Rating: 
Summary: THE BEST MOVIE IN MANY YEARS
Review: (...) To my wife and I we loved this movie, so much so we're proud to say we saw it in the theaters about a dozen times. It was by far the best alternative to the junk Hollywood turns out today. It had everything, a love story, frindship, action, and so many stirring moments that were great, AND, I must say in all truthfulness that in all the times we saw the movie the audience would give it a respectful hand that showed they enjoyed it. Not only that the shows were always packed so word of mouth must have praised the movie. I don't understand where some people got upset with the love story. Why not? I seem to remember another great movie "Gone with the Wind" having a love story too, with other twists and turns. The musical score was outstanding by Hans Zimmer. Maybe this movie will not be considered for any oscars but it was entertaining without being gross. Facts? Sure, maybe some facts got twisted some but the basic fact about what happen that day educated many people that never knew what took place that day. I purchased the DVD and it is just as great to see as it was before. To me the 3 hours went by pretty fast. I recommend this movie as one of the best 10 movies ever.
Rating: 
Summary: A war wrapped up in a love story...
Review: Decent cast for this mega-bang (700 sticks of dynamite) movie; Ben Affleck (tho good, his face has saturated the movie scene over the past few years - and I'm almost tired of watching him), Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding (in a fitting small role), Jon Voight, Dan Aykroyd (funny man playing a serious role), Tom Sizemore (in yet another war movie), and relative new-comer Kate Beckinsale. Graphics are great in the war scenes... airplanes flying, ship being bombed and capsizing, bombs being dropped. But the action is short. To see an hour of action, you have to sit thru two hours of mush. This IS a love story, not necessarily a war movie. Facts about Pearl Harbor are overlooked, too much on the loving 3-some here, and not enough about the actual WAR for which this movie is named after. I have to keep reminding myself that this is Hollywood and that it's "entertainment". After the fact, I realized there really wasn't a whole lot of blood & gore, nor bad language... then I remembered this is a Disney production. 183 minutes long, widescreen format, the behind the scenes "Making of Pearl Harbor", and the History Channel's "Unsung Heroes" tribute are all nice extras in this 2 disc set.
Rating: 
Summary: Movie is perfect. But I found FunLove Virus in Disc-2 :-(
Review: Today i just bought this DVD from the future shop in Canada. Because i don't have the DVD-Player, so I just tried it with my DVD-ROM. The strange thing happened: my Norton Antivirus poped up a window and it said there's a W32.FunLove.4099 virus in Disc 2. But I don't believe it, so I still tried to run it. Tonight, I want to make sure if there is any virus in my computer; so I used Norton to check all the hard drive. Do you know the result? There are 526 files are infected by FunLove. It's terrible! I don't believe my eyes! I strongly ask the DVD company to destroy all these DVD.
Rating:
Summary: a biggggggggggg disaster
Review: when i saw pearl harbor commercials they only showed the bombing sequences. that gave me the impression that the movie was totally devoted to the bombing and nothing else. how incorrect was i. it was a waste of time. half the movie was devoted to a fictitonial love triangle around pearl harbor. the actual preparations for the bombing and the bombing make up only 25% of the film. the attack on pearl harbor is pushed into a secondary role for almost no reason other than its a throwback of those old war films which consistantly involve a love plot. the bombing is absolutely super but makes up only such a small part of the movie which bites. after the bombing of the harbor the film should've wound down. instead it overly and unnecessarily extends the movie. it was continued by the Doolitle raid on Japan but that was only below average and was useless. the film was not thought up by bay and his associates. it was an unbelievable letdown. with new formulas for war movies that work for today like in Saving private ryan why revert. the plot is slow and seemingly the better actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Jon Voight, Dan Akroyd are given only weak bit roles. hard to believe right! believe this Pearl Harbor is not only a horrible war movie itself, of 2001, but of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Tepid love triangle ruins a superb attack sequence.
Review: Hollywood's timeline of epic films stretches back to the annuls of moviemaking, from timeless classics like "Lawrence of Arabia," "Ben-Hur," and "The Ten Commandments," to modern masterpieces such as "Braveheart," "Rob Roy," and the infamous "Titanic." With grand scale sets and special effects, talented actors and crew, big-budget status and studio backing, such movies are usually sure-fire winners. Moviegoers eat up these films, which almost always capture what is most important in an epic motion picture: the human emotion. Add to this elongated list Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor," one of the few epics that fails to register much depth of feeling in its long, drawn out story that runs over three hours long. Like its predecessors, particularly "Titanic," Bay's film also contains a love story set against an historical event steeped in the minds of millions of people who, until now, could only imagine the horror of what occurred on the "day of infamy." The recreation of these terrifying events is absolutely spellbinding, a collage of glorious special effects that bring to life one of the United States' most gripping tragedies, though the attempt to place the fictional love story as a centrifuge for emotional connection serves only to push us further away from embracing the film. It may come as a surprise to many that the film's credits include screenwriter Randall Wallace, whose script for "Braveheart" earned him high marks. The question burning on everyone's lips (including mine), concerns how the material presented in this film can be so juvenile and trite, considering his past work. The story centers around two young men, Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett), who grew up as friends and remain so in their military training as fighter pilots. During a health inspection, the two of them meet Evelyn (Kate Beckinsdale), a young nurse who falls instantly for Rafe, who does the usual routine of acting like a complete idiot because of his feelings. As the story drones on, we begin to wonder if we will ever see what we have come to see: the promised bombing sequence of Pearl Harbor. Before this comes, we must watch as Rafe ventures off the England, is shot down and believed dead by Danny and Evelyn, who waste little time getting comfortable with one another. But Wallace's script also contains the age old cliché, "If you don't see them die, they're not dead." Rafe returns, is angered, and lashes out at his friend and lover, just in time for the bombs to start dropping around them. And it is here that the movie reaches the point at which it becomes a completely wondrous film: from the first shots of Japanese zeros taking off from their carriers, to images of planes flying over civilians of Hawaii, Bay sets up the sequence with a tension that mounts higher and higher as we wait for the first bomb to drop. When it does, the film unleashes its power, recreating the attack sequence with visual and sound effects that are eye-popping and impacting. Ships bursting into flames like fireworks, the U.S.S. Arizona meeting its fate in the movie's most expensive shot, the U.S.S. Oklahoma rolling over as its sailors become trapped underneath and inside... this sequence of events captures the horrors of war as well as hitting an emotional high note that registers equal amounts of action and soul. The film not only pays attention to the ships in the bay, but also to the airfields and hospitals and the mayhem surrounding them. As planes attempt to take off in a retaliation effort, only to be shot down, the realization of defeat hits home, and hits home hard. The hospital scenes, shot in soft focus, are forceful and moving, terrifying in their graphic nature and realistic in their depiction of the confusion that ruled over so many people in their efforts to save the wounded. In effect, one could say that "Pearl Harbor" is all spectacle and no soul, which it is to a point. The attack sequence is brilliant, yes: this is what director Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are good at, creating dazzling special effects that surround tepid, emotionally flat stories. The love triangle, which takes excessive amounts of turns and changes of interest between the those involved, rules over the majority of the film, its banal approach lacking any interest that would keep us satisfied until we reach what we have been waiting for. Actors Affleck, Hartnett, and Beckinsdale all have a great deal of charm, yet put together they have no chemistry or believable moments; they are better left apart, as displayed during the attack. This focus on fiction clouds out the nonfictional aspects and characters of the story, such as the building suspicion held by Captain Thurman (Dan Aykroyd), who believes that Japanese peace talks are a cover for something larger. Aykroyd plays Thurman just as any actor in a dated war film, but with believability, as does Jon Voight, whose performance as Franklin Roosevelt is terrific. Cuba Gooding, Jr, who makes an appearance as Dorie Miller, the African-American cook aboard one of the fleet's vessels, barely has any screentime; these are the characters worth watching, if only there were more material that involved them. And for an event that marks defeat, the filmmakers seem determined to instill a sense of patriotism in audiences through a third act that focuses on the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, during which U.S. forces flew over the Japanese capital, destroying much of their munitions factories and military facilities. The catastrophic defeat at the Hawaiian naval base should end the film, yet instead, we are taken on another hour's worth of banality and ludicrous cliche, in which the people we guess will die do die, and everything ends on a high note of victory and happiness. For one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history, this sure has an upbeat ring to it once the credits begin rolling. Many will remember "Pearl Harbor" as being the big blockbuster that couldn't. There is grandeur in almost every aspect of its creation, yet the fictional contrivance fails to register any sense of emotional connection, and even overpowers what is good about film. Pyrotechnicians Bay and Bruckheimer have supplied us with a recreation as vivid and memorable as the event itself, but without any depth of feeling behind these characters, what good is the film as a whole?
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Chick Flick with An EDGE!!
Review: I saw the movie once..twice..three times and i still cant get enough of it. I cried, laughed and was angry all in one movie. I loved it and i would recommend it to anyone who likes war movies and love stories, like myself.
Rating:
Summary: A poor cousin of Tora Tora Tora
Review: This film tries to be a Titanic but fails miserably. Kate Beckinsale is unbelievable as a nurse with flowing long hair (?) For a war film it is too melodramatic to succeed.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie
Review: I heard bad things about this movie from friends and even a few movie review sites. Everything I heard was wrong. This movie was as close to perfect as I can imagine. Ben Afleck and Josh Hartnet made a great team and both did outstanding jobs. The story line was full and flowed very smoothly. The action sequences were both exciting and heart breaking at the same time. This is an incredible movie that I think everyone should watch.
Rating:
Summary: Just plain offensive
Review: When I heard that another movie about Pearl Harbor was being made, I was excited. I was curious to see what kind of result we'd get from Jerry Bruckheimer. After waiting in line opening night for three hours, I watched in horror as a horrific American event was turned into a sappy love story. Instead of the movie focusing on the actual event, and the heroes of December 7th, we had to endure watching two idiots fight over a woman, and then the attack scene. I will admit, the attack scene was very dramatic and the special effects were wonderful. That is the only positive thing I can say about this movie. Tora! Tora! Tora! is the only movie about Pearl Harbor that I will acknowledge as a decent piece of filmmaking regarding this crucial event in American history.
Rating:
Summary: unwatchable
Review: Thank god I didn't bother going to see this at the cinema - got the DVD last weekend and even in the comfort of my own home with a nice glass of wine I couldn't be bothered to watch the whole film. Boring love story, bad casting (Kate Beckinsale was awful) - I want my money back !
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