Last hour spoiled a great movie

Rating: 3/10 (17 July 2001)

This review contains minor spoilers, but I've tried to avoid specifics. You have been warned.
My theory on Pearl Harbor is that it was altered from the original scriptwriter's vision during the process of "selling" it to the studio. The first 100 minutes were fantastic: Epic scope, a wide cast of characters, balance between drama, romance and humour, foreshadowing of the attack, building of tension etc. The attack scene was done brilliantly and was tremendously immersive. However, after the actual attack on Pearl Harbor it was a logical place to end the movie. (Incidentally, HAD the movie ended there, I would have given it 8 out of 10)
However, from that point the movie degrades down into an awful waste of another hour. All characters except for 3 are rushed out of the movie, the plot changes course and pace completely (Can anyone say "Armageddon"), and the realism and immersiveness of the movie is gone. It appears that the studio simply could not accept a movie which ended with a crushing defeat against the USA, and needed to rescript to put that right. This blindingly shallow and tedious extra hour destroyed any sense of enjoyment I had taken out of the first half and dropped this movie's rating down to a rotten 4.
*MAJOR SPOILER* One other comment, they would never have put Rafe's status as "Killed in action" unless they had found the body/tags. He should have been "Missing in action".
Pros: 1) Interesting and believable love story up to the attack. 2) The chilling triage scene outside the hospital with the lipstick. 3) Special effects and filming in the attack scene. 4) Supporting characters and the use of humour. 5) Real historical quotes popping up in unexpected places.
Cons: 1) The last hour. 2) Blind patriotism. "Evil" Japanese pilots doing strafing runs on innocent women. "Good" American pilots not killing a single person. 3) The last hour. Aargh. 4) Overdone camera movement made many key scenes unclear. 5) The last hour. Simply awful.
My recommendation - go and watch this movie, and walk out when you hear the words "Do you know what Top Secret means?"