Missed Opportunities (spoiler free)

Rating: 2/10 (25 May 2001)

First, the Special FX are indeed spectacular. Tucked inside this 3-hour movie is about an hour's worth of special FX bonanza. These scenes are quite literally jaw-dropping. It almost makes the *other* two hours of sappy love story worth the trouble. With a $135 million budget and a great topic (Pearl Harbor), you would've thought Disney had a guaranteed hit on its hands. Unfortunately, all they had was a huge 135 million-dollar blunder.
The script is atrocious --- it's hard to believe this from the same writer as Braveheart. Not even the trio of hot young Hollywood stars can make you overlook the horrendous dialogue and the one dimensional cardboard cutout characters. In this movie, you'll find some of the most cringe-worthy, cliche-ridden lines you could possibly imagine. It's hard to imagine how these actors were able to keep a straight face while reciting great lines like:

"I'm gonna give Danny my whole heart, but I don't think I'll ever look at another sunset without thinking of you."
"If I had one more night to live, I'd want to spend it with you."

"We may lose this battle, but we're going to win this war."

"I want you to do me a favor: I want you to pray for both of us."

"Let's play chicken with those Japanese [expletive]!"

Needless to say, you'll get to hear more of these little gems during the movie's 3-hour run. At one point, the paralyzed President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Voight) stands up from his wheelchair and patriotically utters, "Don't tell me what I can't or cannot do!"
It's moments like these that can make audience members in the theater laugh & walk out early. A few actually did. I didn't --- I was having too much fun laughing with my friends.
Rated * out of **** stars
PG-13: (violence without blood, sex without nudity)