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Summary: A Must-See Summer Movie
Review: This movie will probably be ranked as one of the best summer movies in 2001 and it totally deserves it ! A great film with excellent, excellent acting and graphics.The young actors do an excellent job making certain scenes stick out in my mind (the scene w/ Ben and Kate outside the hotel, the scene w/ Josh and Kate flying and the parachutes) but even though it was a sad ending, it was still agreat movie and definately woth seeing.
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Summary: Pearl Harbor ¿ war as entertainment.
Review: As my fiancé and I watched Pearl Harbor last night, I could not help but feel that this silly, contrived and overblown melodrama did little justice to those who were killed, or to those who lost loved ones in this, one of the most important historical events of the 20th century.On this Memorial Day weekend, we can do better to remember and perhaps understand just a little, how our nation and our parents suffered and sacrificed through the tragedy of World War II. For an accurate account of the attack on Peal Harbor, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" remains the best film on this subject. And, although it is difficult to watch, "Saving Private Ryan" is by far the most realistic and sobering portrayal of war on film. After watching either of these films, one will be moved and left with a better understanding of how terrible war really is, and why we owe so much to those who fought to protect our freedom.
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Summary: Pearl Harbor is a Great Film--Ignore the Liberal Critics!
Review: Most critics ridicule "Pearl Harbor." Also, the very fact that the film's producers and director Michael Bay relied extensively upon focus groups is disquieting to say the least. The only reason why I made a point of viewing "Pearl Harbor" is due to my interest in the treacherous Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. It turned out that this movie is perhaps one of the greatest of all time. Comparing "Pearl harbor" to the quickly made propaganda films of World War II is pure hogwash. "Pearl Harbor" is not only visually stunning, the cast which includes Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr, Josh Harnett, Jon Voight, and most of all Alec Baldwin is near perfect. It is ironic that Baldwin who easily deserves an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of General Jimmy Dolittle will probably be denied this honor by his fellow political Hollywood Liberals. This may have been Baldwin's best work since "Glengarry Glen Ross." The Liberal critics pretend that "Pearl Harbor" apes the historically dishonest "The Patriot." Nothing could be further from the truth. Mel Gibson's movie depicted the British as inhuman monsters. The reality is that American Revolution was a morally ambiguous war and both sides equally guilty of atrocities. It is even fair to argue that Great Britain lost the war due to its reluctance to commit war crimes. World War II, however, was a clear case of America being forced to fight the militaristically evil regimes of Japan and Germany. We were indeed the good guys, and our opponents vile and hateful. "Pearl Harbor" is fairly accurate and balanced. The only flaw that really stuck out is the film's refusal to have the actors smoking cigarettes. Regrettably most adults during that time period usually had a cigarette in their mouth when drinking alcoholic beverages in a convivial evening setting. Michael Bay thankfully made a point of adding a scene where a wounded American seaman curses a Japanese-American doctor who is coming to his aid. Racism is to be condemned regardless of the circumstances. Our nation's overall treatment of its loyal citizens of Japanese descent was shameful. We needed to be reminded of these injustices. The love triangle between the two pilots and the nurse is intelligently done. Liberal critics prefer anti-heroic movies. These cynics cannot even comprehend the fact that many Americans fought the Axis powers with extraordinary grace and bravery. "Pearl Harbor" deserves 5 stars. This is a film that you must see. It might even be your moral duty to do so.
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Summary: Pitiful, one of the worst historical films so far
Review: This film was such a dissapointment. The special effects looked phoney and the planes were not even the right ones. The love story/plot was almost as bad as Titanic. It was such a bad film, I would have rather seen another J-Lo flick. Only for the mindless who know little about history. Good thing these wimps weren't defending us in WWII.
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Summary: whoa
Review: this was so awesome. the only bad thing was the line of 100 people waiting to see pearl harbor. i was sitting right by the speakers which was cool with the explodsions. its an excellent movie and a must see for all movie goers.
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Summary: Pearl Harbor - Sink or Swim
Review: "Pearl Harbor" Sink or Swim The film "Pearl Harbor," opening Friday across the United States, will stir up more controversy than did the film the 1970 film "Tora! Tora! Tora!". The 1970 film was far less biased than the new Touchstone Pictures film; it showed the attack from both the American and Japanese sides. The new film emphasizes a love story throughout the film between Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale) and two Army Air Corps pilots, Rafe and Danny (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett). The film gives us 40 minutes of special effects action. The problem studios run into when either period pieces and/or culturally sensitive films are made is getting "it" right. "It" is historical events in the proper sequence, correct historical figures, dates, and the like. In the case of films involving different cultures, depicting the characters of a particular culture is a sensitive undertaking due to stereotyping and personal biases. I grew up in Hawaii and clearly remember "Tora! Tora! Tora!" being filmed. The sight of fake Imperial Japanese Naval aircraft flying over Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base raised concerns and no doubt many memories from almost 30 years ago. The concerns at the time were not for the safety of island residents expecting another Pearl Harbor attack, but that the local island residents and tourists population which was majority Asian would not take offense to such a film being made. Concerns were put to rest when it was learned that the film would show both sides viewpoints in the attack, the film having American and Japanese screenwriters and directors accomplished this. "Pearl Harbor" is an American film, made for hard-core biased American audiences. The film is not meant to be even handed in its judgment of the Japanese actions before, during, and after the attack. Unlike the 1970 film, which was generally well balanced representing both sides, "Pearl Harbor" stereotypes all Japanese as being enemies of the United States. The studio has already felt the backlash from Asian American civil rights organizations; the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) has voiced its alarm over the potential hatred and actions that may come from this film. We will see in the next couple of weeks how the studios handle any fallout that may occur as a result of the film. Touchstone Pictures parent company Disney is releasing the film in slightly different versions in Japan and Germany, emphasizing romance over battle. This was a very expensive film to make; one source of potential loss of revenue may be in the Asian film marketplace, where typically American action films do well. One interesting item is that if the film is not seen as an insult to Japanese people in the Asian marketplace, then it may be seen as a patriotic film in the sense that Japan kicked the stuffing out of the United States and that the romance in the film is secondary. This idea may play well in Japan, but for Japanese and Japanese Americans residing here in the United States this film may lead to a renewal of stereotyping and hatred. Lets hope that one biased film doesn't rehash a 60-year old wound.
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Summary: An Incredible Film
Review: I saw PEARL HARBOR yesterday at the only showing that wasn't sold out in that theater. This is the best movie I have seen in a long time. It portrayed the battle with flawless visual and audio effects. I went into the movie not really sure what to expect. I had heard that there was a TITANIC-like love story where half of it would be a long boring love story and then a twenty minute action sequence. This was not the case at all. There was a love story in the film but it acually worked verry well. The action sequences just blew me away. There were incredible dogfighting scenes and the actual attack is breath taking. The flm is fairly long--at 3 hours but you cannot even tell. It goes by very quick. (just be sure to empty your bladder before you see the movie) I'm actually going to Hawaii next weekend and i'm going to see the harbor. Seeing this film was an excelent send-off. I think I'm going to try and see it again before I go. Bottom line: an excelent breath-taking portrayal of that "day that will live in infamy."
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Summary: The hit of the summer!!
Review: There are two stories at work in this movie about the turning point for our nation. The plot and the subplot work well together to make this a super movie. You get involved with the different characters. That is one ingrediant that makes a movie good. The camera work and special effects are also done very well. Pearl Harbor is the best movie I've seen in a while. It also gives the viewer a lesson in the history surrounding this event in our nation and makes you really feel for the man and women who went through this terrible ordeal. The nearly 3 hour running time of Pearl Harbor goes by faster as you gett caught up in the story. I hightly recommend this film.
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Summary: It could have been an hour shorter...
Review: This movie presents a mixed bag, of sorts. On the one hand the discussion about how the Japanese were able to take us unawares was excellent, even if it was very brief, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor is very well done, but it probably could have been a little shorter without losing its intesity. On the other hand the love story probably should have been toned down quite a bit. The love triangle, while very well done, probably could have been dealt with in half the time it was given, again without losing much of impact of it. On the acting side Josh and Ben did a good job with their characters and Kate did a fairly good job, but she was a little stiff. On the other side though, I didn't think that Alec Baldwin was able to pull off Dolittle at all. Jon Voight as Roosevelt was fine, for the most part. Jon's only real problem was when he was in garden during the Dolittle raid, I don't think he was able to handle that well. The special FX were great, but the explosions lacked the realism that the CGI planes had (which is ironic since the planes were fake and the explosions were real). The explosions don't really seem to look right for the size that they are portraying (keep in mind that I have not seen any explosions of this scale first-hand...) The CGI planes are superbly done and look awesome. Aside from a few manuevers and some of the crashes the planes perform wonderfully, the animators did an excellent job of mimicing how WW2 fighters moved. Personally, I'd say that you should watch this movie at least once, just so you can have an idea of what Pearl Harbor was like. But, as an alternative, you could also watch Tora Tora Tora, which is a slightly better version of the same events.
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Summary: History meets Hollywood: History loses once again.
Review: This is a fun Disney movie with something for everybody except the person who wants to learn something about what happened on December 7, 1941. There's romance with a lovely heroine and two hunky heroes, one of whom must die. because this IS Disney after all (remember Old Yeller???). There are enough special effects to make George Lucas re-think Star Wars Episode I. There is an excellent surreralistic hospital scene with gore enough to satisfy the most blood-thirsty Gothic fan. There are even arch villains, complete with Sub-titles, a nod to the "art movie" crowd. But there is no history. The same guys that wrote General Custer's history in "They Died with Their Boots On" and turned Erroll Flynn into George Armstrong Custer were at work on this movie's script. My only fear is that people who have no clue about what actually happened on the "day that will live in infamy" will think that FDR looked like Jon Voigt; that Dan Akroyd was loose in the basement of the old Navy building (where is John Belushi when you REALLY NEED HIM???); and that there were unpatriotic Japanese living in Honolulu who actually spied on Pearl Harbor (the Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the 100th Batallion, made up mostly of Hawaiian Americans of Japanese ancestry, was the most decorated American army unit in history)!! Enjoy the movie for what it is: a glitzy,computer generated offering on the altar of High Technology, mixed with a 1940's style romance. Help Disney recoup it's $245 million price tag, complete with advertising costs. Then go read John Toland's book "Infamy" and find out what REALLY happened on December 7, 1941.
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