For the first 90 minutes of the movie, Affleck and Beckinsale find a nice, appealing chemistry that plays on his strengths as a movie star and hers as a serious actress--he gives her glamour, she gives him smarts. Their truncated romance--the beginning of which is told in flashback so we can get right to the point where he has to leave her to go to England--works, thanks to their charm. They're no Kate and Leo from Titanic (a strategy the film strives hard toward), but they're pretty darn adorable in their own right. Hartnett, as the not entirely unwelcome third wheel, squints bravely but makes only a slight dent in the film. Everyone else in Pearl Harbor--from Cuba Gooding Jr.'s brave navy seaman to Jon Voight's able impersonation of FDR--is pretty much a glorified walk-on, taking a backseat to the pyrotechnics and action sequences that keep the three-hour film in fairly constant motion. But when that action does take hold, Pearl Harbor is quite a thrilling ride. --Mark Englehart
Product Description: The story of two friends who join the military during World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor, and fall in love with the same Army nurse. Genre: Feature Film-Drama Rating: PG13 Release Date: 6-MAY-2003 Media Type: DVD
Just Enjoy It! This is light Hollywood fare... Valor, love, friendship, hope, righteous work; I feel that most of the critics of this film lack these. I know, having Baldwin play a great American hero like Gen. Doolittle is like having Madonna play Mother Theresa, but just relax and enjoy the film!
SHOULD BE MORE LIKE IT Don't believe all the negative comments on this movie. It was one of the greatest movies made. Their should be more like this type produced instead of all the dopey movies made with no plot that are being put out today.
I can't believe that I watched another Machael Bay movie... ..but I did.
On Thursday, we came home after having dinner with one of our customers, and found my brother-in-law (who's staying with us for a few days) just starting to watch Pearl Harbor. (It was subtitled, of course, in Chinese.)
So, I sat down to watch it, and was mildly entertained.
I've watched some good films, and bad films. This was in the middle. Michael Bay usually falls into two traps with his films: big action montage scenes, and cliched lines. Both are in evidence here, but the big action montage scenes actually do come in handy during the scenes detailing the attack on Pearl Harbor itself. I guess it's one of those times in which a weakness turns out to be a strength under certain circumstances.
So, while I wouldn't recommend seeking this film out as a life mission, I wouldn't run away from it, screaming, either. How's that for "damned by faint praise"? I think this was better than The Island, though.
Doesn't Hold a Candle to TORA, TORA, TORA This movie is just plain bad. So many missed opportunities. The screenplay is undermined by the all too predictable love triangle story. Love and war tales only mixed well in 1980s network television mini-series. PEARL HARBOR is too long and too complicated. Additionally, and unlike its predecessor TORA, TORA, TORA, the action scenes of PEARL HARBOR rely too heavily on CGI. CGI is great in science fiction films, but appears as a phony video game image when representing actual aircraft.
To their credit, the producers were able to borrow an aircraft carrier, fly actual and replica zero aircraft, as well as assembled flyable P-40 Warhawks and B-25 Mitchell bombers. Unfortunately these aircraft scenes were fluffed up with computer generated images that removed all reality from aerial scenes.
The ship scenes are credible, particularly the extensive recreation of the USS Oklahoma's capsizing. If history alone carried the story this movie would have had a chance. However, in PEARL HARBOR history played second fiddle to the romance.
In PEARL HARBOR it is also annoying to find the main characters everywhere. Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett) begin their military service at Mitchell Field, Long Island. Sorry Michael Bay, Long Island does not have any dry khaki foothills. Here Rafe conveniently receives orders to join the Eagle Squadron and fight the Luftwaffe. The RAF's Eagle Squadron was not an organization that was eligible for US Army Air Corps orders. In order to participate in the Eagle Squadron -- or the Flying Tigers, for that matter -- an officer would have had to resign his commission and left the service. Of course it was the only way to separate Rafe from his love interest Navy nurse Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale).
Rafe is shot down by a Messerschmitt and presumed dead thus freeing Evelyn to fall in love with Rafe's best friend Danny. Danny's squadron along with Evelyn and her nurse peers find themselves shipped out to Hawaii. Evelyn no sooner swoons for Danny when Rafe shows up. Not only is Rafe alive and well, he is also an ace. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor interrupts the romantic debacle as Rafe and Danny put aside their differences take to the air against the Zeros. After some fancy CGI flying, both pilots return to donate blood for the wounded and rush off to the anchorage to assist with the rescue effort.
Rafe and Danny then volunteer to become bomber pilots and join General Doolittle in his raid on Tokyo. Danny sacrifices his life to save Rafe and resolving the uneasiness between the two over Evelyn. Thus Rafe is free to return to a pregnant Evelyn and both remember Danny through his son.
War and romance do not mix. ENEMY AT THE GATES was proof of that.
PEARL HARBOR boasts some great supporting actors with Alec Baldwin as General Doolittle, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Dorie Miller, and Jon Voight doing a great job portraying President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Their roles could have been better had the movie not been crowded with a love story.
A lot of work went into this movie. When I went to see the film I brought a copy of PEARL HARBOR: THE MOVIE AND THE MOMENT to read while waiting for the film to begin. After leafing through the book I expected much more from the film. Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett fans will probably enjoy this film, but military history enthusiasts should snub it all together.
One Of The Greatest Movies I Have Seen Of World War 11 I bought these two Vhs sets watched it from the beginning to the end. It was a extraordinary movie of world war 11.I do not know why people put this movie down.Did they see what I watched? The Most Astounding Attack on our country.That will live forever in infamy.Also a heartfelt tribute to the men and women who lived it.
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