Not to entertain - it's much more important than that.

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2001)

This film was absolutely phenomenal - I rated it a ten - but I would not call it a "great movie." The reason I avoid that phrase is because of the connotation involved. I will not see Pearl Harbor over and over again, I will not buy the soundtrack, and I will not put the poster on my wall. Here's why:
World War II is an incredibly serious subject, and I feared upon going into the movie that it would be treated lightly or with sensationalism. Fortunately, the makers of the movie were much more sensitive than that. What we saw was a very real story about very true people. The mixing of fact and fiction was miraculously executed, and it stirred the deepest of emotions within me.
I gained new respect for my grandfather, who fought this war. I realized as I watched that if it happened today, it would be my own brother battling to survive the fire and water of the Pacific. I saw the film bear witness to children and the innocent and even the Japanese - for everyone who enters a war thinks God is on his side. Most of all, I found myself thinking about my own inner self. Had I been in that hospital alongside those nurses, would I have been able to save those lives? Could I have made the tough decision?
Most of all, I left that theater knowing that we must do everything we can to stop this kind of war from ever happening again. At one point, a Japanese soldier calls his commander "brilliant." The commander's response? "A brilliant man will find a way not to fight a war."
Thank you, Michael Bay, for using the genre of film more responsibly than anyone I have ever seen. Thank you, Randall Wallace, for writing a screenplay that shows respect for life instead of joy in fiery death. And thank you to every name shown in those credits scrolled by - I stayed to read every last one. Thank you for changing my heart.