It's All Been Done Before... and Better, Too

Rating: 4/10 (29 May 2001)

Combine 3 parts Casablanca, 2 parts From Here to Eternity, a dash of Tora! Tora! Tora!, a pinch of Dr. Strangelove, and Tom Seizemore as a Sargeant for color.
Michael Bay's film seems to be an amalgamation of a number of other films, notably Casablanca, Tora! and Eternity. It lacks the poignancy of each of those films, instead filling 2 hours and 20 minutes of time with cliche-ridden and sappy dialogue, boring visuals and characters who are either flat and boring, or oversized caricatures of real figures. The remaining 40 minutes of the attack which gives the film its title is visually boring and sterile, failing to elicit any of the intense feelings one would normally associate with the "dastardly" attack by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Instead, the audience is assaulted by machine gun chatter, ricochets, large explosions and CGI effects. But the attack lacks the human factor, failing to make the connection felt with the D-Day sequence of Saving Private Ryan. Instead, the audience feels numb as row after row of extras are mowed down like so many Star Trek red shirts, while the main characters standing beside them stand unscathed and unshaken.
Even the real figures in the film are exaggerated beyond belief, to cliche status. Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s portrayal of Doris Miller feels tacked on to the film, Admiral Husban Kimmel is shown as a Sun-Tzu-esque figure, rather than the unimaginative line officer history has shown him to be, and Jon Voight's portrayal of FDR is almost laughably over the top, particularly in a scene reminiscent of Peter Seller's Dr. Strangelove. Worse still is the portrayal of the Japanese in the film, further insulted by the conglomeration of a number of Admirals into Mako's Admiral Yamamoto.
The film is also rife with historical exaggerations and inaccuracies, particularly in dealing with the RAF Eagle Squadrons and the Doolittle raid on Tokyo.
All in all, an unsatisfying waste of three hours better spent at the video store renting this film's predecessors.