Pearl Harbor (2001)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Michael Bay

Writer (WGA):

Randall Wallace (written by)

Release Date:

25 May 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Romance | War

Tagline:

It takes a moment to change history. It takes love to change lives.

Plot:

Pearl Harbor follows the story of two best friends, Rafe and Danny, and their love lives as they go off to join the war.

Plot Keywords:

Pearl Harbor | Friend | Pilot | Nurse | Best Friend

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 9 wins & 34 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Capt. Rafe McCawley
Josh Hartnett	...	Capt. Danny Walker
Kate Beckinsale	...	Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Petty Officer Doris Miller
Jon Voight	...	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Alec Baldwin	...	Lt. Col. James Doolittle
Tom Sizemore	...	Sgt. Earl Sistern
William Lee Scott	...	Lt. Billy Thompson
Greg Zola	...	Lt. Anthony Fusco
Ewen Bremner	...	Lt. Red Winkle
Jaime King	...	Nurse Betty Bayer (as James King)
Catherine Kellner	...	Nurse Barbara
Jennifer Garner	...	Nurse Sandra
Sara Rue	...	Nurse Martha
Michael Shannon	...	Lt. Gooz Wood

Also Known As:

Pearl Harbour (UK) (promotional title)
Tennessee (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sustained intense war sequences, images of wounded, brief sensuality and some language.

Runtime:

183 min | USA:184 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | French

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-8 (one 70 mm print for Tokyo Dome, Japan) | DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta) | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:MA (director's cut) | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Germany:16 (director's cut) | Hong Kong:IIA | India:U | Ireland:12PG (original rating) | Ireland:12 (video rating) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 (director's cut) | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Sweden:15 (director's cut) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | USA:R (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

Angel's Gate Park - 3601 Gaffey Street, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Michael Bay's least favorite shot in the movie is the cutaway during the Doolittle Raid to the Japanese women turning and seeing the attack in the distance. On the DVD commentary, he admits he has no idea why this shot is in the movie or what he was trying to achieve in shooting it.

Goofs:

Factual errors: For reasons of expediency and the practical requirements of storytelling (and, presumably, due to some genuine errors), many of the actions and procedures depicted in the movie do not accurately reflect the actions and procedures followed by American and Japanese service personnel in 1941. Many of the events shown in the movie did not happen, or happened differently on the morning of 7 December 1941. This is not a documentary.

Quotes:

Major Jackson: Most officers would have thrown you in the brig.
Evelyn: Most nurses would've gone on to somebody else instead of keeping their fingers plugged in your artery.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tiger Cruise (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jumpin' at the Woodside

What's wrong with this movie?

OK, this is to everyone who say's this is such a great movie; REALITY CHECK! Yes the action sequences are fantastic, the music is wonderful & gripping, the Pearl Harbor attack was intense, it was at many points very emotional and made you a bit teary eyed because you feel for all the brave men & women who died on that faithful day in December 1941. Now lets get down to why this is movie failed miserably:

1.) First off the movie is way too damn long, I mean Jesus I would have to spend have a day to watch it so the makers failed to edit many scenes that didn't need to be in the film.

2.) Historical inaccuracies are everywhere. Little and small. I read a list of all the inaccuracies in this movie, I couldn't possibly write all of them down in this review that's how bad this film is. If you'd like to know what these inaccuracies are checkout Wikipedia and search Pearl Harbor (film). Trust me the list of historical inaccuracies are long.

3.) Waste of talent: Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Alec Baldwin, and Jennifer Garner are given relatively minor roles in the film.

4.) This is what really upset me. The movie is called Pearl Harbor, I thought it would be about the events leading up to that faithful day. in fact it's about a cheesy love triangle, A LOVE TRIANGLE! this entire movie is centered around three annoying characters who are as shallow and fake as the society we live in. The Pearl Harbor attack doesn't come till the middle of the movie. there isn't much attention given to the events that lead to the attack, just these cliché characters. Pearl Harbor just seemed to get in the way. Goddam this is like a cheesy Soap Opera or a World War II version of Titanic.

5.) The Pearl Harbor Attack was a n intense action packed sequence, but even that was incredibly flawed. First off Why is there a Pee-wee baseball game being played so early in the mourning? second when Hartnett & Affleck get up in the air it seems like they shoot down about 20 planes, in reality the Japanese air losses where bare minimum. third there is too much emphasis on CGI effects. fourth this really made me laugh when a group of about 5 men went up into a tower and shot down an enemy fighter with rifles and automatic rifles ..... right... Damn they must have had good accuracy.

6.) Kenneth M. Taylor is a legendary hero of Pearl Harbor. He was one of two pilots who got into fighter planes and began engaging & shooting down Japanese planes. The other pilot was his friend George Welch, Basically Affleck & Hartnett were depicting them. Taylor called this film "A Piece of trash, over-sensationalized & distorted". This was a man who was there and did these heroic feats so you can't discard his opinion. This is proof that this film is a disgrace to our veterans.

Overall this movie was a huge disappointment & let down. If you are gonna do a movie based about Pearl Harbor then do it right! seriously! thousand of good men died that day so tragically in one of the most defining moments of American History and you wanna make a movie centered around fake characters and a cheesy love story. Michael Bay whether you realize this or not I think you disgraced a lot of WWII veterans. I've heard them say they enjoyed this film and the liked the emotion of the film, but lets be honest they would say the same for Tora Tora Tora which is a far more faithful telling of Pearl Harbor. This film had so much potential and ultimately failed to deliver something spectacular that could have had the impact of Saving Private Ryan. Mr. Bay with all do respect.....YOU SUCK! For all our WWII veterans... God Bless you, we love you all!