“Midway” tells the story of the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942), a turning point in World War II in the Pacific. Director Jack Smight (“Airport 1975” 1974) and screenwriter Donald S. Sanford skillfully depicted both sides of the conflict, showing both American and Japanese leadership in the war. Smight employed excellent production values at all levels: Good writing, quality editing, a complex storyline that is easy to follow, realistic battle scenes (albeit from stock footage), use of Sensurround to enhance battle scenes, and filming in popular Technicolor.
Director Smight also motivated a very large cast to deliver outstanding performances. This includes Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Tishiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Robert Webber, Robert Ito, Cliff Robertson, Ed Nelson, James Shigeta, Edward Albert, Monte Markham, Christopher George, Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada, Pat Morita, Tom Selleck, Glenn Corbett, Christina Kokubo, Clyde Kusatsu, Larry Pennell, and John Fujioka. Future television soap opera stars made early career appearances in this flick: Steve Kanaly (“Dallas”) and Kevin Dobson (“Knots Landing”).
John Williams composed the score of the film, with the theme to “Midway” still one of his best known movie standards. “Midway” was the last of Hollywood’s big productions of the World War II genre, a huge blockbuster at the box office for producer Walter Mirisch (“In the Heat of the Night” 1967), The Mirisch Corporation, and Universal Pictures.
Midway (1976)
cinema
My Review
“Midway” tells the story of the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942), a turning point in World War II in the Pacific. Director Jack Smight (“Airport 1975” 1974) and screenwriter Donald S. Sanford skillfully depicted both sides of the conflict, showing both American and Japanese leadership in the war. Smight employed excellent production values at all levels: Good writing, quality editing, a complex storyline that is easy to follow, realistic battle scenes (albeit from stock footage), use of Sensurround to enhance battle scenes, and filming in popular Technicolor.
Director Smight also motivated a very large cast to deliver outstanding performances. This includes Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Tishiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Robert Webber, Robert Ito, Cliff Robertson, Ed Nelson, James Shigeta, Edward Albert, Monte Markham, Christopher George, Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada, Pat Morita, Tom Selleck, Glenn Corbett, Christina Kokubo, Clyde Kusatsu, Larry Pennell, and John Fujioka. Future television soap opera stars made early career appearances in this flick: Steve Kanaly (“Dallas”) and Kevin Dobson (“Knots Landing”).
John Williams composed the score of the film, with the theme to “Midway” still one of his best known movie standards. “Midway” was the last of Hollywood’s big productions of the World War II genre, a huge blockbuster at the box office for producer Walter Mirisch (“In the Heat of the Night” 1967), The Mirisch Corporation, and Universal Pictures.