Rating: Summary: 'Pearl Harbor' a big misfire Review: From up to its pretty exciting 15-minute sequence as the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, 'Pearl Harbor' is a lumbering, barely involving film, which gives us a love triangle between two hunkish World War II fighter pilots, Josh Harnett and Ben Affleck and pretty nurse Kate Beckinsale.'Pearl Harbor' tries to capture the atmosphere and engaging set up of 1997's better "Titanic" by setting up three star-crossed lovers, instead of the usual two. It fails terribly, but it's mostly scripter Randall Wallace's fault, which tries to balance three to four subplots by compromising the film's integrity and intelligence. This 3+ hour film is obviously meant as a tribute to the people who died December 7, 1942 and has pretty nice cinematography, but the film itself is a shoddy-made puzzle in which all the pieces don't quite fit together. The characters wallow in sentimentality and the film unsuccessfully tries to create atmosphere, romance and humor, but the film's bottom drops out in the final third, not only to reveal a plot full of holes, but a incomprehensible story told in bad faith. Sorry, Bruckheimer. Nice try but no cigar.
Rating: Summary: BORING AND DUMB Review: Those are the 2 words that summarize that movie (and any Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer flick). To be honest, I only watched the first 2 hours, I was so bored I stopped the dvd. This is the usual junk that shows just how bad Hollywood blockbusters have become. All the money is put on visuals and special effects and the producers forget that you need *good actors* and *a good script* to make a movie. Historically, this movie is a farce. Avoid at all cost!! Rent (or buy) Tora! Tora! Tora! if you want to know what really happened on that day.
Rating: Summary: WHY?... Review: Why does Hollywood have to make a three hour movie about a terrible day in US history and turn it into 'As The World Turns'?... I could not believe that I sat through this piece of junk. It was 2 1/2 hours of 'General Hospital' and 1/2 hour of reality!... GIVE ME A BREAK!... It's a shame that Hollywood feels that 99% of the films that come out today must contain some kind of soap opera setting to satisfy what they think the lady folks wish to see. I find that to be rather insulting to women and I am not even a female!... There is NOTHING ROMANTIC about December 7,1941!... It gets 1 star for the actual attack sequence. Although,I HIGHLY doubt that,while they flew over head,the Japanese pilots were signaling to the American children to take cover. Give me ANOTHER break PLEASE!!!!!!! If you wish to see a GREAT film on Pearl Harbor, then seek out 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' and let this one rot.
Rating: Summary: Unprecedented in Size and Scope- A Must Own DVD Review: A more appropriate title would have been Pearl Harbor: The Director Strikes Back. There is so much to say about this DVD, I don't know where to start. First, let me start by saying that this is the movie that we should have seen on the big screen. Many of the differences between the original cut are very subtle, but they work wonders. One of the biggest improvements over the original is the added footage to the Doolittle raid. Though they are fast and brief, they make the scene more coherent. They also give the viewer a better sense of the damage inflicted by the raid, as well as the level of danger for the raiders after the bombs are dropped. IN my opinion, this is the most improved scene. The Pearl Harbor attack is enhanced by scenes of carnage that were not included in the original verssion. They make the scene even more stunning and unforgettable. The extras are almost endless; I honestly haven't gotten to view them all yet. I rarely find director commentaries worth viewing, but I found this one terrific. Critics have poked fun of the dialogue in this stupendous film, but Bay points out that he was trying to stay true to the plain spoken language of the time. He also explains the purpose of the love story, and inadvertintly points out the ridiculousness of comparing his film with Saving Private Ryan. Along on that commentary track is a WWII film historian (who was also Michael Bay's film professor). Together they explain the film in a historical context, debunking the idea that Bay's film was not accurate. There is so much that could be said about this DVD. Michael Bay has set a new standard here in DVD excellence that will no doubt frustrate cheapo studio execs. This is truly a must own DVD.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic DVD for an average movie Review: The director's cut is much better than the PG-13 version that was previously released. The movie still suffers from the love triangle B.S. that clouds the real purpose, but it's worth wading through to get to the battle sequence. That's the payoff. Body parts flying, blood, guts, extra explosions. It's just as graphic as Black Hawk Down. As for the extra features -- stellar! Great, in-depth stuff and worth the price. The packaging is really good as well. You get some postcards and a small flyer. It's a good package. There's a ... rebate inside the DVD for those of you who've purchased the previous version, so you really get this new package for [money], which is a bargain considering what you get. If you liked the movie despite the romantic stuff, you'll love this version.
Rating: Summary: Great Pearl Review: Some people think that this movie could have done without the lovedubby stuff, but if it hadn't had it I know that I would not have like it. I saw it in Disney World and boy am I glad I chose that instead something else. The historical facts might not be correct but it's just a movie it was exciting to see and I thought that it was the best movie of the year.
Rating: Summary: This is What DVDs are all about Review: This is the best DVD package I have seen yet, with the best extra materials. Some movies go straight to DVD without any extras, don't waste your money on them. I was surprised that some other war movies like Saving Private Ryan and BlackHawk Down had few extras. Which means I would expect future new editions. The Patriot is one war movie that comes packed with extras already. A note on all these different editions: STOP IT! We don't need 5 different editions. We don't need both full screen editions and widescreen. Stick with widescreen, especially in epics like this. How about releasing the best edition first, and skip all the others! I think Lord of the Rings has 5 different editions for goodness sake! Back to PH: This is a great movie. Powerful and visually masterful. Had it came out after Sept 11, it would have gotten much better reviews. But most of the not-so-good reviews were contradictory and hypcritical: The same people who loved Titanic, complained about the fictional love story in this movie. They seem to have forgotton how much of this movie is based or inspired by history. How it is more accurate than Titantic. And more important. The Director's Cut restores some of the more graphic war footage to the battle scenes. These scenes should have NEVER been cut out to begin with. People shouldn't be comfortable in a movie like this or else they'll miss the point. This edition is cheaper [at other places]...
Rating: Summary: Some of Change's to the Director's cut of Pearl Harbor Review: One of the big questions about the four-disc edition of Pearl Harbor is just what exactly they changed in the director's cut. ... Of course, the most noticeable change is the addition of gore in the many battle scenes. The carnage includes: * Limbs flying. In scenes with explosions where sailors were just knocked away in the old edition, they now lose arms and legs. In addition, a quick new scene was edited back in where one sailor is brutally spun and tore up by an explosion. * A severed head is seen rolling right in the camera frame with chunks of "meat" dangling out. * The Captain is seen holding his intestines in his hands when Cuba comes to his aid. * More gore can be see in the many strafing sequences with chunks of arms and legs being torn out. * Severed hands and legs can be seen lying around in the hospital sequence's. Besides those additions, there were a few quick cuts here and there throughout the film. With the state of the art DTS surround mix and widescreen picture this pack is the top of the line for a Pearl Harbor movie fan, but how ever for the first time ever the dvd studio used cardbord case's to hold all 4 dvd's, now that is a very BIG no no. Don't buy it if you want to keep it longer than 12 months or when you do buy it go out and buy 4 dvd case's to put all of the Pearl Harbor dvd's into. The pack looks great but dvd's sitting cardbord covers, come on, geat real how did they think of such a dumb thing to do. 5 stars for the movie and special featues 2 stars for the packageing
Rating: Summary: See This Version Above All Others! Review: I was lucky enough to find a copy of this DVD in a store three days before the official release date. Having never seen the film before, I watched it as soon as I got home. At first I was skeptical that this would be just another Jerry Bruckheimer film that was all action and no substance in terms of a plotline. On the contrary, I was surprised to find a WWII film that rivaled many others, such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Thin Red Line", in terms of historic believability, realistic action, and human emotion. The Vista Series of Pearl Harbor has an elevated level of violence and some extended scenes in addition to many outstanding bonus features. I was glued to my chair for at least 2 hours after the film ended, still exploring the various documentaries and behind the scenes features included on the four discs. Also, this DVD comes in some very creative packaging that only adds to the satisfaction of the enitre purchase. I would absolutely recommend this film to anyone who wants a good WWII film. *** If you have a DTS system the digital audio is incredible! It makes the experience of watching the film that much better.
Rating: Summary: pearl harbor Review: With the exception of the digital effects that created the Ca. class battle ships this movie his pure hokum... watch Tora Tora Tora... and if your into naval accuracy get Windtalkers when it comes out on DVD. Too much needless gore but they got the right classifications of ships and the correct Destroyer Squadron that attacked Saipan... at least they did their homework.
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