The good and bad of it

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2001)

As a frequent filmgoer, I have seen the trailers for Pearl Harbor probably 50 times in theaters, and they predisposed me to disliking the film. Then the reviews started coming out with one-star-out-of-four ratings, and my early bird friends were saying "good one hour movie that takes 3 hours" or "tolerate a lousy two and a half for an excellent half hour." So I finally went, with little enthusiasm. I was surprised that the movie seemed like about two hours, and that there were more acceptable minutes than expected; this moved it from one to two stars in my book. Still, the bad stuff is plentiful and truly awful.
Some good things: Consistently excellent computer special effects, more authentic warbirds used than any other movie (at least in recent memory), a true sense of the horror of the bombing was brought to the audience, Jon Voight as Roosevelt, the fact that the film makers balanced the Japanese attack with our symbolic Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, fine Japanese actor Mako, some really convincing portrayals of Americans by quite a few British actors (these must have been requested by them, since there is hardly a shortage of American actors), Dan Aykroyd in another well done serious role, Mt. Fuji in the background of the U.S. Steel Plant in Gary, Indiana
Some bad things: The very visible lines from lower lip to ears where the prosthetic chin was added to Jon Voight's much shorter one (fewer closeups would have helped...note to director; when using so much makeup, check the results before giving the go ahead for real filming!), Josh Hartnett (however, this guy would have been useful for any film where Tommy Lee Jones needs to have a flashback to his youth), repeated lack of faith by the filmmakers in the power of the historical truth (the correct number of Japanese planes, flying in correct formations, instead of the plague-of-locusts swarms they are shown buzzing around in, would have worked just as well), I know they were working with a modern carrier deck and whatever historic flying planes they could get their hands on, but let's use those computer effects to touch up the scenes (erase steam modern catapults, fill in obviously modern carrier deck shape, correct for engine and option differences in the Japanese planes), horrible and pointless and irritating and excessive slo-motion/soft focus effects, incredibly inappropriate and mood- breaking modern pop music at the end of the final scene.
Most Missed Thing: One of the most important and inspiring things to come out of the attack on Pearl Harbor was the brilliant and resourceful resurrection of the harbor and some of its ships (some were refloated) in a very short period after the attack. This incredible effort helped put the USA back in the game. It was totally ignored in this movie; not even the slightest mention was made.