Rating: 
Summary: The director's cut is worse than the theatrical release.
Review: Pearl Harbor was a pretty underrated old-fashioned war entertainment that strived for romance and heroics, rather than the brutal, stark anti-war statements we've come to expect ever since Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. For what it aspires, Pearl Harbor is reasonably well-made and enjoyable, certainly not worthy of classic status, but better than its reputation (as a rating, I would give 3 out of 5 stars). Then comes director Michael Bay's director's cut, arriving in a huge, four-disc special edition, and me being as curious as I am, I just couldn't resist. Well, I probably should have because this version is actually weaker than the theatrical release, thanks mainly to added gore effects that are unconvincing, to say the least. Whether it's a decapitation, bloody gunshoot wounds, or spinning torsos, most of the make-up effects added would be more than passable for a horror flick, but for a film trying to achieve maximum battle realism, this is completely unacceptable, and on more than a few occasions, I found myself trying to stifle a chuckle. This is obviously not a good thing, when you consider that the battle scenes make up for half of the film's effectiveness (or to those who hated it, either all or none) Aside from that, all the flaws that existed before (tack-on plotting, corny dialogue) are still evident and in place, so this director's cut probably won't win anyone over who didn't much like it the first time around. If you're any bit at all curious about seeing the film, then I'd suggest the original theatrical cut, which might be PG-13, but at least the battle scenes in that edition were consistently riveting and never had any distractions, effects-wise.
** 1/2 out of *****
Rating: 
Summary: Pearl Harbor: One large disappointment
Review: I was a History major and really looking forward to seeing a movie about Pearl Harbor. With all the special effects and Hollywood wizardry they produce today, I could hardly wait. The trailor made the movie look like a non-stop action event from start to finish. What you actually got was much, much less. You got a WWII version of Titanic. The producers took a very interesting topic (Pearl Harbor) an ruined it by 1)Casting Ben Affleck, 2)Throwing in some cheesy love triangle, and 3) giving this movie an anti-climactic ending with the Doolittle Raid. It's almost as if the producers couldn't just give the viewer the basic facts and portray what actually happened. Noooo, they had to throw in "Selling Factors" that would make the movie more appealing to a larger audience. What you get is a watered-down version. The best of Pearl Harbor? Definately the 30-min. scene of the actual bombing of Pearl Harbor. The worst of Pearl Harbor: Kate Beckingsale waiting at the airport and, unknown to her, having to watch her loved one being unloaded from the plane in a box. How CHEESY. I would have walked out if it were not the last scene in the movie. Don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Why do people hate this film?
Review: Yes, it may be a cheesy love story but it has a great story to tell. I loved it, when I went into the theaters to hate it. I love the story of Pearl Harbor and Michael Bay did a great job of recreating the 1940's. Yes, it is meant for todays audiences, but so is Titanic. See this film, the R rated directors cut has more gore, only one added scene was appreciated...that's it.
3 hours, enjoy the sound and score.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great DVD for A Decent Movie.
Review: I have always enjoyed Jerry Bruckheimer & Michael Bay films, not entirely because of their story lines but their all in good fun. Now they have made Pearl Harbor, a movie not intended to be fun but it is an action movie after all. I personally thought 75% of the movie was good before. Now after seeing the new Director's Cut, I enjoyed pretty much the entire film. Yes the acting could have been a bit better and the story a bit more developped but what can you do? The Director's Cut is only one minute longer than the original, but still, some footage was replaced, some taken out and some new things were added. If you're not a fan of gore you may want to beware of some of the new shots contained in the new action sequence. It's not a substantial amount of blood & guts that may make you cringe, but more of a realistic way of showing what happened. Also, the "Love story" seems to be a bit better paced with little cuts here and there to still keep your eyes on the screen. Even if you did not enjoy the movie, you can learn a lot from this release about the real event and the filmmaking aspect. A lot of work went into this picture and most of it is shown here among its 4 discs! This is so far the best special edition ever released in my opinion in more ways than one. This is a must own for any DVD collector, Pearl Harbor fan, or any aspiring filmmaker. I stronly recommend this Director's Cut.
Rating:
Summary: The defining movie for this event
Review: A movie similar to "The Patriot" in that it takes an American War and sets against it a touching personal story, while doing its best to sanitize black spots in our history and smooth out history to make it a better plot device, at the expense of depth. Racism is presented as merely an afterthought, and there's Cuba Gooding, Jr. playing a black Navy cook for one of two times. The movie appears historically accurate to the extent that it focuses on the attack. Minor events can and should be made fictitious so as not to focus on specific individuals the way a documentary would. The story you see in the movie is one which could have happenend; fragments of it almost certainly happened, like the underage runaway who lies about her age to get into the Navy. The cause of the love triangle looks like it came out of a modern soap opera, but that can be forgiven. The movie has three distinct parts: before, during, and post-attack, and could almost have been broken up into three separate movies (the movie runs LONG, almost four hours). The attack sequence is a bit unnerving for Americans who aren't used to seeing us get slaughtered, but The Patriot already covered that ground successfully. As in The Patriot, the Japanese perspective is given a voice, including one brief scene of a young Japanese soldier writting a love letter in which he speaks of the willingness to die for his country. For those who put down the writing of the film, it did make effective use of foreshadowing twice, once where Rafe and Danny play "chicken" in the air, with Rafe defending the "stunt" as a way of "keeping his edge" (later on in the film they use this stunt in combat), and in another, where the Cuba Gooding character complaints to Evelyn about not being allowed to fire weapons yet. "Let's hope you never have to" is her eerie response. While D-Day may have been the beginning of the end of World War II, the war's turning point could be traced to the point at which the remains of the Pacific Fleet, in the midst of being attacked by an airborne fleet numbering almost four hundred, began to fight back from the ground, and in the air, taking out 29 enemy aircraft. At that point, the third wave of the attack was called off because the element of surprise, Japan's major weapon, was gone. For anyone who wonders why we dropped atomic weapons on Japan, Pearl Harbor answers them. This was a brutal enemy of tremendous intelligence and force, using weapons specifically designed to destroy us and which were superior to our own. On the social side, the film provides a bit of a time capsule of the racism and sexism inherent in the era: blacks are shown playing music, boxing, and performing menial tasks in uniform, while women are shown in the nurturing roles of nurses, wielding influence over the men on a personal level while leaving them in charge institutionally. The image portrayed in both cases is not one of oppression, but of a system in which gender and racial roles were well-defined and people were expected to conform to those roles. The women of that era sought power not by advancing in rank, but instead by showing the vulnerability of the males of that era either on the examining table to receive an injection, or in a social setting where the men solicit the women's attention. Once the attack commences, the women wind up in charge because most of them were away from its location and then rushed to the scene, suffering casualties of their own. Some uneasy questions about whether we were better off then or now with the way things are or were are raised, and the answers are not simple. Once the shock of the attack wore off, and the soldiers began to regroup, the transformation from the military "working holiday" that many thought their stations were to an armed force united against a common and deadly enemy was complete. This movie captured brilliantly both the ferocity and impotence of the attack: a seemingly never-ending assault on our ships is juxtaposed against a cowardly invader retreating the moment we began to fight back. The casting of Dan Ackroyd as a decoder was an excellent detail; no other actor in Hollywood would have done with those few lines he had what he was able to. ... . Like other recent epics such as "The Patriot" or "Any Given Sunday," taking a large slice of Americana and putting it on film to perfection is a hopelessly lost cause. Those who would make the film historically accurate would offer a dull rendition of it, too focused on details and not cognizant of the need to be able to tell a story and make it interesting as a movie, without compromising the facts upon which it is based. This movie achieves these aims on all counts. A compelling production.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh my gosh! The first preview that was better than the film!
Review: They sucked us in with the initial trailer, a movie preview that only slightly hinted any kind of romantic sequence. It was packed with an intense track by Hans Zimmer and a total focus on the short battle scenes. But, after watching this film, I was left thinking, "why couldn't the Japs have killed Affleck and Hartnett?" I should have known, though, seeing very clearly that both Hartnett and Affleck would be starring in this war version of Runaway Bride. This is a chick flick disguised as a war film. The film spends 3/4 of itself focusing on a love triangle, and my, my, it just happens to be the love triangle from hell. It's a very unmerciful slap in the face to all those men who fought in World War 2, and those who tragically gave their lives at the real Pearl Harbor. But what's a little dishonor towards American war vets if it means some big bucks for Hollywood, right? Please, people, please. This wasn't even comparable to From Here to Eternity, a film that was known as a chick flick from the get-go. With Pearl Harbor, we are tricked into thinking this movie was going to be a war film, which it cleary is not. If you expect a war film on the same lines as Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, or even The Thin Red Line, this film is not for you. If you do, however, enjoy You've Got Mail set under the tones of a war film, this will certainly float your boat(pun intended).
Rating:
Summary: Can you give a film fewer than 1 star?
Review: It's a pity really, that any film with the vast resources and talent that Pearl Harbor had should fail so spectacularly. With the possible exception of the writer(s?) and director, the forces arrayed in making this film could have put together a true cinema classic. Instead they turned it into a cocktail joke. This is doubly sad, of course, because the historical events depcited here have so many natural and compelling stories (even fictions) that could and should be told. I'm tempted to call this film an insult to those who served and/or died that day. But that's not really fair. The intentions here were good, the execution was lazy and sloppy.
Rating:
Summary: Did I miss any cliché¿s?
Review: It's sad, with the amount of money spent and the historical interest in WWII this could have been a really good film. It just needs a screenplay, a director who can direct, actors who can act, and a plot that's not quite so contrived. Instead, the filmmakers took the low road of trying to make a buck my integrating (should I say stealing) as many film cliché's as possible. A woman looses the love of her life due to the war, finds her new love, only to have her first lover reappear creating a hopeless love triangle (anyone see Casablanca?). War as hell is captured on film by showing bombs and bullets killing massive numbers of people (anyone see Saving Private Ryan?). People struggle and drown as the ship sinks (anyone see Titanic?). The nurse ventures into the throng of wounded, dead and dying and is overwhelmed with the magnitude of the carnage (anyone see Gone with the Wind?). I could put up with the cinematic cliché's if only the acting, screenplay, and direction weren't so lame. It's obvious the actors are, well, acting. Little genuine emotion reaches the viewer, and the dialogue is unbelievably contrived. There is no gratuitous nudity or sex, but in this film their inclusion would have been a welcome diversion. Having said all that, I'll give the film 2 stars, if only for the action, costumes, some pretty good aerial dog fighting footage, and the pure spectacle of it all.
Rating:
Summary: Pearl Harbor was amazing!
Review: Director Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer made an amazing film.Althought it might seem a little long but it's a great movie.Well it's a great film and I recommend this to anyone who loves Josh Hartnett,Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale.Yes,the rest of the cast was amazing too! But these three people light up the screen!! I think this film attracts young people instead of older. And at the begining of the film you can just tell that this movie might make you cry.But other wise its a great film!
Rating:
Summary: The Best movie on the earth!!!!!
Review: This movie was the best movie I've ever seen in my life!!! I cannot believe the bad things people have said about it! I don't think people these days understand how hard it is to make a movie like this! It has romance, action, humor, drama, and one of the cutest actors on earth! I think that Josh Hartnett really showed how good of an actor he really is. When I saw it I cried so hard my eyes were swollen. It really makes you feel proud of the country your living in, and sad about what the people had to go through that day.
|
