December 7, 1941 - It Was A Sunday Morning...

Rating: Null/10 (25 February 2002)

Pearl Harbor is the story of two best friends, Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Harnett), and their lives as they go off to join the war.
The build-up to this movie was huge as it splashed across our big screens. Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer teamed up to bring us this blockbuster of a movie for young and old to enjoy, an all-time classic for the family for years to come. Based on a love story, this one blew Titanic out the water on its release in 2001.
Pearl Harbor has this incredible way of wrapping you up inside the film from the moment the music plays. The movie starts with Danny and Rafe as children, and you share their bond as best friends from the start, so it's no surprise you feel for them both as events play out in their lives taking them to different places in the war.
Rafe comes across in the film as the "wannabe hero", the daredevil who thinks he's got the stuff to make the cut. You also get this feeling of Rafe as the father figure as he sets out to protect Danny in almost everything he does, even to risk his life for his friend. But Danny, well, he comes across as the guy who will go to war but do what is needed to keep himself alive. He's not the daredevil his friend is, though Danny would move heaven and hell for Rafe.
Pearl Harbor is the film you will watch again and again. Every time you watch it, it will open up a new door for you, giving you some little detail you missed the time before. Trust me, I know. I saw this at the cinema 23 times, and even now when I watch it at home, there's always something I missed the time before. Pearl Harbor was criticized when it came out for not being accurately based on the events and the build-up to them. Even so, Pearl Harbor made the events in the film real. You find yourself too engrossed in the film to even care if the events are in order or not.
It's amazing, it's fantastic, it's superb.
Bay and Bruckheimer know exactly where to hit you, and they hit you hard. You cry, you smile, you grip onto the edge of your seat, watching bombs fall from planes. A roller coaster of emotions overwhelm you during the three hours of this film.
The only downside to Pearl Harbor was the love triangle. There's no way you can do some of the love triangle scenes and have the audience think you're for real. It's a little difficult to approach this without totally giving it all away. But any filmgoer would find it predictable.
But it's more difficult to believe that they gave Tom Seizmore an award for just shooting planes for 10 minutes.
Pearl Harbor is the film that has basically taken Saving Private Ryan and Titanic, mixed them together with a touch of magic from Bruckheimer, and set it out to the big screens. It's got the cheesy romance from Titanic, and, on the other hand, it's got action-packed scenes of Private Ryan.
But no film is real without the music, and they got it just right for this film, set with the same melody for almost all the songs. It's the music that sets your mood. It's the music that forces tears from your eyes or brings panic to your face. That includes the amazing end credit music "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill.
I just can't brag about how good this film is anymore, so just take my words  get the DVD, get some popcorn (but two bags, as by the end the time the Amazing Jap Zero scenes come on, you'll have jumped up and down in your seat so much that most of your popcorn will be on the floor), dim the lights, bring a loved one to hold the tissues for you, and prepare yourself for December 7th 1941.
Join Ben Afflek, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. for Pearl Harbor relived in modern film history.