Anyone who dislikes this film clearly missed the point...

Rating: 10/10 (26 July 2004)

If people want to learn the precise history of Pearl Harbor or America's role in WW2, they can read a book or watch one of the many TV series'/films/documentaries that have been made on the topic. 'Pearl Harbor' never set out to fit into those categories.
Instead, Pearl Harbor tells the truly heart-wrenching stories of three young lovers and their friends as their world is torn apart by war. The actual bombing of Pearl Harbor is only a minor moment of the film, as it is what happened before and after the event that is most important to this film's story. Up until the bombing, many Americans still naively believed that they could continue to stand by while the rest of the world was a war; December 7th shocked them into the reality that they could not. Consequently, lives were torn apart, friends and lovers died and the freedom enjoyed before the war was desperately fought for. This film dealt with the human side, the everyday effect of war on individuals' lives. The human experience of your plane going down over enemy territory and the terror of being captured and killed, when only the week before you were lying on a beach with your lover, was shockingly and painfully portrayed here.
Josh Hartnett out-shone Affleck by far, and Kate Beckinsale was also brilliant. The confusion of losing one love, only to find another in his best friend was well portrayed and you believed every word each character had to say.
Hans Zimmer's score adds even more emotional depth to the story, as does the Faith Hill song 'There You'll Be'. The film has it's moments of comedy, romance, action and terror. What more could you want from a romance set in wartime?
There's only so much you can learn from studying history, wartime in particular. The human element is often neglected, until you can put a face to 'that soldier that died' and can see the effects his death had on so many people, whose lives will never be the same. The total lack of normalcy that war invokes and the way it literally tears lives apart was stunningly displayed.
Now having read that..go watch it! At least now you'll know what to expect.