Some Thoughts on Everybody's Favorite, Pearl Harbor!

To each, his own.

Glad you dug it, Rath, but I found it to be terribly insulting to the event and those who served during the war.

*Didn't understand the point of the love triangle.

*No one falls in love with two seperate people that easy.

*It not only over-simplified our part in the war, but it made the Japanese into sympathetic antagonists who more or less attacked the U.S. out of economical needs, which is just BS. They were the enemy and should have been portrayed as such. It should have represented the correct milieu, not the PC version of it.

*One part I did enjoy was when Afflecks character is heading off to England and is saying goodbye to Kate Beckens-DULL as he jumps on a TRAIN.

Good comedy.


But hey, if it works for ya, good for you.

You've gone completely bonkers.

I enjoyed it when I saw it, but the more I think about it, the less and less I like it. It's a bad movie, plan and simple. Bay just said, "Let's do what Titanic did... only in Pearl Harbor! But, to keep things interesting, we'll spiff up the love story!" Only he didn't spiff it up. He made it totally ridiculous. All the performances, even Alec Baldwin and my hero Tom Sizemore, suck hard. Everyone seems bored to tears. The action sequence is cool at first... then you realize "Wait a second... this actually happened... what the hell is this!?" They turned what should have been a horrifying and dramatic moment into a scene from a video game. Had that sequence been in another film, one not a true story and not based on one of the most tragic moments in American history, I would have loved it.

Also, the movie is just put together like piss. There are pointless subplots (Cuba Gooding Jr.), characters who are nothing but talking pieces of cardboard, moments so dull and stupid that it brings tears to my eyes, and a third act that JUST SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN! Is the story of Pearl Harbor not good enough to make into a full movie, Mr. Bay? Do they need to go onto the Doolittle Raid? No... you should have watched Tora, Tora, Tora and maybe you would have learned a few things about how to make a war movie.

As a popcorn flick, it did its job.

As a war film... it’s absolutely at the bottom of the barrel.

It makes me vomit in terror.

I've only seen the last 40 minutes or disc two and laughed my head off.

Offensive? No that would be Black Hawk Down...

I actually agree Black hawk Down was way too PC for me.

Dammit they shoot women and children left and right and Scott avoided that. He also avoided the dragging of the Americans through the street which unfortunately not enough Americans know about.

Seemed like he focused on some of the heroism of the men but didn't get down to the truly frightening reality that was that long, long day.

Decent movie but because of the above it just plain ole ticks me off.

I'm waiting for Gates of Fire. Bring on carange that amounts to literal rolling waves of dead bodies. Read the book. Incredible!

I agree with Rath..I actually liked this film. Yes it looks like ass compared to Saving Private Ryan, but they are two different war films.. The attack on Pearl Harbor does it's job..My grandfather(who is a war veteran) came with my family and I when we saw it in the theaters, and we all really liked it. He liked SPR, but for someone that has quite possibly been in combat(he doesn't talk about the war much, for reasons he will not tell us), some of SPR is too horrifying for him to watch. Even though PH's battle scenes are not exactly cartoonish, there is a huge difference between watching the bright-colored, semi-violent battles of Pearl Harbor, and watching the grainy, ultra-violent battles of Saving Private Ryan. I think, as a veteran, he was more comfortable with watching Pearl Harbor. I apologize if it seems like I'm telling a story, but this is my reason for liking Pearl Harbor. Though alot of the acting is deffinetly bad, I felt it was a fun, popcorn flick, just as Windtalkers was to me.

More comfortable NEVER means better.

And since when is SPR the grand saint of war films?

Midway? Tora, Tora, Tora? AN:Redux? Platoon? Battleship Fucking Potemkin?

That's only a few that are tons better than SPR, and much, much, much, much, much, much, much better than the simple MTV style videogame known as Pearl Harbor.

I consider Saving Private Ryan to be the definition of what a war film is and always should be. I'm sorry if it did nothing for ya, but that's how I feel.

The dragging of the dead American happened a day after the incident the movie depicts.

No reason to include it, really.

When Pearl Harbor came out on the news they had a group of vets who survived the attack, and when asked if they thought it was a good movie they all responded that it was good how it brings Pearl Harbor to everyones mind again, that noone should forgot. That is the only good thing about that movie. The rest blows.

The love part of Pearl Harbor is awful.

The battle scene is cool at first, but, for some reason, gets incredibly boring after a while. It's just the same thing over and over. And no movie about the most one of the most horrifying attacks on America ever should be either cool or boring.

Tora Tora Tora does a much better job of conveying the pain of the attacks. There are points in that movie in which you actually feel sad because of the events onscreen.

I never said finding a movie more comfortable to sit through makes it better Tony. It might make for a better experience for viewing if it's more comfortable for someone to watch. The thread reads "Some Thoughts on Everybody's Favorite, Pearl Harbor", which is exactly what I was giving. I was giving my explenation as to why some might like Pearl Harbor. I myself like SPR better than PH, and to me, I feel that SPR is the best war movie ever, and that's my opinion, which I am damn well intitled to. To each his own..

Ah my mistake...though I do think Scott could have cinematically brought that part of what happened into play. Though showing what those courageous soldiers did before they were killed defintely made what happened to them ever more painful.

Still doesn't change the shooting of women and children. Say what you might but I don't think the men who were there dont't get enough credit for what they faced in that very hellish day. Imagine how much more it would have been impactful and hellish if even those who usually represent peace were suddenly attacking you just as viciouslly as the men.

Just my two cents though.

I actually found the first 2/3 entertaining, nothing more, nothing less. I liked the battle scene. But good Lord, the last hour was Godawful....Baldwin was laughable, the dialogue was hilarious (ask the guy next to me, he was laughing his arse off). "I'm afraid you love him more than you love me!" was the signature scene for us all....I like how the 2 main dudes just happen to be the only guys to get into fighters during the battle. The whole time the movie was reaching for any oscar it could possibly get, and it was just funny to me.

On the subject of new war movies,I love "Blackhawk Down," personally, but I like "We Were Soldiers" better. "Windtalkers" was kind of an entertaining cheezball.

I almost gagged when Alec said "There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer"

Good lord!

This film is unfortunately, what the MTV generation and a people like Michael bay think the 40s were actually like. Everything is so sugar-sweet and fake that it just gags you. The way every girl has red lips, perfect hair, and perfect clothing just felt fake. This is like a WWII Gap commercial.

I thought the attack sequence had its moments. But it never really struck me as hard as I think it should have. Bay's too concerned with the explosions and pyrotechnics to make it truly harrowing. What's more, when the brothers hop in their aircraft and start piloting around and talking like they're either in "Top Gun" or a video game, its downright offensive. Movies like "Black Hawk Down" and "Saving Private Ryan" have phenomenal action. But its never the cheap, blockbuster kind. Its intense and scary and overehelms you with the realism and brutality. "Pearl Harbor" never accomplished this.

I was also amazed at the brevity and lack of meat to the Battle of Tokyo ending. Its like they completely ran out of money.

I don't fault the cast as much as others do. Their script was terrible as was everything around them. They've all been better and proven themselves, and frankly I don't know how anyone could say their dialogue better.

I can usually find something redeeming in a movie, which is why I rarely hate a film. I think the battle is the reddeming quality of this movie. You have to admit, the effects are damn good.

The thing is, even the battle scene completely fails to capture the horror of the event. It's all flashy effects and quick cuts, and after a few minutes, any interest fades and I get bored. In the middle of one of the biggest, longest battle scenes ever put to film. Something very important has got to be missing.

Pearl Harbor isn't even an adequate popcorn flick.

And the more I think about it the more I feel offended by it. Dec 7th was a horrific day, one where many innocent died, and to have it made into a fluff movie makes me rather sick, with its cotton corn love story.

To have a movie about those events that are well thought through, informative and help capture of the real attacks is fine by me, not this monstroscity.

Is PH even a movie?

All pH levels point to totally acidic in the stomach and have a very base and rank smell. pHooey.

I may have ot watch the Vista series disc for an assignment (God, I hope not, see it once was more than enough.. I mean christ, her boyfriend dies and its shot like a fucking maxwell house ad), but for War films I like:
Anything Sam Fuller (particularly Big Red One, and The Steel Helmet)
Thin Red Line
The Burmese Harp
Come and See
Casualties of War

all those movies wipe their asses with Pearl Harbor.

Sam Fuller rules.

Alec Baldwin was damn hilarious. I swear to Christ I saw him do that exact same character on an SNL skit several years back with the late great Phil Hartman.