Saving Private Ryan meets Titanic

Rating: 6/10 (25 May 2001)

Pearl Harbor has great special effects, as do all Michael Bay/Jerry Brukenheimer films. The problem, traditionally, with their films is the story. I hoped Randall Wallace, writer of Braveheart, would offset this usual weakness; he did not.
The story is predictable and contrived. You can almost see the producers gathering around saying, "well Titanic and Saving Private Ryan were hits, so let's combine them and make Pearl Harbor". The love story is weak bordering on insultingly weak. Also many of the supporting characters are paper-thinly developed. For instance, why was Cuba Gooding in this movie? Did anyone care about his character? It would have been better if they just abandoned the love story and focused on the war. For instance, they could have focused on the bonds of friendship developed in war or the loss of innocence in war. Doing so would have allowed for more fully developed characters.
The strength of Pearl Harbor is the special effects and that's fine for a summer movie. However, good special effects are not enough when the subject is Pearl Harbor.