One of the Worst Movies of All Times

Rating: 1/10 (8 February 2008)

Pearl Harbor is without doubt one of the worst movies of all times. And the reason for that is not that it features Ben Affleck, probably the worst actor ever, nor that the dialog is truly awful, Josh Harnett declaring "World War II has just started!" just to mention one. It's not even all the numerous anachronisms and historical blunders that makes this picture The Worst.
No, that would just make it plain bad, but what really earns this film 1 out of 10 (would have given it negative vote if i could) is that it really is a propaganda movie nearly as bad as bad as anything Leni Riefenstahl has ever made! Maybe even worse because in Pearl Harbor it's more subtle and disguised as an epic war movie.
The propaganda in Pearl Harbor works, in short, like this: First we are shown how the horrible attack on Pearl Harbor was launched and are treated to all the pain and suffering caused by the evil Japanese. Which is supposed to fill us with righteous wrath against the Japanese. Then comes vengeance; America must revenge this most horrible deed, and decides to do so by launching a small air raid on some Japanese factories and strategic points, in which we are shown the bravery of the young soldiers and their glorious victory against all odds.
Victory! Accompanied by epic music it's declared that from that moment on "America has known nothing but victory" and claims that this is what ended the war. Oh how glorious and brave! And with so few civil casualties, what a victory! ...or no wait, something feels wrong! No mention whatsoever about what really ended the war: the nuclear bombs dropped over the two major Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki! THE ONLY TIME IN WAR HISTORY NUCLEAR WEAPONS HAVE EVER BEEN USED! With the immediate death of about 300,000 civilians as a result! About 100 times as many as died in the attack of Pearl Harbor! And god knows how many others died and are still dying of cancer because of the radiation! So instead of mentioning one of the biggest massacres in war history we are treated to a glorious false victory with only the tiniest amount of casualties and the feeling that those Japs really got what they deserved! In other words exactly how propaganda is supposed to work.
This kind of history rewriting is an insult not only to those who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki AND Pearl Harbor but to all who died in WWII on both sides. This and the fact that many people gather their historical knowledge by watching motion pictures like this one, is what make Pearl Harbor one of the most untruthful, insulting and truly bad pictures ever made.