Tora! Tora! Tora!

Rating:
Summary: Good history; good storytelling
Review: This is a movie for history buffs as well as for those that just like a good movie. It depicts Pearl Harbor with an ensemble cast, cohesive storytelling, effective special effects (even by today's standards), great cinematography, and excellent film editing. The lack of romance and other sub-plots enhances the drama and tension of the event. This is history at its finest, wrapped in storytelling as only Hollywood can do.

On December 7, 1941, 350 aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy, in two waves, conducted a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Island, Oahu, Hawaii Islands. While more successful than could have been reasonably expected (who could have known that it really would take the Americans completely by surprise?), it still fell short of being decisive. The Pacific Fleet was devastated in a single air battle that lasted a bit under two hours. In that short time the US lost 21 ships sunk or damaged out of the 90 or so that were at anchor in or near the harbor, or under way near the harbor. This included all 8 battleships assigned to the Fleet. Three of these, the West Virginia, the Oklahoma, and Arizona were sunk. The West Virginia was later raised and returned to duty. Most of the other vessels, including the other 5 battleships, were eventually repaired as well. In addition to ship losses, 188 US aircraft were destroyed and another 159 damaged. Although totals vary, some reports carry human losses at 2,403 dead (including 68 civilians) and 1,178 wounded (including 35 civilians). No matter what the precise totals, they were high.

For all of this damage, it's important to understand what the Japanese missed. Neither of the two Pacific Fleet carriers (Enterprise and Lexington) was in or near port that day, so they were unscathed. Missing the carriers ultimately would prove grievous to Japanese strategy. Moreover, a third wave scheduled to hit harbor installations, repair facilities, warehouses, and fuel dumps on Oahu was cancelled.

The story of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor cannot be told effectively without providing background on why and how it came to be, and the movie does just that. The attack was rooted in the effect the Great Depression had on Japan's economy, which stimulated their desire to control the natural resources needed to fuel their economy; Japanese militant expansionism, which put them on a collision course with the US; and Japanese military culture and tradition, which made them willing to take on a world power significantly their superior and which also believed in initiating hostilities by sudden, overwhelming attack; and the war Europe.

There were many in the Imperial Japanese Navy that understood the fearsomeness of what they were getting into. Ironically, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Sô Yamamura), the mastermind of the strategy to strike the American fleet at Pearl felt this way.

The movie pointed out that the Japanese diplomatic ultimatum was not presented until after the attack started and points to this as one of the reasons behind the massive US public embitterment after the attack. Hence, Admiral Yamamoto's doleful warning (and the most memorable line from the movie), "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." (The second most memorable line is by an old man fishing while warplanes are practicing their low-level runs, "Navy pilots attract geisha girls, but they frighten the fish." It's the same all over, I guess.)

While it doesn't delve into all of the geopolitical issues as much as it could, it does provide an understanding of the events that led up to the attack and the devastation it caused, with an even-handedness that is refreshing. This starts from the very beginning of the movie where the credits are alternated between the American cast and film crew and the Japanese, and continues throughout the movie as scenes shift back and forth between the Japanese and American perspectives.

Particularly effective is how the movie builds tension as the Japanese plan is put into action, alternating between the Japanese strike force and the Americans. The Japanese fleet sails determinedly through the stormy northern Pacific while the American intelligence staff at the War Department in Washington becomes increasingly frustrated as they attempt to raise the alarm. The Americans' misguided posture is juxtaposed with the almost youthful exuberance of the Japanese flight crews and maintenance teams as they continue their training and preparation shipboard. Their enthusiasm is contrasted with the solemnity of their Shinto prayer and the tension of their senior officers. The tension mounts as the director employs the Gettysburg-esque technique of using maps to show the fleet's progress toward the Islands. It culminates in the dawn launch, with engine exhausts aflame, large formations of planes circling overhead as they form up before departing for the final air leg to their target, and the unsuspecting, unconcerned American fleet awakening on a lazy, sunny December morning in Hawaii, feeling safe.

If there is any noteworthy failing, it is that the move fails to depict the pathos of war - the overwhelming of the base (and presumably the civilian) medical facilities, the pain and suffering of incapacitating injuries, the civilian casualties, the mass of dead, injured, and struggling men in the water, the frantic attempts to escape by men trapped below decks in sunken and overturned ships.

While it provides an excellent history lesson, the movie also has the look and feel of a good story. The story it tells is two-fold. It tells of the misguided desperation of the Japanese that led them to take on the United States (if their post-war success is any standard for comparison). It also speaks to America's arrogance in 1941. We knew Japan was dangerous, but didn't expect them to come at us the way they did. Our belief in ourselves got in our way. In the end the American deaths at Pearl Harbor resulted from the failure of our imagination. We just didn't think this attack would happen.

Rating:
Summary: The True Story.
Review: Most of the other reviews have covered much of the good points and bad points, so let me keep this short:
Tora! Tora! Tora! was made by both an American and Japanese production team whose job was to put on film BOTH sides of the attack. The DVD comes with a 20 minute documentary on the attack and the movie also comes with a commentary by the American Director Richard Fleischer and a Historian on Japanese Film Stewart Galbraith. For a lover of history, both American and Japanese, this film will touch your heart with not just the cold facts, but is also with scenes of horror and humor, TRUE scenes, carefully placed into the movie by people who want to tell the true tale. If you want opera and computer designed explosions, watch 'Pearl Harbor'. If you want the TRUTH of the 'Day of Infamy' get this film.

Rating:
Summary: The true story of the 'day of infamy'
Review: Much has been made about the events surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in recent months. With last year's release Michael Bay's melodramatic travesty "Pearl Harbor", one is made to look at the events leading up to and occuring on that day, December 7th, 1941. If you want to know the true story about Pearl Harbor, then "Tora! Tora! Tora!" is the movie to see. Whereas "Pearl Harbor" was just using the Japanese attack as a backdrop to tell 5th-class love story, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" sticks to telling the story as it happened. The scenes dealing with the United States are filmed by an American director, while the scenes dealing with Japan are filmed by a Japanese director. Each side is given a fair treatment in this movie. There is no portrayal one side being good and the other being evil.

"Tora! Tora! Tora!" is an event-driven movie, not a character-driven one. Where some people have seen the lack of some central character, or traditional hero, on either side to be a detriment to the movie, it is really a benefit. It is truly a movie of support roles, much like the militaries that battled that day operated. No one single person rose to the forefront on either side. The purported leaders on either side, Admiral Yamamoto in Japan and Admiral Kimmel in Pearl Harbor, are conflicted, somewhat flawed leaders whose actions and decisions are the product of those who outrank them.

This movie does not portray Yamamoto as some raving mad war dog who wants nothing more than destroy the U.S. He is a conflicted man who wants to avoid war at all costs, but knows that when that route is unavoidable, that he must develop and plan the best attack possible upon U.S. forces. Some then (and now) have seen his actions as cowardice, but "Tora! Tora! Tora!" shows that they are the carefully thought out actions of a man who knew the consequences involved.

Similarly, history has been unkind to Admiral Kimmel for his handling of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time, and in years since, he has shouldered the blame for unprepared state of the U.S. fleet for the Japanese attack. Yet, he was the victim of the actions, or inactions, of his superiors much the same way Yamamoto was. The U.S. knew Japan was rattling its collective saber, but did not believe that it would have the audacity to attack a U.S. target. The Philipines or Wake Islands was seen as a much more likely target. As shown throughout this movie, select members of the military began to piece together that Japan was planning an attack and that it was very likely to happen at Pearl Harbor. However, the ignorant belief among most that this would not be possible led to the institutional failure that prevented the appropriate alerts and warnings to make their way to Kimmel in time to prepare for the attack. It should be noted that a telegram that was supposed to alert Kimmel that the attack was imminent arrived in his hands several hours after the battle was over.

Movies like "Pearl Harbor" only give the events of that day a cursory treatment, as it seems to get in the way of the next sappy love scene. Yet, even though "Tora! Tora! Tora!"'s portrayal may seem dry and almost documentary-like, it is that style that allows for a greater understanding of what happened and why it happened.

Rating:
Summary: The True Story of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Review: I began studying the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at an early age, as a result of the special fascination the attack held for my grandfather, who's birthday was December 7th. Tora! Tora! Tora! tells the true history of the events leading up to the attack and of the attack itself.
Looking back across the years and identifying all of the mistakes and intelligence failures on the part of the American Military establishment leaves one incredulous, first and foremost being a gross underestimation of the Japanese military, so much so that radio intercepts which gave clues to the attack were never forwarded to FDR or his staff because it was not believed that the Japanese were capable of the carrying out the attack. There was the Officer on Duty for the new radar station, who responded to news of "a large formation of planes approaching from the northeast" with the words "Yeah? Well, don't worry about it" because he mistakenly believed the planes were a flight of American B-17's.....the radio station which received a request to broadcast all night so the B-17's could home in on the signal- the Japanese found this to be quite helpful as well.....the officer who insisted on confirmation of the sinking of a Japanese submarine near the harbor entrance because of his fear that it was a false report, until it was too late.....General Short, commander of the US Army stationed at Pearl Harbor, who because of fear of sabotage had all aircraft parked together in the center of the airfields, making them easier to guard but a perfect target for air attack.....the intelligence estimate prepared by General Martin, which stated that "the Japanese would most likely attack on a Sunday. They would probably employ a maximum of six carriers..."- this estimate was regarded as giving the Japanese "too much credit" and not taken seriously.
The Japanese attack, for all it's success, did not succeed in it's main objective- to destroy American carrier strength. This failure on the part of the Japanese proved to be a boon to the Americans, as it forced US Navy brass to center strategy around the use of carriers rather than battleships. The carrier-battleship debate had raged for years, with conservative Admirals refusing to admit that battleships were obsolete and that carriers were now their most important weapons.
Anyone who has done serious research on Pearl Harbor will find ALL the major events depicted here. Nothing has been omitted, and nothing has been embellished. Tora! Tora! Tora! is almost a documentary of the attack.
The cast members do a wonderful job, with Jason Robards as General Short, who would be covered in controversy and shame as a result of the disaster; Martin Balsam as Admiral Kimmel, who's family spent years trying to clear his name after the attack; James Whitmore as Admiral Halsey, who would lead the American carriers to victory over Japan; and Joseph Cotten as Secretary of War Stimson, who knew that the US was not ready for war and hoped to buy time by political means. For the Japanese sequences, Soh Yamamura as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, whose brainchild the attack was (complete with missing finger, a wound suffered in the Russo-Japanese War); Tatsuya Mihashi as Commander Genda, brilliant planner of the attack; Takahiro Tamura as Lt. Commander Fuchida, who led the attack; and Eijiro Tono as Admiral Nagumo, the cautious Task Force Commander who broke off the attack even though he knew its main objective had not been met. American sequences were directed by Richard Fleischer and the Japanese by Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasuka.
The cinematogrophy is spectacular, and the visual effects are fantastic, given that Tora! Tora! Tora! was released in 1970. The aerial sequences are well choreographed and shot, and the final scene of the film, Battleship Row smashed and aflame, is stunning.
Tora! Tora! Tora! should be in the DVD library of anyone who is a fan of war movies or a student of military history.

Rating:
Summary: A great factual account of Pearl Harbor... to a fault.
Review: There's no denying the grand effort that went into making this historical presentation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Taking accounts of both sides of the war equally, made respectively by both United States and Japanese production crews, Tora! Tora! Tora! is a great documentation of how the attack really occurred. Unlike the recent Pearl Harbor film, which tries to tell the historical story (with many flaws), a love story and a disaster story, Tora! Tora! Tora knows what is meant to be, and strictly follows the historical angle.

Unfortunately, this dedication to fact is the films major weakness. There are no real characterizations of any of the major roles, no central character the audience can connect with, either on the American or Japanese forces. This lack of a so called staring role (which both sides should have had) makes the film feel more like a documentary then a movie. What characters the film does center on are all flat and rather uninteresting. Not to mention poorly acted.

Despite this, the film provides a great understanding of how the attack really occurred, and gives a wonderful visual feast of the disaster. For 1970, when this film was released, the visual effects are outstanding. Definitely worth at least one viewing, more if you're a World War II buff.

Rating:
Summary: Tora Tora Tora, the only "Pearl Harbor " movie you will need
Review: A very good movie indeed. It basically shows us the true history on how the Japanese planning and US intelligents failure led up to one of USA's worst military debacles of the last century.

This film is WAY better than the recent Pearl Harbor movie because it does not show such high patriotism on the US side (or love triangles!) nor the stereotyping of Japanese Navy. In fact it stayed right on the subject till the very end.

One of the best things of this movies are the charactors in the film such as Cordell Hull and Yamamoto. You will feel really sympathatic for these charectors. Best of all they are hardly cliched.

The battle scenes were very well executed. In fact I liked this one better than the recent movie Pearl Harbor because it looked so real instead looking like some CGI effects.

Any History buffs will love this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Factual to a Fault
Review: Ever wonder why hollywood directors take so many liberties when making a war movie? In my opinion, this film provides a more than adequate answer.

Granted, the attack scene is very well executed, with special effects that are impressive even today. But the rest of the film is dry and soulless. The characters spout dialogue that sounds like it was taken out of a college history textbook word for word.

If you want an impressive factual account of Dec. 7 and the preceeding events, then check out the two DVD History Channel documentary. If you want to see an entertaining Pearl Harbor film that is true to the essence of the 1940's, see Michail Bay's Pearl Harbor.

Of course, if you fall in between those two extremes, then Tora Tora Tora just might be the one for you.

Rating:
Summary: Matches the feel of the preceding events
Review: There are elements of the movie that left me a little bothered. Foremost was the subtitles (the Japanese actors speak their own language rather than English) were white which oftentimes appeared with a white background (the navy uniforms). This was frustrating when trying to really follow the story. Another element was the constant change of location and players, which made it difficult to keep up with who knew what and when.

In retrospect, these elements contributed to my enjoyment of the film. Although the scenes of the Pearl Harbor attack were horrific, the bulk of the film concerns the events leading up to that fateful day. The seemingly haphazardness of this film helped me feel the chaos and miscommunication occurring on both sides of the battlefield. All the mistakes made by both sides show lessons to be learned; for example, the ignoring of the new radar contact showing a large mass approaching Hawaii, the delay by requesting for confirmation on the sinking of Japanese submarine close to Pearl Harbor, and wish to not alarm the high-ranking officials.

I found this to be a great film, but if you do not have a good idea of who the players and events were at Pearl Harbor in 1941, you may find yourself lost.

Rating:
Summary: The ONLY Pearl Harbor movie worth seeing.
Review: Without the benefit of todays technology, the producers of this movie have created the perfect re-creation of this episode of American history.

The movie follows the book very faithfully. The scenes are beautiflly recreated with some special effects that stand up under the micro-scope of todays tough standards.

I recomend this very highly, and now owning both the VHS and DVD versions have to confess that I have watched both many times with great pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Tora Tora Tora vs. Pearl Harbor
Review: To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and as a collector of films with a WW2 genre, I purchased both Tora Tora Tora and Pearl Harbor. While the former was released in 1970, and did not have the luxury of computerized graphics, it told an extremely accurate and very real account of the attack. Completely void of a useless love story, it concentrated solely on historical facts. "Pearl Harbor", on the other hand, was pure junk with its opening 55 minutes, which made the film almost laughable and totally forgettable. The unnecessary addition of the Doolittle raid on Tokyo was another poor excuse to show off the use of computerized graphics. Tora Tora Tora, put a luster on the "Pearl" while Pearl Harbor, the movie, left it faded and blurred.