Holbrook | Commander Joseph Rochefort | |
Robert Mitchum | Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. | |
Cliff Robertson | Commander Carl Jessop | |
Robert Wagner | Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake | |
Robert Webber | Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher | |
Ed Nelson | Rear Admiral Harry Pearson | |
Monte Markham | Commander Max Leslie | |
Biff McGuire | Captain Miles Browning | |
Christopher George | Lieutenant Commander C. Wade McClusky | |
Kevin Dobson | Ensign George H. Gay Jr. | |
Glenn Corbett | Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron | |
Gregory Walcott | Captain Elliott Buckmaster | |
Edward Albert | Lieutenant Thomas Garth | |
Dabney Coleman | Captain Murray Arnold | |
Erik Estrada | Ensign Ramos "Chili Bean" | |
Larry Pennell | Captain Cyril Simard | |
Phillip R. Allen | Lieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach | |
Tom Selleck | Aide to Capt. Cyril Simard | |
Kurt Grayson | Major Floyd "Red" Parks | |
Steve Kanaly | Lieutenant Commander Lance E. Massey |
Japanese[]
Actor | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|
Toshiro Mifune | Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto | (voiced by uncredited actor Paul Frees) |
Dale Ishimoto | Vice Admiral Boshirō Hosogaya | |
Conrad Yama | Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō | |
James Shigeta | Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo | |
Pat Morita | Rear Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka | |
John Fujioka | Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi | |
Lloyd Kino | Captain Takijirō Aoki | |
Yuki Shimoda | Captain Tomeo Kaku | |
Seth Sakai | Captain Kameto Kuroshima | |
Robert Ito | Commander Minoru Genda | |
Clyde Kusatsu | Commander Yasuji Watanabe | |
Richard Narita | Lieutenant Hashimoto | (uncredited) |
Sab Shimono | Lieutenant Jōichi Tomonaga |
Civilians[]
Actor | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|
Christina Kokubo | Haruko Sakura |