One good set-piece; forget the rest

Rating: 5/10 (21 June 2018)

PEARL HARBOR is an attempt by Michael Bay to do what James Cameron did on TITANIC: create an epic romance surrounding a real-life historical disaster plot. Unfortunately, the romance takes the form of the cheesiest love triangle ever, with boring Ben Affleck and struggling Josh Hartnett competing for the affection of the entirely wooden Kate Beckinsale. This laborious, badly-written, long-winded nonsense means that PEARL HARBOR clocks in with a three hour running time, but the truth of it is that at least two hours of said running time is pure padded excess. No matter how many famous cast members they add to the mix, there's no getting around all of the cliches and the monotonous nature of the human interaction. The good news is that the attack itself takes the form of a forty-minute set-piece sequence which is quite exhilarating, utilising some very good CGI effects and non-stop explosive stunts to make it a truly impressive and immersive experience. The rest can be safely ignored, and if you're looking for a definitive version of this story, I'd recommend TORA! TORA! TORA!.