Rating: 
Summary: Pearl Harbor
Review: Michael Bay's re-creation of the historic Pearl Harbour is a visually stunning, yet emotionally puerile film that lacks the frenetic fun of Bay's earlier films. Why Jerry Bruckheimer and Bay ever considered this mammoth of a movie is anyone's idea (stick to dumb action films guys), and the love triangle of Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale is frankly mind-numbingly-awful. While the huge battle scenes for the attack on Pearl Harbor are impressive, the film loses stars for being far too cardboard and unrealistic. But it is impossible to deny that the colossal battle scenes, bombs, big things exploding and action are really good, making for an impressive action film that is enjoyable if you can stand the yucky emotion.
Rating: 
Summary: Why the bad rap?
Review: What was supposed to be the summer of 2001's biggest blockbuster turned into, in comparison, a flop. The movie critics called this movie things like, "terrible", "boring" and a cheap knockoff of legitamate war movies. Why? I really liked this movie! I mean, yeah, it had wasn't the most historically accurate movie and there was a cliche'd love triangle, but still it was a great movie. Movie critics were a bit harsh of this fine piece of cinema. If you give it a chance..and you're not overly critical..you will enjoy this movie for what it is: historical fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Root Canal Surgery
Review: ...This was one of the worst movies I have EVER seen. The actors were bad. The plot was bad. The script was bad. All this stretched out into three hours of suffering. Well, OK, two hours - the pearl harbor attack sequence is pretty cool, but you have to wait through an hour and a half of bad dialogue to get to it. Don't waste your time here. Move along.
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood should end the Razzi Awards...
Review: Why do they need to have lame awards like the Razzies? How could people be so cruel by giving out "Worst Movie Award", "Worst Actress Award", or "Worst Actor Award"? I think 'Pearl Harbor' was an excellent movie and should not have been nominated for any Razzi Awards! Whoever started these awards are very shallow and dull. But anyway...back to 'Pearl Harbor'.
'Pearl Harbor' didn't have to be completely accurate because it is a Hollywood blockbuster. It's not a documentary. 'Saving Private Ryan' was not totally accurate, because I thought that they were being a little over-dramatic, especially with the battle sequences. Yes, there is a love story. Yes, I think they were trying to streatch the movie to be a little too much like James Cameron's 'Titanic', but it was still good in it's own right. You have to give them credit for the effort.
The battle sequences were incredible, and even the love story was not totally boring and kept me interested. Most people stayed for the battle sequences...but I actually stayed for the love story (call me a "hopeless romantic" if you must).
Forget the Razzi Awards and the bad professional critics...rent 'Pearl Harbor' on DVD today!
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly Mediocre
Review: First things first: Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Randall Wallace try to mix "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan". They horribly fail in their attempt, called "Pearl Harbor".Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale star in this World War II film with an incredible supporting cast including Jon Voight, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tom Sizemore, Alec Baldwin, Dan Aykroyd, and Jennifer Garner. One would expect by the film's cast, crew, and trailer that it would be an incredible drama about the attack and battle, with such great people like Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer, who teamed up to do such action greats as "Armageddon" and "The Rock", and Randall Wallace, the screenwriter of "Braveheart". But, on the contrary. These great actors, film makers and writers drag a "coulda woulda shoulda" epic into a 3 hour fiasco. Instead of a war drama, "Pearl Harbor" starts out as a love story. For an hour and a half we watch as a love triangle wrecks friendship and trust. There are some funny moments with the other wingmates, but other than that, the story is nothing special. Rafe, Affleck's character, is reported missing in Britain fighting against the Luftwaffe, just after winning the heart of Evelyn (Beckinsale). Enter Rafe's best friend, Danny (Josh Hartnett) to steal away Evelyn. Rafe returns out of nowhere, and the melodrama thankfully ends as Naval Intelligence believes an attack by the Japanese fleet is going to take place soon. This is where the movie picks up. Naval intel Captain Thurman (Aykroyd) believes the Japanese are on a bullet line straight for Pearl, while we see the Japanese view, barely scratched on in this movie. Eventually, the attack begins, and boy, is it a sight. CGI makes this a great feat for technology and remembering Pearl, but just as the main action heats up, we return to Danny and Rafe driving to a secondary air strip to take on the Japanese Zeros. We're treated to an awesome battle sequence for 30 minutes, and after it's all over, it seems like a good place to end the film - but wait, you've still got another hour! Wallace somehow makes the transition from the attack on Pearl to the attack on Tokyo by Doolittyle and his Flying Fortresses. This is a pure dissapointment here, as the aspect of counter-attacking immediately isn't needed at all, nor is it rational. FDR is melo-dramatized by Jon Voight, and the movie tries to end with some drama as Danny dies, giving responsibility of fathership to Rafe. This might as well been termed "Pearl Harbor: The Soap Opera". Completely unnecessary. "Pearl Harbor" shines through its minor characters, such as Gooding, Jr., James King, and Ewen Bremner. This film is nothing in comparison to "Tora! Tora! Tora!", but will be remembered for it's 200-some million dollar production tag. Although "Pearl" was a blockbuster, it was bland and a dissapointment.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The attack and battle scenes in this movie were very good. But other than that it had little to offer. The sub-plot of the love story was weak and predictable. I was dissappointed in the movie as a whole. I felt that there was a lot of promise to this movie that for some reason was not fulfilled. It seems as though some people really liked this movie but that was not my opinion. My advice, I would view it first and decide before buying. A mistake I made was to buy before viewing based on information I had heard from friends. I was sorry I did not rent it first.
Rating:
Summary: overblown, overacted, overlong
Review: A movie for 12-year-old girls. There's nothing wrong with that, provided you are a 12-year-old girl. But if you aren't, beware that the love story is improbable, if not ludicrous. And this thing is LONG with a capital L-O-N-G. Why they felt the need to include Dolittle's raid is beyond me. I guess so it didn't end on a downer. We know who won the war, you don't have to put it in the freakin' movie. Still, great action scenes. Too bad it is physically painful to watch up until that point. Again, if you are a 13-year-old girl, by all means watch it, you will love it. If not, borrow a friend's DVD and just watch the action scenes.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been so much more
Review: This could have been a great movie, but it ultimately is a long, arduous picture. The events surrounding the bombing of Pearl Harbor are dramatic in and of themselves - the silly love story doesn't add anything except an extra hour. This is just another Bruckheimer/Michael Bay flick - Armageddon in the 40's. Same generic characters, same generic Zimmer score, same generic shots of tough guys looking cool in slow motion. On the plus side, the picture quality and sound of this DVD are absolutely top notch. It's almsot worth getting just to watch the half an hour sequens of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. If you have a decent home theater setup, this will really give it a workout.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood At It's Worst
Review: Everything about this movie seemed to have a made up fakeness about it. The historical inaccuracies were glaring from the beginning. The acting at best was medeocre and the romance was completely ineffective. Even the much applauded 30 minute battle seemed to be a little to prestine and precise. It looked great, but did not have the grit or edginess to make it feel real. Michael Bay's MTV style of direction doesn't help this type of movie. All in all if you want the real Pearl Harbour story, rent "Tora, Tora, Tora" a vastly superior film in all ways.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie; good time to buy
Review: I did not get a chance to see this in the theaters, and I had heard mostly negative comments about it, particularly the beginning. I am old enough to remember when movies took the time to introduce you to the characters, and build up the plot. Special effects were part of the movie, not the entire movie. Maybe that's why this is 2 DVDs, because the special effects are outstanding, but so is the story line. The entire movie was excellent, in my opinion. I did not find it boring or slow. My wife and I enjoyed every moment of it, and we're glad we now own it. It's a great time to buy, since the price has dropped, and it's a "must have" for your DVD collection.
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