8 / 10
The Battle of Midway has produced two major film adaptations. Seen both. The 8 ratings are for the combined achievement. Jack Smight directed the 1976 version with Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Cliff Robertson, and Toshiro Mifune. Roland Emmerich directed the 2019 version with Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, and Dennis Quaid.
Both films document the June 4-7, 1942 naval battle that turned the war in the Pacific. Neither is the definitive version. Together they cover the event from complementary angles.
Both of these deserve to exist, and I’d be annoyed if I could only keep one. The 1976 film gives me Fonda, Mifune and the weight of men deciding things in rooms.
The 2019 film gives me the pilots, the dives and the right names attached to the right kills. Each one frustrates me in a different way, and together they add up to the best screen account of this battle I know.
The Setup (Both Versions)
June 1942. The Japanese Combined Fleet under Admiral Yamamoto plans an operation to draw out and destroy the surviving American carrier force at Midway Atoll.
The Japanese plan calls for a feint at the Aleutian Islands followed by the main attack at Midway. The American carriers are expected to respond to the Aleutian feint, leaving Midway vulnerable. The Japanese will then capture Midway and ambush the American carriers when they return.
American codebreakers under Captain Joseph Rochefort have partially decrypted the Japanese naval code. Rochefort’s team identifies the Midway operation in advance. The Americans confirm the target by transmitting a fake message about Midway’s water distillation system. Japanese intercepts of the fake message confirm that Midway is the target. The American carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown sail to ambush the Japanese ambush.
The fighting runs from June 4 through June 7.
American dive bombers destroy four Japanese fleet carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu) in a single morning. The Japanese sink the Yorktown. The strategic balance in the Pacific shifts permanently. The battle ranks among the most studied naval engagements in military history. Both films document the events with varying levels of accuracy.
The 1976 Version
Jack Smight directed the 1976 production. The studio promoted the film heavily on its Sensurround sound technology, which used low-frequency speakers to produce theater-shaking bass during the combat sequences. The technology had previously been used for Earthquake (1974) and was the studio’s marketing hook for the new release.
The cast was the production’s primary asset. Charlton Heston plays Captain Matt Garth, a fictional composite character. Henry Fonda plays Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet. Glenn Ford plays Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, commander of Task Force 16. Robert Mitchum plays Admiral William Halsey in a brief appearance (Halsey was hospitalized with shingles during the actual battle and Spruance commanded in his place). James Coburn plays Captain Vinton Maddox. Hal Holbrook plays Commander Joseph Rochefort. Robert Wagner plays Lieutenant Commander Ernest Blake. Cliff Robertson plays Commander Carl Jessop. Toshiro Mifune plays Admiral Yamamoto.
Casting Mifune was the production’s smartest choice, and he’s my favorite thing in the 1976 film. His work with Akira Kurosawa had already made him an actor of world stature. As Yamamoto he gives the Japanese command a dramatic weight the American scenes don’t always match, and I find his quiet calculation more interesting than anything Heston’s invented captain does.
For Writers
The 1976 Midway used a fictional composite character (Heston’s Matt Garth) to center the narrative. The choice was conventional for war filmmaking of the period. The audience supposedly needed a fictional protagonist to invest in even when the real events provided sufficient drama. The 2019 Midway dropped the fictional composite and used real historical figures throughout, which is more historically honest. The 1976 approach was more conventionally accessible. The lesson for writers is that composite characters or real figures can serve historical material.
The choice has consequences. Composite characters allow narrative flexibility but reduce historical credibility. Real figures support historical credibility but constrain narrative options. Both films make defensible choices. Neither is the obviously correct approach.
The 1976 Stock Footage
The 1976 production relied heavily on stock footage from earlier productions and from actual Navy archives. The combat sequences mix newly shot material with World War II newsreel footage, Battle of the Coral Sea (1976) footage, and footage from the John Ford documentary The Battle of Midway (1942). The mix is visible to attentive viewers because the film stock quality varies between sources.
The reliance on stock footage was both economic and aesthetic. Using existing footage saved real money, and it brought an authenticity staged material couldn’t match, at the price of visual consistency. The 1976 production accepted the trade. Every time the grain shifts from one source to another, I’m pulled out of the battle and reminded that I’m watching a patchwork. Audiences in 1976 accepted it more readily.
The film made approximately $43 million on a $7 million budget. The financial return was serious. The Sensurround promotion attracted audiences. The cast supported critical attention. The film was a commercial success despite mixed critical reception. The mixed reception reflected the production compromises instead of the underlying material.
The 2019 Version
Roland Emmerich directed the 2019 production. Emmerich had previously made Independence Day (1996), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), 2012 (2009), and other large-scale visual effects productions. The Midway production allowed him to apply his disaster filmmaking techniques to a historical event. The visual effects work is the 2019 version’s primary contribution.
Compared with the 1976 version, the cast was less star-driven. Ed Skrein plays Lieutenant Richard “Dick” Best, a real Dauntless dive bomber pilot who participated in the attacks that destroyed the Akagi and the Hiryu. Patrick Wilson plays Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton, an intelligence officer who worked alongside Rochefort.
Woody Harrelson plays Admiral Chester Nimitz. Luke Evans plays Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky. Aaron Eckhart plays Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle in scenes that depict the Doolittle Raid that preceded Midway. Nick Jonas plays Aviation Machinist Bruno Gaido.
Mandy Moore plays Anne Best, Dick Best’s wife. Dennis Quaid plays Admiral William Halsey.
The historical accuracy is generally higher than the 1976 version.
The 2019 production used real historical figures throughout. The combat sequences depict actual tactical events including the exact dive bomber attack sequences that destroyed the Japanese carriers. The film shows Dick Best executing his actual dives and attributes the Akagi and Hiryu kills to Best’s accuracy instead of to fictional pilots. It respects the historical record.
The 2019 Visual Effects
For the combat sequences, the 2019 production used considerable CGI. The dive bomber attacks, the Japanese carrier explosions, the aircraft carrier launches and recoveries, and the naval engagements are visual effects work. The technology had advanced considerably since 1976. The 2019 audience receives a more visually dynamic depiction of the battle than the 1976 audience received.
The visual effects also produce limitations. The CGI sequences have the recognizable visual tone of digital effects work. The 1976 stock footage has the recognizable visual tone of actual historical footage. Different audiences respond differently to the trade. Audiences who came up on digital effects work tend to prefer the 2019 version. Audiences who came up on practical effects work tend to prefer the 1976 version. Neither preference is objectively correct.
The film made approximately $127 million on a $100 million budget. The financial result was disappointing relative to expectations but acceptable in absolute terms. The Chinese co-production support that helped finance the film required certain creative compromises that some critics objected to. The 2019 version is less critically respected than the 1976 version partly because of these structural issues.
For Writers
Both Midway films attempt to depict an entire major naval battle in a single feature runtime. The Battle of Midway involved approximately 200 aircraft, twelve major ships, and tens of thousands of personnel across multiple days. The compression required to fit this material into two hours forces choices that both productions handled differently. The 1976 version compressed by using composite characters and stock footage. The 2019 version compressed by emphasizing key sequences and using CGI for ambition.
The lesson for writers is that scale-versus-runtime is a permanent constraint in war filmmaking. If you have a large event to depict, you either accept a long runtime (Tora! Tora! Tora! used 144 minutes) or you accept compression that reduces accuracy. Both Midway films chose compression. Both films pay specific costs for the choice.
The Dick Best Storyline
Focus in the 2019 production falls on Lieutenant Richard “Dick” Best, the Dauntless dive bomber pilot who personally participated in the destruction of both the Akagi and the Hiryu.
Best was a real person. His combat record at Midway is documented. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis after the battle from inhaling lye fumes during a routine oxygen mask issue and was medically retired from carrier operations. His death from cancer in 2001 was attributed to the lye exposure.
Ed Skrein plays Best with the right restraint, and his performance is the best reason to watch the 2019 film. Best is a competent pilot in a job that kills about half the men who do it. He’s married, he has a daughter, and he believes in his work. Skrein doesn’t reach for theatrical heroism because the job supplies all the heroism the story needs, and I respect an actor who trusts that.
The choice to center the 2019 film on a real historical figure instead of on a composite character was correct.
The audience invests in someone whose actions occurred. The closing text confirming what happened to Best after the battle hits with suitable weight. The 1976 version’s Heston composite didn’t produce this kind of impact because the closing text could only confirm fictional outcomes.
The Real Battle
Midway ranks among the most studied naval engagements in history. The Americans achieved the victory through a combination of intelligence advantages, tactical decisions, and operational luck. American dive bombers destroyed the Japanese carrier strike force in approximately five minutes. They arrived at exactly the moment the Japanese fighter cover was at low altitude defending against American torpedo bomber attacks that had failed catastrophically.
The torpedo bomber sacrifice is the battle’s most heartbreaking element. American torpedo squadron VT-8 from the Hornet attacked the Japanese carriers without fighter cover. All fifteen aircraft were shot down. Only one crew member survived. Ensign George Gay was rescued from the water after the battle ended. The complete destruction of VT-8 contributed to the American victory by drawing Japanese fighter cover down to low altitude where it couldn’t respond to the later dive bomber attacks.
Each film documents the VT-8 sacrifice, and both shortchange it. That frustrates me more than anything else in either picture. The 1976 version includes the attack and never develops George Gay. The 2019 version gives it a brief pass with little individual characterization. Fifteen planes went in without fighter cover and one man survived, and that deserves far more than a few minutes of screen time. Somebody should make the film about those crews, because neither Midway has tried.
The Comparative Achievement
Neither version is definitive. The 1976 version has stronger acting (the cast is one of the great war film ensembles) and more atmospheric documentary feel from the stock footage integration. The 2019 version has stronger historical accuracy and more dynamic combat visualization. Audiences who watch only one version receive an incomplete picture of what Midway filmmaking has accomplished.
The combined viewing produces a fuller picture. The 1976 version provides the dramatic weight of the senior officer decisions. The 2019 version provides the operational reality of the pilots who executed those decisions. The two perspectives complement each other. Neither replaces the other.
The 8 rating reflects the combined achievement instead of either film individually. The 1976 version alone would rate slightly lower because of the production compromises. The 2019 version alone would rate slightly lower because of the historical compromises and the CGI overreliance. The two films together produce a fuller representation than either alone achieves.
The Ending (Both Versions)
American victory at Midway closes both films. The Japanese strategic position in the Pacific has been broken. The American carrier force has shown that it can engage the Japanese carrier force on roughly equal terms, and American industrial capability will replace the lost Japanese carriers faster than Japan can rebuild them. The war in the Pacific has turned.
The 1976 version closes with Heston’s composite Garth witnessing the aftermath and reflecting on the cost. The 2019 version closes with text identifying the real fates of the depicted personnel including Dick Best’s medical retirement and eventual death. Both endings respect the cost. Neither film celebrates the victory as triumph. Both films document it as the consequence of professional military work performed under difficult conditions.
Craft: Two Complementary Achievements
Craft Note
The two Midway productions work at different ambitions within the same material. The 1976 version offers ensemble acting and historical atmosphere through stock footage integration. The 2019 version offers historical accuracy and dynamic combat visualization through digital effects. Neither version replaces the other. Both versions deserve viewing for audiences seriously interested in the Battle of Midway.
With Heston, Fonda, Coburn, Ford, Holbrook, Mitchum, Wagner, Robertson, and Mifune, the 1976 cast represents one of the great war film ensembles. The 2019 cast (Skrein, Wilson, Harrelson, Evans, Eckhart, Jonas, Moore, Quaid) is competent but less distinguished. The casting reflects the different production eras and the different commercial calculations supporting each version.
The 8 ratings are for the combined achievement. Neither film alone reaches the level of Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) or Saving Private Ryan (1998). Both films contribute material that the other lacks. Together they document the Battle of Midway reasonably fully. The films belong in any serious Pacific War cinema conversation.
Does Midway (1976) and Midway still hold up?
An 8. I’d rate each film a notch lower on its own, the 1976 version for the patched-together footage and the invented hero, the 2019 version for the digital sheen and its historical compromises. Watched together, they cover each other’s weak spots. Fonda and Mifune supply the command decisions, Skrein and the dive bombers supply the men who carried them out, and the pairing deserves a rating neither film gets alone. My one real grievance is VT-8, and I still want the film that tells that story properly.
