History (c) by Disney - Most Disappointing

Rating: 1/10 (22 June 2001)

Warning: Contains some minor spoilers.
I expected this movie to be worth seeing and waited for it since the first trailers were shown nearly year ago. It was a major disappointment and made me leave the cinema in annoyance.
The first part of the movie (until the attack starts) is a very good romance. It reminds me of Casablanca (No blasphemy intended), a story of young men and women, and how their lives are affected and turned and destroyed by the war.
The second part (the attack on Pearl Harbor) is a very good anti-war-movie. It shows the absolut horror of war, i.e. the anonymous dying of people in sinking ships or gunfire without the least chance, the organized killing and destruction of live. You are left with two thoughts in mind: "Poor B*****ds " & "Dear god, do not ever let this happen again". And this is the purpose of movies about war.
The rest is TRASH. It is PATHETIC and mostly A LIE.
Again, Hollywood uses and turns history just as they want to and just as the box-office needs it, just as in "The Patriot" and "U 571". You may say, "Hey it's just a movie", but the Problem is, Pearl Harbor is not "just a movie". It is History. And even more, it is an important point in history to which some respect is in order.

None of the historic indications and evidence about the knowledge of the american government (read the history factbooks) about the attack at pearl was brought up. (Has anybody wondered why the most valuable aircraft carriers weren't at Pearl?)
Of course, Ben Affleck saves England from the German bombers (unregarding the fact that only SEVEN american Pilots were flying over England and that in 1941 the battle over London was already won [mostly by british pilots, yup]) then cuts down a couple of Japanese over Pearl and later follows Doolittle over Tokyo (unregarding the fact that those missions were flown by pilots of different parts of the american forces, navy and army)
When FDR struggles himself out of the wheelchair to show his generals that nothing is impossible it is laughable pathetic and the majority of the audience (those who had not left the cinema by now) enjoyed the sight with a belly-laugh.
And one last point: Wars aren't fought by steel-hearted heroes following fearless leaders. They are fought by frightened young men who are fighting for their lives because they have no other choice.