The anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor was this week and several movies about it have been on TV. A great list of Pearl Harbor movies can be found here. Some good, some awful. I don’t think the Michael Bay film was as bad as people think, but I still favor “The Final Countdown” about a US nuclear carrier that goes back in time and has the chance to intercept Japanese forces before they attack (as a kid I thought it was the greatest film ever made). Any other favorites?
The Michael Bay film IS as bad as people think. Worse, actually.
The best is still Tora Tora Tora.
The original From Here to Eternity is probably the best.
+1
One scene I like is when the Japanese pilots are practising to recognize the silhouettes of the ships they will be after. Flash cards are held up and they call out the name of the vessel. One comes up the can’t name, and they’re told "It’s your own flagship idiots!’ with a slap upside the head, and they all burst out laughing.
best: Tora Tora Tora
worst: Pearl Harbor
those are all the Pearl Harbor movies I know exist
I like In Harm’s Way.
It’s disconcerting to see the mid-60s hairstyles and fashions on the women though, seriously what’s up with that? I know period movies always have contemporary makeup but there’s usually a reference to the appropriate hair and clothes are the easiest part to get right, especially when it’s referring to a period only 20 years previous.
Tora! Tora! Tora! totally deserves its three exclamation marks.
Pearl Harbor was an abomination.
I’ll just echo what others have said about Tora! Tora! Tora! and Pearl Harbor.
To me, that was a jarring detail in Tora Tora Tora. The female parts were tiny–office workers, ladies at a party and one officer’s wife. No problem–it wasn’t that sort of story. The filmmakers worked very hard to get the military hardware right (or close enough–I know there weren’t enough real Zeroes to go around). Couldn’t they have hired one expert on period style to dress the ladies?
Still, I admire the film. Haven’t watched Pearl Harbor–I know enough history that just reading the reviews vexed me…
With some good editing, namely removing Kate Beckinsale’s character entirely and all the pointless romantic/emotional baggage that character inflicted, Pearl Harbor might be salvagable.
What? Kate Beckinsale was the only good thing in the movie.
And if the movie was a straightforward wartime romance, I’d have no problem with her, but this was a blurry-speed blow-shit-up-good eyefest - the audience has no reason to care about the emotional entanglements of the characters, and indeed the entire subplot is a huge waste of time.
I haven’t seen Pearl Harbor so I can’t confirm its awfulness, but without needing to see any others I can confirm that Tora! Tora! Tora! is the best.
I’m not talking about her character. I’m saying any movie is improved by having Kate Beckinsale in it.
Another vote for Tora Tora Tora.
I agree about Tora! Tora! Tora!, having just watched it this weekend. Lots of time I “watch” a movie while surfing the Internet, but this is one where I had to turn my laptop off so I could read the subtitles.
A question about the movie - if you listen to the Japanese when they say “Tora! Tora! Tora!” there’s an extra syllable at the end of the last Tora - what does that mean?
Another vote for In Harms Way.
As a side note, apparently if you can have only one black military character in a WWII film, it has to be Cuba Gooding Jr (The Tuskegee Airmen, Pearl Harbor, Men of Honor, Red Tails). Even if you have a bunch, he still has to be in the film.
I miss you more then Michael Bay missed the mark
When he made Pearl Harbor
I miss you more than that movie missed the point
And that’s an awful lot girl
And now, now you’ve gone away
And all I’m trying to say is
Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you
I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting school
He was terrible in that film
I need you like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part
He’s way better than Ben Affleck
And now all I can think about is your smile
and that shitty movie too
Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you
Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?
I guess Pearl Harbor sucked
Just a little bit more than I miss you
Team America
Tora x 3 was a great movie. You had the slowly increasing tension on the American side as the pieces of the puzzle started falling in place while we see the Japanese methodically prepare for the attack. Some great scenes- the diplomats hunting and pecking away at the typewriter as the zero hour comes and goes, the honor band rushing through the national anthem as the attack begins, the flying insructor being surrounded by Zeros, the desperation in the naval officer trying to pass his warnings up the chain of command, and of course the combat footage itself.
In contrast, Pearl Harbor was about an historic battle getting in the way of an improbable love triange.
Make a romance movie or make a war movie. Don’t try to combine the two.