Rating: 
Summary: Green Blood Donations
Review: Fight the enemy, sink the ship, bomb the harbor; it's tragedy as spectacle. And I have no problem with it. The key to these exploitation films is to find a context in which the carnage can play a part, a carefully manipulated story centering in and around the "action". Basically, what the makers of these films are looking for is an excuse. Those behind this particular event picture however came up with a very bad one. Pearl Harbor, for most of its running time, is the type of z-grade soap opera that would make Kleenex's best customer wince in disgust. When the expensive bombs do finally start falling, in a frenzy of confused morality and directorial desperation, we get "cool" sequences with camera placed over a torpedo, "impressive" ones with a warship being turned over with all its crew still on board, and some really loud drums accompanying the imposing sight of over three hundred Japanese planes heading for the serene island. Simultaneously, we also get heavy-duty scenes of civilians dying beneath Han Zimmer's (I'll get to him later) sorrowful score. If that unintended dichotomy weren't enough, there's also that irritating beefcake hero running around with his buddies yelling, "Damn, I gotta get me a plane." Whether this is dross with ambition, or a particularly bad serious film, you'll have to decide. Pearl Harbor is terrible. And the bombs don't save it. No one expected depth, character development, acting or subtlety here. An adequate, competent non-plot/plot would have sufficed. But evidently, the director, Michael Bay had Spielbergian eminence on his mind; The film opens with two farm boys (not the farm sort, the post-card version) admiring an antique plane, after which the title "Pearl Harbor" appears against Spielberg's trademark image, the round setting sun. Having such lofty aspirations only serves to accentuate Bay's severe shortcomings. Its obvious that he's not half the manipulator Spielberg is, but more noteworthy is his absolute inability to complete a cinematic sentence. I would've thought that the confidence to choose a particular shot was a prerequisite for the most primitive of film courses. Yet here is Bay, the director of a hundred-and-fifty million dollar epic, and he can't decide whether to shoot his actors from the top, in profile, or from below. So he aimlessly fidgets between a hundred different approaches, fulfilling none. The fatuousness can be traced to the screenplay, by Randall Wallace, the writer of Braveheart no less, an insipid mixture of random political happenings, self-aggrandizing speeches, and dialogue so drippy, sticky and wet it clings to the screen after its shameless utterance. I would repeat that howler about the sun and moon, but my keyboard would get nauseous. Films like Pearl Harbor have the critics out for blood well before their release. At its banking system busting budget, the experienced critic knows that it can't afford to offer anything other than spectacle. It has to appeal to every member of the audience, everywhere in the world, at this particular moment in time. You should not however mistake the tepid critical response for prejudice. This is not a knee-jerk reaction to populist entertainment, Pearl Harbor is particularly awful populist entertainment. Take for example James Cameron's Titanic. That was also a huge populist, and yes, simplistic film about a tragedy. But Cameron is a director capable of rhythm, structure and discipline. Despite what his detractors may say, Cameron used all his expensive toys to get somewhere. In contrast, Pearl Harbor is a big loud mess. Bay's PG-13 war is too bloodless to horrify, his flag waving politics are too stupid to be absorb, and his love story, performed by actors who seem to have had all humanity liposucked out of them, is banal beyond words. There isn't a single quite moment in its mindless three hours. For the noise, Hans Zimmer was employed, previously of Bay's The Rock (1996). The gifted Zimmer has fashioned some great film music in the past. His score for The Rock (a good, silly action film where Bay's mania was appropriate) was superb gung-ho nonsense. Here, unsure whether the film is a serious drama, or a shoot'em up, he has come up with the standard military stuff for the stars, ominous drums for the Japanese, and most distastefully, he apes his own brilliant work on The Thin Red Line for the drama. His score plays like the film; gutless and all over the place. Some may still find the concept of death as spectacle offensive. I don't. In fact, I find little in movies that is potent enough to be offensive. A film like Saving Private Ryan, an action film that pretended to be something more, is one of the few ones that gets on my nerves. Pearl Harbor is too loud and too obvious to make any potent political or sociological suggestions that could slight anyone (even the Japanese). No, Pearl Harbor is not at all offensive. Just offensively bad.
Rating: 
Summary: The "Titanic" of the Second World War.
Review: If you enjoyed "Titanic" you'll going to love "Pearl Harbor." There's the love triangle, the great looking young leads, sailors falling off sinking ships, even bodies floating in the water. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. Seriously, this is a fast paced love story set against the backdrop of Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941. It is not an accurate account of that day in history any more than the movie "Titanic" was totally accurate. It is a fun three hours that makes you want to keep going to the movies. The effects are fantastic and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Pearl Harbor -- THE MOVIE
Review: It distress me to see all the negative reviews of Pearl Harbor...knocking it for it's lack of "historical value." Fact is, it's a MOVIE. No one would go and pay 8 to 10 dollars to see a documentary - that's what the history channel is for. The fact is, a love story like that works in a war movie. It may be cliche, but come on! It's PG-13 and there's only so much they can do. Finally, I've recently graduated from high school in a excellent school system near Washington, DC. I've also taken several history classes in college and all I've learned was: Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. entered the war which we won. This a day in age where the WWII veterns are dying and their experience is dying with them. I appluad the cast and crew for making me watch "hunderds of US boys dying." It happened, it's important and the love story enables us to sit through a history lesson that needs to be taught.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!!!
Review: Pearl Harbor completely astounded me. I was not expecting it to be as good as it was -- it was excellent! The story and plot behind this movie is fairly simple: Soldiers going off to war, two men falling in love with the same woman, the suspense as you know an attack is coming... But Pearl Harbor somehow managed to be different from most other movies, creating an epic that is sure (what movie isn't?) to be picked on by critics, but loved by many. Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, and Josh Hartnett all had terrific, very believable, heart wrenching performances, that are very award worthy. The love triangle those three had was complex and bittersweet - the boys both loved the girl, she loved them both but didn't want to hurt them - but the boys also had strong brotherly love for each other, which made the story realistic. The attack at Pearl Harbor was breathtaking, as terrible as I'm sure it was, without over- or under- doing it. This was an excellent, bittersweet movie that I would definitely recommend seeing at least once, to help understand and make real "the day that will live in infamy."
Rating:
Summary: Where Was The Script?
Review: I've been waiting to see this movie ever since I heard about it in the Fall of 2000. I saw it Memorial Weekend and was deeply hurt by what the film did. The main problem I had with 'Pearl Harbor' was the script. Not only did it limit Kate Beckinsale's ability to show her acting muscles, it also ruined the ending. Seriously, the conclusion so predictable, it berates screenwriter Randall Wallace's (Braveheart) talent. The cliques and the cheesiness were just endless. Not all of it can be blamed for by the script. It seems like the lead actor, Ben Affleck didn't have chemistry with any other cast member besides Alec Baldwin's Col. Dolitle. As one critic say, "Ben Affleck was playing a movie star playing a war pilot." I was extremely impressed with Josh Hartnett (Danny) and Kate Becksinale (Everlyn)'s performance. They literally got me through the last hour of the movie. Hartnett showed signs of charisma and talent, finally pulling away from tenn projects like 'H20' and 'The Faculty'. I applaud him for that. Beckinsale and Hartnett garnered onscreen chemistry and it showed in the "They Don't Need To Go (Where Danny asks Everlyn to ride on the plane)" scene. The visual effects of this movie were FANTASTIC! The continuous 45 minutes bombing effects kept me in awe. I smell an Oscar for this. But don't judge the movie based on my words if you haven't seen it, go see it yourself!
Rating:
Summary: I liked it in spite of myself
Review: I liked this movie because of the special effects. I can turn a blind eye to the smalts and some of the historical inacuracies, but when Kate Beckinsale says to an Intelligence officer "you've got to tell me about this secret Doolittle raid" it really ruins what could have been a good film.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie!
Review: I am not usually in to watching war movies. But my husband loves history and really wanted to see it. We went and I was amazed on how well the the movie played out. The characters and the Japanese attacking at Pearl Harbor and all the special effects that you know went on. Having a love story in the mist of all of this, just made the movie so much better. I love this movie and I know when it comes out on video, I will purchase it and watch it over and over. It is now our all time favorite movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Love Story
Review: I thought this was a very good movie. It was a great love story and the fighting was very good. It made me think about what all these men went through for our feedom. This is the summer movie that everyone should see.
Rating:
Summary: Unfourtunate Melodrama
Review: The visual effects for the actual attack were rather impressive. Unfourtunately, we had to endure a sappy melodrama involving the three characters. If you can get by this you should enjoy the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Pearl of a Movie
Review: This was a Titanic formula with a different time setting. The formula; Take a war movie or other disaster to attract the males, add a romance to attract the females and you have a blockbuster of a movie. The romance was very well done and believable, the disaster was one very close to the hearts of every American. The special effects were spectacular. A very good movie, and well worth watching.
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