just what I expected

Rating: Null/10 (9 June 2001)

Not horrible, just cliched, predictable, and entirely too long...
"Armageddon" was more fun, though just as mawkish and even more ridiculous plotwise.
"Pearl Harbor" does deliver on the action sequences, though nothing really new there, either. And though the romance is a pretty lame attempt at recapturing the old Hollywood tradition of the wartime love story, it's partly redeemed by the lead actors, who have an appealing freshness--especially Kate Beckinsdale and Josh Hartnett. Ben Affleck isn't doing much to show his range (which at best seems fairly limited), though I have a soft spot for him because he's so damned good-looking. So is the Hartnett kid, who's likable as well as cute. There's plenty of eye candy in this film, that's for sure.
As for the dialogue: Sure, it's dumb, and as flat and canned as Coke that's been out too long--but it's no worse than "Titanic," which everybody hailed as some kind of masterpiece and which no one seemed to notice had cliches spouting everywhere and a love story I found as cheesy and unconvincing as the one in "Pearl Harbor." And even dumber lines.
That said, I do admit, grudgingly, that "Titanic" is the better film. "Pearl Harbor" tries to combine "Titanic" with "Saving Private Ryan" and comes up instead with a big hollow cheese puff of a movie. Which has its enjoyable points, but is hardly something to be savored or remembered. Swallow it whole in one big gulp and don't think too much about it afterwards. Do think, however, about the real Pearl Harbor story, the one in the history books--it merits a lot closer examination than the Hollywood version.