SummaryAgainst the backdrop of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, two friends (Affleck, Hartnett) find themselves drawn into the war and in love with the same woman (Beckinsale).
SummaryAgainst the backdrop of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, two friends (Affleck, Hartnett) find themselves drawn into the war and in love with the same woman (Beckinsale).
The film's immense cast and crew, headed by director Michael Bay, writer Randall Wallace and stars Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, blend artistry and technology to create a blockbuster entertainment that has passion, valor and tremendous action.
'Pearl Harbor' is a wartime drama that was directed by Michael Bay and released in 2001. The scriptwriter who worked on this movie is Randall Wallace. Before this movie, he wrote for such projects as "Braveheart" (1995) and "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998). The soundtrack was created by unsurpassed master Hans Zimmer, who also wrote music for "Pirates of the Caribbean", "The Prince of Egypt", "The Dark Knight", etc. The stars that played the main characters were Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett. In 2003, Kate went on to star in "Underworld" and in 2004 she took on a leading role in "Van Helsing".
On 7th December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, where the US Pacific Fleet was situated, leaving the US deeply shocked. It is a movie about war, love, courage and honour.
The trailer, which I have personally seen more times than I had expected, really made me, and I hope you, want to watch this movie. The movie length is 3 hours 3 minutes and to my mind, this is just right. You can watch it the whole thing in one go. Moviegoers won't be able to look away from the screen because of the stunning visuals and deep emotions that they'll no doubt feel. Both the main and minor characters are highly convincing and during the whole movie, they effectively engage with each other and what is more, with every member of the audience. You truly believe every moment.
Written by Anastasiia Shystovska
With all the obvious work that went into this beautifully detailed, giant-scale movie, and considering the historical importance of the subject matter, was it too much to ask for a trace of intelligence, or maturity, or even insight?
The film has no soul. An epic about this day of infamy should shake you to the core. But the real infamy about Pearl Harbor is that when you exit, you don't feel a thing.
If you decide to hit the concessions stand (where you're bound to have lots of company), I'd suggest going out for popcorn during either the first hour or the third, because the second features some pretty good big-screen effects involving planes, ships, and explosions.
Another underappreciated film that got bad reviews for no good reason and a film where the critic reviews don't make any sense (though that's something we have come to expect with critics).
This adaptation of one of the biggest turning points of WW2 is well done and well written. I like how it was very accurate to the real event. An event that soon after, Japan seriously regretted. The acting was phenomenal and the attention to detail was great. Faith Hill's "There you'll be" was a good fit for this film as well and an amazing song.
The special effects were great for a 2001 film.
Nothing to dislike, there were very little negatives about this film.
It's not a masterpiece, but it's close to one.
Ben Affleck did a great job and so did all the other members of the cast. Ok, I have one criticism, it was a bit too long.
The Second World War is undoubtedly the conflict that cinema most portrayed. The movie list is almost inexhaustible but the good movies list is much smaller, and I don't know if "Pearl Harbor" can enter that list. Addressing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the main American military port in the Pacific at the time, the film has huge cons. Michael Bay tried to focus on realism, historical accuracy, romance (the lead story is a love triangle, in which two childhood friends engage the same girl) and special effects, trying to do something different and better than it's direct competitors, with whom it would inevitably be compared (for example, the enshrined "Tora Tora Tora" or the more recent "Saving Private Ryan").
But despite all the hard work, the film exaggerates so much in everything that has lost quality. For example, the love story that links all events (ranging from the Battle of Britain to the Doolittle Raid) is so sappy and cliched that it seems to have been copied from a cheap novel or a soap opera. The film is so sugary that it was even compared to "Titanic" because of that. To make things worse, the characters are so poorly constructed that the audience never really cares about them. What interest does it have if that girl dates one of those guys, the two, or goes to a convent? Although they gained notoriety with this film, Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale were not able to shine at all and I think they will not carry good memories of this film. Other problems in the script are the "black-and-white" perspective of war and world, and the inability to portray facts outside the "canonical version" of the story: Americans are the good guys, who were quiet in their corner, **** are the bad guys who treacherously attacked that little Hawaiian paradise. Although the film shows that there was an imminent danger of an attack and that statement was discredited, it never shows the great interest that the US (and Roosevelt) really had in being attacked, in order to finally be able to fully justify the entering into a war that would make economy (still trying to get back up from the 1929 crash) make a lot of money. We know that there are even indications that the US provoked Japan in order to be attacked. The film ignores all this, preferring to portray American heroism, but historical accuracy shouldn't be limited to the choice of an airplane or paint for a ship, but must also (and mainly) be used in the way the story is told to the public. That didn't happen here.
If the script is bad and very fragile, the film improves when we observe the technical questions. The special effects are good, the state of the art when the film was released, but they end up catching your attention so grandly that you stop believing what you see. You don't feel the danger, you know they will survive by a hair, threading the plane through a hole in a needle or by some other unbelievable way. Then you just watch and expect them to finish playing with the planes and blow things up. The soundtrack is forgettable, and the best are in fact a few hits from the Forties that were introduced in the film.
Director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckhemier decide to do their best when it comes to re-telling the story of Pear Harbor in 'Pearl Harbor'... a love-triangle romance film disguised as an epic and tragic war film.
Ben Affleck stars as Lieutenant Rafe McCawley, who is best friends with his childhood buddy, Lieutenant Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett). The two of them seem to be respected by Major Jimmy Doolittle (Alec Baldwin), despite their sometimes eccentric behavior. We see that later on Rafe seems to be infatuated with a Nurse named Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale), and you get the simple, cliche love story of how the soldier has to go off and fight while the woman just has to remain where she is and hope that he writes back to her indicating that he's still alive.
Rafe goes missing in action, and when Evelyn is told the terrible news, she later ends up becoming infatuated with Rafe's best friend, Danny.
This film is filled with some of the worst dialogue, considering that it is written by Randall Wallace (of 'Braveheart'), with such conversations including Rafe saying to Evelyn; "You're so beautiful, it hurts", then she says "It's your nose that hurts", and then he comes back with, "I think it's my heart". You'll be sure to throw up in the popcorn bucket.
The film doesn't do much justice to showcase the horrors of the attack on Pearl Harbor, there is a lack of suspense and disturbing imagery. It doesn't help that it's exactly what it is, a PG-13 war epic. It's trying to be 'Titanic' (1997) meets 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998), and you'd think that combination would make a great film, but instead, does the exact opposite.
Michael Bay only wanted to focus on the romance between three characters we really couldn't care for, instead of focusing on the attacks that shook millions of innocent people.
There are better war films, and there are better romance films... not sure these two are the right combination for an ideal film.