Frighteningly Realistic Depiction of the Attack on Pearl Harbor

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2001)

"Pearl Harbor" re-creates the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The battle scenes using convincing miniatures, blended in with the latest in state of the art computer animation, give us a frighteningly realistic depiction of the that attack. The effects are so convincing that you believe that you are watching the real thing.
But Hollywood makes the same mistake it made with that other epic, "Titanic" (1997)..it tacks on yet another syrupy love story. This time there is a love triangle involving Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett as gung ho pilots and Kate Beckinsale as a nurse. As in all love triangles with a war theme, you know that one of the principals will pay the ultimate sacrifice.

The love story dominates the first hour of the film and drags on far too long. Once the attack begins we are treated to some of the most realistic battle scenes ever put on the screen. We are also made to feel the pain of the men and women who sacrificed their lives that day.
The leads are OK however, the film would not have suffered too much had the love story been minimized. There also is a long list of familiar faces in small cameo type roles. Cuba Gooding Jr. stands out as the first black man to win the Navy Cross, Jon Voight does a good FDR, Mako is the Japanese Commander, Alec Baldwin plays the a pilot commander and Dan Aykroyd and Scott Miller turn up in other roles.
All in all "Pearl Harbor" gets a passing mark based on its awesome battle scenes, but looses points for the over-long love story. Imagine the film that could have been had they filmed the attack around a story such as "From Here to Eternity" (1953).