Excellent old-fashioned Hollywood movie-making

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2001)

I do not understand the barrage of negative, mean-spirited reviews for this movie. It's as if a whole lot of people feel somehow personally insulted by this movie or the moviemakers. I can only guess that either the reviewers were paid by Disney rivals, or they have a stick up their collective asses. Whatever the reason, they are wrong. Pearl Harbor is good old-fashioned Hollywood movie-making. Is it literature? No. Is it Bergman? No. It's just a good-to-excellent yarn told with beautiful photography, excellent acting, and incredible special effects. The attack sequence is up there with the war sequences in Saving Private Ryan. And I didn't find the story corny or cliched at all, in fact, I was moved by it and it made the attack sequence that much more involving since I was invested in the characters (a mistake, by the way, that Private Ryan made -- starting the war sequence before you've even had a chance to meet the characters). My jaw was literally dropped during the entire attack sequence. As to the comments that the story was cliched and predictable, I guess that depends on how many movies you have seen. If you have seen every movie ever made, it may seem repetitive. To a certain extent, there are only a few stories available to tell, and after you've seen a few surprise twists, you've seen them all. I myself did not see the ending coming, in fact I was surprised. But what do I know, I'm not a cynical s**t who likes to put down movies just because the masses might enjoy them. I'm trying to think of something to criticize. A few of the scenes were wobbly and perhaps forced. But the rest just flowed. My wife and I REALLY enjoyed this movie -- in fact, after seeing all the negative reviews and expecting crap, we were blown away. I give it a 9 out of 10.