"Poor" Harbor!(WARNING-SPOILER COMMENT ON THE ENDING)

Rating: 4/10 (12 June 2001)

Yet again "Hollywood" has thrown the equivalent of a small country's monetary budget into a bloated,poorly scripted "blockbuster"(?!).
Randall Wallace has again skewered historical fact to fit the ideals of the money men.At least "Braveheart" redeems its historical inaccuracies by being entertaining .The English are ever-so grateful for the improbable hero portrayed by "Top Gun" Ben Affleck -"if only we had more men like you!"The Brits were fighting on their own for some time before any Americans showed up.There were far more Canadians,Polish & Aussies helping out! Despite the obvious fact that the makers had an abundance of riches at their fingertips,they failed in every area (except FX) to create a decent film. This particular no-brainer has no excuses as there are so many factual sources of info on the infamous subject. The resultant, mix of love,war & tragedy does not work!The one-dimensional characterization stops the (capable) actors rendering a believable framework to hang the whole picture on.You can't use a drawing pin to hang a Renoir! I really feel the glossy nature of the picture insults the memories of those who so tragically died.It also overlooks the American ignorance of its own intelligence sources of the time.The real drama & tragedy of this event would have been more ably portrayed & hard hitting had Mr Bay & Co. made a more factual account of the events.The cringe-inducing "romance" destroys the potential tension,sadness & despair of the situation.The tacked on revenge ending is rubbish!A childlike attempt by the film to even the score!Regardless of any truth to the Tokyo Bombing,no one remembers it like Pearl Harbor!This even insults the Japanese-if you want to show "anything you can do,we can do too!"-GO THE WHOLE HOG AND CHEER THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA!! I personally feel that next time Michael Bay is given the control of a "picture",try and make sure its only a sheet of paper & a box of crayons.