Makes 'They Died With Their Boots On' look like a documentary

Rating: Null/10 (7 January 2003)

Okay, let's divide this comment up into two sections: One: Positive comments Two: Negative comments
One.....................okay, that's enough of that. Two, Get ready, this is a long one. But first, I'll say this in all fairness. It's an exciting film, and in some ways, does manage to portray the kind of intense, chaotic atmosphere that the attack must have engendered that morning. I love war movies and I've seen hundreds, good, bad, and ugly. This is a very ugly one. Only the special effects are any good. Period. This is only Jerry Bruckheimer's lame attempt to capitalize on the Titanic scenario of putting a heartwarming love story on a stage of a major historic event. But he did Cameron one better. Three lovers, but of course, one dies in a way that makes Jack Dawson's demise look wooden. Oh, I'm sorry. IT WAS WOODEN. This movie has no business masquerading as a portrayal of one of our history's most tragic and pivotal events. I personally know six PH survivors, including John Finn, the last surviving MOH recipient for December 7. He and most of his comrades simply shake their heads when they are asked about this film. It's a damned joke, a tragedy, and a downright INSULT to them and their dead comrades. A pathetic attempt to make the Arizona's 1177 dead into the 'focal point' of the film's patriotic theme is nothing more than a 'look what a great special effect this is' showcase. Now for the nitty gritty: 1.The RAF Eagle Squadron did not use active duty USAAC pilots. They accepted American volunteers with extensive or PAST Air Corps experience. The US could not risk the Germans saying that the US was actively sending American servicemen to fight in the Battle of Britain. 2.A PT12 Stearman, the crop duster in the beginning of the film, was a current and state-of-the art aircraft in the Air Corps inventory in the late '20s. Danny's dad would have had a Curtiss Jenny or a DeHavilland DH4. 3.Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not) but the Battle of Britain ended on September 15, 1940. Even if Rafe was shot down on that day, (and what was he doing near the French coast?) and returned three months later, it would have been in no later than January 1941, not December 5. Granted, he might have been in the RAF until much later, but that's not what the film seems to suggest. 4.Where in hell was General Walter Short? 5.As noted by another comment, there were NO green Japanese Army A6Ms (Zeros) on the PH raid. Only the Nakajima Kates were green.
6.USS Nevada's run for the sea. USS Utah sinks. USS Maryland sinks. USS California sinks...okay you get the idea. As this film says, only Arizona sinks, Oklahoma rolls over and Shaw explodes. End of raid. Nothing about Kaneohe Bay NAS or the B-17s coming in. 7.The 'heartrending' scenes of the attack are nothing more than a vehicle to get Rafe and Danny into a pair of P-40 Warhawks from a satellite field. By the way, with all that was happening, how in hell did Danny know that the Halewa Field nad not been hit? 8.No Warhawk pilot with more than 3.6 minutes of flying experience would EVER try to dogfight Zeros. Can't be done. All the Flying Tigers used the greater weight of the P40 to dive into Japanese formations, attack with one pass, and get out. They always had the advantage of altitude. Having three or four Zeros chasing you through the streets of PH at eye level would have one result: Two dead Americans. And what was that junk about 'let's play chicken?' What a load of dung! I'm sure that any surviving Air Corps fighter pilots must have walked, or stormed out of the theater at this point, thrown up or fell on the floor laughing hysterically. And getting men into the tower to shoot at the Zeros with Tommy guns. Nice touch. How'd they get the 100-round drum magazines? 9.The worst part, is that quaint bit about Doolittle saying, 'hey, let's get you into some bombers and go bomb Tokyo. Wanna come?' What a bigger load of dung. The crews of the 16 Doolittle Raiders were from a bomb group in Oregon and were all brought to Eglin in Florida for traning. NOT A FIGHTER PILOT IN SIGHT. A figher pilot going WILLINGLY to bombers is like an LeMans driver retireing to drive 18-wheelers to Cleveland. Didn't happen. Never. 10.Rafe and Danny, even BEFORE they left Pearl for the states, had the correct shoulder patch for the group that flew the raid. But how'd they get them? They were not in that bomb group. And I'm sure that the costume dept is patting themselves on the back for having the right patch. Duh. 11.I noticed that the USS Hornet went at one point from being WWII Yorktown class carrier to a modern one with an angled flight deck. USS Hornet had been painted in camoflage before the raid and DID NOT have the number '6' painted on the bow. 12.There was no last-minute frantic lightening of the bombers just before the raid. They simply loaded more gas onto them and had stripped them to a bare minimum long before they were placed on the ship. 13.Nice shooting, Danny. A bunch of mad Japanese soldiers with guns on you and you manage to pull your trusty .45 automatic and gun them all down. Nice shootin' Tex. 14.There are a ton more, but why bother? The film is an insult to the brave and traumatized men and women who were there that Sunday morning. Tora Tora Tora is a far better account, even if it does have a few flaws. I feel sorry for the people who take this to be an accurate and compelling portrayal of Pearl Harbor, but it's just a stupid, vapid love story with a predictable end, using a dark and painful episode of American history to make us think watching it is a patriotic act. It's not. I've seen patriotic films that work. Gettysburg is a good one. So is Longest Day or Band of Brothers, and Saving Private Ryan. This turkey is a joke. A cruel joke. 15.Nuff said.