
“The glory, the suspense, the spectacular drama of the men who won the most decisive naval battle in our history!”
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.
Release Date: 6/18/1976
Runtime: 132 minutes
Languages: English
Director: Jack Smight
Budget: $4.0M
Revenue: $100.0M
Companies: The Mirisch Company, Universal Pictures
Countries: United States of America
John Chard
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

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

Robert Wagner
Lt.Cmdr. Blake

Robert Webber
Admiral Jack Fletcher

James Shigeta
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo

Pat Morita
Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka

2003