2/5 You actually call THIS a "war film?"
  by Eric S. Kim (Southern California)
You know, I can think of other film directors besides Michael Bay who could have done a much better job of filming Pearl Harbor, a film that had lots of potential before it was turned into an overproduced train wreck. Let's see, there's Michael Mann, Ridley Scott, Terrance Malick, heck, even Stephen Spielberg! But what did Touchstone do? Accept a horrible script and hire Michael Bay (of all people!) to direct a romantic film that just happens to be set before, during, and after the notorious attack of Pearl Harbor. To be honest, I don't completely hate Bay. He has created two great action films: The Rock and Bad Boys II (the former being slightly more realistic than the latter). But to have him do a historical film like this? Something toxic must have been in the producers' coffee, because what we get is something that's uneven and unconvincing. This is basically a love story that's mixed with a major historical event, and we've seen that sort of film before, haven't we? *cough* Titanic *cough*

The only good things about this film are the special effects, the action, and the drama during the actual attack on the harbor. The rest of the film is nothing but an embarrassment. The actors' talents have been wasted because of a script that's filled with silly dialogue and cliched scenarios. The film itself is too darn long: even if it is supposed to be a war epic, it certainly doesn't feel like a war film at all. But I think the worst thing about this movie is the fact that they just happened to insert a romantic plot, a love triangle that has nothing to do with Pearl Harbor itself. The film would have worked better if it was a coming-of-age story, or a political thriller. But no, we have uninteresting characters falling in love with each other, and all of it is just painful to sit through. It's more of a soap opera, at least to me. Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Alex Baldwin, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, and Cuba Gooding Jr. are all very good actors. It's too bad, however, that they had to appear in this wasted opportunity of a war epic.

I don't know about you, but all of the men and women who have lost their lives on December 7th, 1941, deserve a more provocative film about that dreadful day. The brilliant special effects and the intense action sequences really cannot make up for the inappropriate romance, the dull characters, the unbelievably bad script, and the obvious cliches that take control of this movie. I think I should check out Tora! Tora! Tora! very soon.

Grade: D-

3/5 Detailed Mediocrity, But Pleasant Memories of Childhood Stomping Ground
  by Deborah Earle (USA)

Three decades after the events depicted in this story, part of my "Air Force brathood", as it were took me to the scene of the main area of drama for this movie. The older I get, the more unsettling it becomes to think of how such a beautiful place as Oahu looked during the early years of many of my early-life authority figures and neighbors...
This 2001 feature provides us with a fictional love triangle against the backdrop of one of the most cataclysmic events in American History.
It begins with two young Tennessee lads named Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker (Jesse James and Reiley McClendon), first pretending to fly in a makeshift airplane as they wait for Rafe's crop duster father(Steve Rankin) to land his plane.
Overtaken by a sense of adventure and mischief, the two boys sneak into the newly landed plane, accidentally starting it up and taking it a few feet before facing the wrath of Danny's father( William Fichtner), who was left a "doddering wreck" due to service in World War I.
By the early 1940s, both young men( Ben Affleck, and Josh Hartnett) have channeled their love of flying into service in the military. While in a military clinic being tested for their abilities as pilots, Rafe encounters Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale), a pilot's daughter who, despite Rafe's dyslexia sympathetically allows him to pass, having seen firsthand what happens when pilots lose their wings. A romance ensues between the two.
With Evelyn's co-workers in tow, they have an elegant evening out at a swank jazz joint in New York.These include the very young Betty Bayer (Jaime King), Barbara(Catherine Kellner), Sandra (a bobbed-haired and begoggled Jennifer Garner), and Martha(Sara Rue). The officers they encounter at that outing include Lieutenants Billy Thompson, Red Winkle, and Anthony Franco( William Lee Scott, Ewen Bremner, and Greg Zola).
Rafe soon accepts assignment in Blitz-torn England, much to the dismay of Evelyn and Danny. Evelyn and the other nurses are soon transfered to sunny Hawaii. In watching those scenes, I can almost inhale the familiar fragrances of coconuts, pineapples, and plumerias. It was only during the last full year that I was there that I learned the historical significance of Pearl Harbor. But thanks to this film, I enjoyed a brief view of the Hickam water tower, behind which my siblings and I attended Hickam Elementary.
We encounter the young Navy cook, Doris Miller (Cuba Gooding Jr.) winning a boxing match and having his minor injuries treated by Evelyn, who is subsequently confronted with the news of Rafe's death in Europe by Danny. They share their grief with each other, and toast him with the other nurses. Parting company for sometime afterwards, a chance encounter draws them closer together.
In the meantime, Commander Minori Genda( Cary-Hiroyuki Togawa), and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto(Mako) are fueling Japan's war machine( The parting rituals of the young pilots is intriguing to watch) while Admiral Kimmel(Colm Feore), Captain Thurman(Dan Aykroyd), Vice Admiral Fletcher(Thomas Arana), Secy. of the Navy Frank Knox( Tom Everett), try to stay a step ahead of them.
On Saturday Evening, December 6, 1941, Evelyn receives a surprise visit from the very-much-alive Rafe, who had been trapped behind enemy lines after his plane went down and was unable to get word out until shortly beforehand. Realizing that Evelyn and Danny are now a couple, a devastated Rafe goes to a local watering hut for a drink. A brawl ensues when Danny confronts him there.
Fleeing the scene before the police arrive, the two lifelong friends wonder how their relationship will ever be the same.
But soon larger events overshadow their dilemma...
One major inaccuracy of this film is that the first bombs dropped by the Japanese would have hit land and not the water since most bases on Oahu are further northward and Pearl Harbor is in the South Central area of Oahu.But the film's dramatic presentation of the attack did enable me to view the Kohoolau Range,my one-time home of Hickam Air Force Base (then Hickam Field), and other childhood haunts.Until the battle begins and everything turns to twisted steel of iron gray, orange flames, and billowing, curling smoke, the view is lovely.
A Navy Newsreel photographer(Pat Healy), jumps into Danny's car as Danny and Rafe, still casually dressed, try to get to an air field. Evelyn and the other nurses rush to the Army hospital.
One accuracy fo the film is its depiction of how doctors saved more lives in this war than the previous one by focusing on treating only those they knew they could save. But one young woman with a troubled past but promising future is sadly, among the casualties.
Doris Miller swings into action after witnessing the death of Captain Mervyn Bennion(Peter Firth).He will become the first African American to earn the Navy Cross.
Tom Sizemore's Sgt. Earl Sistern supplies the troops with weapons during the land battle, and soon Danny and Rafe take to the skies.
President Roosevelt(Jon Voight) makes his famous declaration of war on Japan, and later inspires his staff with his can-do attitude, illustrating his point with his polio-plagued body. Lt.Col. James Doolittle(Alec Baldwin)recruits Rafe and Danny for his famous raid that will turn the tide in the war in the Pacific.
For one of the two friends, it will bear fateful consequences. But a part of him will always remain with Evelyn and the true love of her life.
Michael Shannon as Lt. Gooz Wood,Scott Wilson as Gen. George C. Marshall, and Graham Beckel as Admiral Nimitz are among the many supporting characters.
The film is one of an occasionally forced sense of drama,but the cinematography is sharp, and to reiterate, seeing my beautiful Hawaii again is it its main redeeming quality.



3/5 More gore, but still a bore.
  by Joseph M. Perorazio (Columbus, OH USA)
By adding a lot more gore, including severed heads, limbs, and oozing innards, Michael Bay manages, with his 'Director's Cut', to turn his schmaltzy epic into a more credible war film, although the atrocious acting and sappy screenplay still hold the entire piece down. Racial slurs are far more prevalent, with extensive use of the "J" word, along with some non-repeatable epithets. All of which would be fine, if the film were even remotely credible as an authentic WWII period piece. Alas, by inserting very 21st-century dialogue and a complete lack of historical perspective, 'Pearl Harbor' the director's cut comes over as a poor man's Titanic, aiming for a teen audience while bilking the Greatest Generation out of its deserved tribute. The film is gorgeous, saturated in vivid color and photographed to present the lead actors in full Hollywood glamour, yet the entire effort seems remote and calculated for maximum box office and minimal emotional resonance. The DVD packaging, although quite elaborate, is cumbersome and awkward, including 4 sleeves guaranteed to scratch the DVDs after just a few uses.

5/5 Explosive Action and Drama Making A 'Must See Movie'.
  by Joseph D. Toth
Pearl Harbor starring Ben Affleck, and Kate Beckinsale bring a piece of America's history back to life as this two disk DVD set walks you through a dramatization of the Pearl Harbor attacks.

This is a great movie. I feel it does a really good job of showing the `sucker punch' America took in December of 1941.

Though this is a movie, it does a really good job of making us remember.

Otherwise, this film is also very entertaining with a great cast and perfect costumes finely tuned for accuracy to that of 1941.

I found this film to be very easy to follow, and the story in my opinion was flawless.

Very well done, thanks to director Michael Bay.

I have this DVD in my personal movie collection. It's a keeper!

Reporter Joseph Toth
Washington Micro Bank BBS


1/5 Boring, sappy, an insult to the original
  by MysteryLover
This movie was so overrated. The acting was awful, the direction slow. It single-handedly makes the war movies of the 1940s all look like Oscar material.