Not as good as I'd hoped, not as bad as I'd feared

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2002)

This re-telling of one of the pivotal moments of world history does partly deserve the epithet of 'Titanic with bombs', but it's still reasonably watchable. The soap opera is overdone and the much-vaunted special effects look at times (particularly with the destruction of the USS Arizona) just like special effects - never a good sign when they are supposed to look real. The performances are not bad, but not great either.
If you want to see the story of 7th December, 1941, watch Tora! Tora! Tora!; if you want a human story with this as a backdrop, watch From Here To Eternity - this can't compete with either. On the positive side, it's better than U571 - but what isn't?