Rating: 
Summary: It is an unremarkable action movie.
Review: "Pearl Harbor is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours,about show on Dec.7,1941,the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle.Its centerpiece is 40 mins of redundant special effects surrounded by a love story of stunning banality.The film has been directed without grace,vision or originally and although you may walk out quoting lines of dialog,ti will not be because you admire them.The filmmakers seem to have aimed the film at an audience that may not have heard of Pearl Harbor,or perhaps even of WW2.This is the our weekly reader version.If you have the slightest knowledge of the events of the film,you will know sense of history,strategy,or text:according to this movie,Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because America cut off its oil supply,and they were down to an 18 month reserve.Would going to war restore the fuel sources? Did they perhaps also have imperiolist designs?Movie doesn't say.So shaky is the film's history that at the end The Tokyo Raiders crash land in China,they are shot at by Jap patrols with only a murky throwaway explanation about the Sino Japanese War already underway.There is not a shred of conviction in love story or chemistry,but Evelyn is a hero in the aftermath of the raid.Another hero was Dorrie Miller that got a machine gun and shot down several planes and cernal Dolittle that led the attack on Japan.How can planes,ships,and houses exploding be excellent when people are dying and flying everywhere?This movie is not about the people that died at Pearl Harbor at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Wasted opportunity
Review: "Pearl Harbor" could have been a great Best Picture contender. When watching this film, it is painfully obvious that the makers of this film were using James Cameron's "Titanic" as a guide. They should have paid more attention to their own production. This love triangle simply belongs elsewhere. Every good critic knows that it is what made "Titanic" an outstanding emotional picture. World War 2 and romance simply do not mix. The attack scene is undeniably spectacular, despite the fact that it becomes tiresome as it progresses. If only Michael Bay could have used Spielberg's "Private Ryan" technique, I could be giving this film 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Hurl Harbor
Review: "Pearl Harbor" is an action-packed, highly entertaining historical drama that tries as hard as it can to get it right. But be warned that in order to enjoy this film, you have to endure all of its clichés and historical inaccuracies or simply fast-forward past them as I wound up doing.LOVE STORY
First and foremost, "Pearl Harbor" is a love story, or as one witty viewer put it, "Two guys love one woman and-oh-incidentally, some ships get bombed in Pearl Harbor." The two guys in question are childhood friends, Rafe (Ben Affleck), and Danny (Josh Hartnett), who grow up to be fighter pilots and fall in love with the same navy nurse, (Kate Beckinsale). The film begins promisingly enough with the boys standing on Rafe's farm admiring his father's crop dusting maneuvers, joyfully oblivious to the toxic pesticides wafting down upon them from the sky. A few years later, the boys have grown up to be fighter pilots training for a war that everyone knows will inevitably reach American soil and borrowing the tower buzzing plot device from "Top Gun". Rafe is the first to fall in love with the pretty naval nurse but when he is presumed dead after getting shot down over the English channel, his best friend and his paramour become an item. But Rafe manages to return home alive and suddenly the three principle characters are caught in a dilemma of who loves whom and who love whom even more. It's an interesting scenario, but unfortunately, the film takes the sentimental and campy route. You may feel differently but I had to fast forward past all of the dialog between Rafe, Danny, and the nurse. It wasn't hard to guess what they were saying to each other anyway. In case you think I'm being too harsh, it might help to keep in mind that the film makers ran various love scenarios by focus groups to see what would outcome would most likely appeal to audiences. In other words, they're trying to play you. WAR MOVIE
"Pearl Harbor" is an awesome war movie from a visual perspective but contains some of the most wretched lines in cinema (I just want to matter). For anyone who enjoyed "Saving Private Ryan",this film is a must see. The battle scenes, particularly the aerial combat scenes and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the launching of B-25 Mitchels from the carrier U.S.S. Hornet are astounding. Be warned however, that the raid on Pear Harbor is simply painful to watch. The film captures the carnage and the tragedy of sinking ships as well as sailors getting burned, strafed, bombed, and drowned with gut wrenching precision (some of which it lifts from "Private Ryan"). It's both difficult and fascinating to watch and you will definitely come out of it with renewed compassion for survivors of Pearl Harbor and other acts of illegal military aggression. The film also does an admirable job of presenting the dangers and difficulties of America's counter attack against Tokyo, using carrier born B-25 bombers. Unfortunately, this too is mired by melodrama, and the presence of Rafe and Danny. HISTORICAL DRAMA
Here's where the film tries to get it right and rarely succeeds. I commend Director Michael Bay for trying to portray the Japanese and in a humane and objective manner. In one scene the Japanese high command reveals that the U.S. oil embargo against Japan has left it with only enough fuel to power its war machine for eighteen more months, essentially amounting to a military death sentence. The film also credits Admiral Husband Kimmel for his awareness of Pearl Harbor's vulnerability and his ill-fated attempts to protect it. It is worth noting, however, that the film botches the historical record in a few vital areas. At one point, an earnest naval intelligence officer announces that the Japanese fleet could easily be tracked if only the Americans could break their naval code. Actually, America did break that code as early as 1929 but for reasons that historians still debate today, that intelligence was never made available to Admiral Kimmel. In another scene the American executive government announces that it must cannibalize the Pacific fleet in order to send more equipment to the beleaguered British forces in Europe. Nope-sorry-but that is incorrect in two respects. First, prior to Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt launched an aggressive new ship-building program that would have completed one hundred new naval vessels by 1943. In addition, the pacific fleet was not cannibalized as the film suggests, but as a matter of luck or deliberate human intervention, its best ships including all aircraft carriers were on maneuvers in the Pacific during the raid on Pearl Harbor. As horrible as the losses were on that day, the damage in military terms could have been much worse. In fact, most of the ships that were sunk in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 were WW I relics. This doesn't mean the film deliberately lies when in fact it draws on popular historiography of Pearl Harbor. But if you want a more accurate picture of what happened and why, there are several good books available ("Day of Deceit", "At Dawn We Slept", and "The Emperor's Codes") as well as great film, "Tora Tora Tora". PATRIOTIC HOMAGE
Of course "Pearl Harbor" can't help but end with ten minutes worth of patriotic verbiage reminding us how it's always important to suspect foreign countries of evil intentions and to go to war whenever we feel like it, because things would have worked out pretty well if we did so then. I think history and politics are more complex than that but I understand why the filmmakers inserted unnecessary flag waving material in the end. This was one of the sections I wound up skipping over. CONCLUSION
Masterful visual effects aside, this film will not teach anyone a thing about Pearl Harbor. While it may not be as flashy, I highly recommend "Tora Tora Tora" for its far more intelligent, inclusive, and objective portrayal of Pearl Harbor. Again, you may want to mute or fast-forward your way through the wretched dialog of this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent film with breathtaking scenes and special effects.
Review: "Pearl Harbor" is one of my favorite movies of all time.I really enjoyed every thing about it.The scenes were breathtaking as well as the special effects.Bravo to the cast and crew of this movie.Ben,Josh,Kate,Cuba,John,Alec,and their supporting cast do a good jobWay to go.
Rating:
Summary: Underrated war epic.
Review: "Pearl Harbor", directed by Michael Bay, is by all means no "Titanic", but it is definitely what I'd call underrated. People have rated this film so harshly and even after reading their reviews, I still don't understand why. But maybe it is just me. Anyway, "Pearl Harbor" involves around two childhood best friends, Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck), and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett), who have grown up together and now have joined the military and are based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While there, Rafe meets the lovely Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale), who is a nurse at the Pearl Harbor hospital and they soon fall in love. But then Rafe gets assigned to go off into aircraft battle and his plane is shot down into the water. Back in Hawaii, everyone thinks Rafe is dead when he doesn't return. So the devasted Evelyn and Danny are forced to move on and they eventually fall in love. But then Rafe comes back! And Evelyn must choose between Rafe and Danny, but that's all before the Japanese strikes Pearl Harbor. After the horrifying attacks on Pearl Harbor, Rafe and Danny are assigned a top secret mission which could be deadly. And while on the mission, another devasting tragedy occurs, and only one ends up coming back alive. I thought this film was done brilliantly. The cinematography and the visual/sound effects were simply outstanding. The acting by the entire all-star cast (which also includes Alec Baldwin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jon Voight, and Jennifer Garner) was superb. "Pearl Harbor" is a long film (183 minutes), but definitely well-worth it...I almost cried at the ending. The script was also well-done, and I saw nothing wrong with the love scenes--I thought they were a sweet touch to the film. The DVD is also not bad, packaged well with extras. The extras on the two-disc DVD set includes the making of "Pearl Harbor", a History Channel documentary on the unsung real-life heroes of Pearl Harbor, DVD-ROM features, and the Faith Hill music video "There You'll Be". The DVD is available in wide screen format. I highly recommend "Pearl Harbor". Score:
98/100
A+
Rating:
Summary: Day of Infamy, movie of a thousand emotions
Review: "We Will Not Only Defend Ourselves, but Make It Very Certain That This Form Of Trechery Shall Never Again Endager Us."FDR 12/7
Well it certainly did happen again on 9/11. Something bizare is the fact that this happened just a few months after the $150 million film pearl harbor. I thought this film was amazing, it was like viewing a piece of art from the 1940s. This was supposed to be thebiggest film of the last 20 years, obviousy it wasn't. This film has many things wrong with it. Anybody whose anybody knows that, but it also had many good p-oints as well. Some things that really got on my nerves are the nurses. This was a disgraceful way to present nurses of the era. They were trampy, annoying dimwitts. All they did was subtract from the film. The script could have been much more involving, yet it wasn't the worst. The musical score by Hanz Zimmer is won of the best I've ever heard. The biggest problem with this film is the romance.i' m not one for romances but I can tell you this one isn't that good. Mainly puppy love with cheesy lines. The acting overall was pretty good though the actors didnt have much to work with. on Voigts performance as Fdr was great, Cuba Gooding Jr. was good. Alec Baldwyn wasnt bad. I dont like Ben Affleck, but he did allright.Josh Hartnett was good too. I wish Kate Beckinsale had more to do as a female lead. All she did really was say hey boys aint I pretty. The historical innacuracy really didntbothe me to much. Braveheart was inaccurate ad it was great! How much you liked this film soley depends onhow high your expectations were. Since the teaser in 2000 I knew i had to see this film. I didnt enjoy seeing the japanese portayed as guys who were innocent and didnt want to go to war. Anyone remember the 7,500 americans who died at the bataan death march?
The Bombing itself was soincredible it could makeucrap your -pants! The film dos a great job of showing the faces of the 3,500 americans that lost their lives. What the japs did to Ameica was unforgivable. Pearl Harbor is mjor american history. It is the event that launched usa into world war 2. My heart goes out to the boys who lost their lives that morning. not enoug development on the battleships though. Those Japs should be very greatful that we put them back on their feet when the war was finished. The film didnt show any racism toward the japs, very unrealistic. I wanted t see more of the natives. I would also have liked to see more character development between the male characters. If you havnt bought the p-13 version of the film you should save your money for the 4 disc directors cut. It has 12 hours of supplements. The new directors cut will show an all knew re-edited version of the film with a more realistic blooded up bombing. Itll show sailors being cut in half, decapitated, disembowled etc. Overall Pearl Harbor is a good american movie, check it out!
Rating:
Summary: September 11, 2001: Another "date that will live in infamy!"
Review: "Pearl Harbor" is a movie of far greater importance after the terrorists attacks of September 11. We are now at war against ideologues committed to destroying our nation. Americans only a few months ago considered "Pearl Harbor" as merely a depiction of a bygone tragic era, but not particularly relevant to our present
concerns. Needless to add, this mindset is no longer embraced by the majority. Jon Voight brilliantly portrays President Franklin D. Roosevelt. You will have a difficult time remaining stoic and tearless when Voight gives tongue to Roosevelt's famous radio speech to the American people after the Japanese treacherous
December 7, 1941 assault on Pearl Harbor. "We are at war," declared the President and "we have been described as weaklings and playboys" unwilling to overcome formidable obstacles, and too cowardly to fight. Does this rhetoric sound familiar? History has been repeated, and once again we are challenged to bravely confront our enemies. The cast that includes Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr, Josh Harnett, Alec Baldwin, and Jon Voight are fantastic. Michael Bay should be congratulated for directing this work of art. The lengthy battle scene ranks among the best of all time. Every moral person should also be taken aback by the scene
where a wounded seaman curses a Japanese-American physician who comes to his aid. Racial and ethnic bigotry was wrong in 1941, and must be wholeheartedly rejected today when some less than admirable individuals are tempted to blame their fellow Americans of Arab descent for the horror of just a few weeks ago. The
United States courageously and ethically faced its enemies over fifty years ago. We must do so once again. The very fact that this film's creators relied so extensively on focus groups to guide the making of this film was a serious mistake. Both Liberal and Conservative commentators used this as an excuse to blast "Pearl Harbor" immediately upon its initial release. Many wrongly concluded that these marketing studies might be dismissed as a mere cynical attempt by the producers to increase their profits. I strongly disagree with this assessment, and instead strongly recommend that every citizen view this film at least once. It may very well be your duty to so.
Rating: 
Summary: Serious subject... no. Decent popcorn movie... you bet!
Review: "Pearl Harbor" is meant to be as historically accurate as "Titanic" was. This isn't so much about the attack, as a love story which happens to be set against the backdrop of the "day that will live in infamy." Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckensale make for an engaging love triangle. But the centerpiece of the movie remains the effects laden attack on Pearl Harbor. In a detailed, brutal (yet surprisingly non-bloody) 40 minute sequence, America gets a wake up call that, even 60 years removed, puts a lump in your throat. Is this a great movie? No. Affleck is lacking something as an actor and as a leading man. The effects work is superior. The love story gets to be a bit predictable. But, overall it is worth the nearly three hours of your life.
Rating:
Summary: "Pearl Harbor" is a great movie!
Review: "Pearl Harbor" is one of my favorite movies. Although it may be a little historically inacurate, it's still very good. It is the story of two pilots (Ben Affleck, Rafe, and Josh Hartnett, Danny) and a nurse (Kate Beckinsale, Evelyn). Rafe and Danny are best friends, who eventually are both romantically involved with Evelyn. Meanwhile, they are stationed in Pearl Harbor (though Rafe is in England for some of the movie). The attack hits and the 3 of them must fight for survival. This movie is sad because of the thousands of deaths. The actors and actresses do a good job, and I especially like Josh Hartnett. Try "Pearl Harbor".
Rating:
Summary: What movie did the reviewers see?
Review: "Pearl Harbor" is simply beautiful, touching and even action-packed. The cimematography is stunning, the soundtrack is haunting, the story line is all about love and war and what it means to be a human being. I think the critics saw another movie! I have never been so shocked by their reviews in comparison to what I saw on the screen! Far and away the best movie of the summer...only "Memento" offering it any competition. All I can say is that this movie must have suffered from some sort of "Titanic" backlash...and that is truly a disservice to this great movie. "Titanic" is great in its own right, but so is "Pearl Harbor." I have visited Pearl Harbor several times...and look forward to the next time I am fortunate enough to visit, as I learned new information about that day...and because of the film, have a deeper sense of the loss and devastation that took place. The film is dignified in its sensitive yet powerful re-enactment of one of the most shattering moments in American history. Don't listen to the reviewers...they were wrong on this one.
|
