Repeat after me: "It's only a movie."

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2001)

As far as movies go this one has got something for everyone. It's got action, romance, beautiful scenery, and a bit of patriotism thrown in for good measure. If the critics and viewers who are commenting on this movie were around sixty or seventy years ago, no movie would have been worthy to see or have won an Oscar. On the other hand if you happen to love those old black and whites that were packed full of sappy romance and corny dialogue, then you'll love this movie as much as I did. Is it the best picture ever made? No. But it is a great movie just the same. I've heard a lot of people say that the first hour and a half is a waste and should have just been cut. Sure, it should have. Just jump right to the action scenes without knowing the characters who were involved. If this was strictly a movie about an important part of history, there would be no need to know the players, but this is a movie about how that one event, that most of us know only from our history books, actually effected those people who were involved. Maybe those who are saying that they didn't care about what happened to the characters are the same ones who feel that the first half of the movie should have ended up on the cutting room floor. Maybe if they had paid more attention that first hour and actually gotten to know the characters instead of simply waiting for the bombing scenes, they may have cared more about what happened to those characters. Is this movie a little corny? Perhaps to those who feel that the generation who actually lived through Pearl Harbor are old and corny. Many may think that these people are old fashioned and out of the loop, and perhaps that's why many think this movie is sappy, but you can't have a WWII movie without a little sappy romance thrown in. You can't have a lot of steamy, erotic love scenes among unmarried people. This was their life, and maybe they don't find it as corny and sappy as many do. I think the movie portrayed the Japanese in a very human way. They were not made out to be monsters or murderers, but people just like the Americans, who entered into a war. The hospital and bombing scenes were excellently done. I believe they helped convey the confusion and sadness that those who lived through the attack felt. If you have a heart you can't help but be moved by what these people went through. The movie might have portrayed the Tokyo bombing raid as righteous, but at the time it is was a victory for Americans. It proved that they couldn't so easily be beaten, that they would fight back. It was a boost to the American spirit. All in all I believe that Pearl Harbor is a great movie. Don't avoid seeing this movie because of what the critics have to say, and don't see this movie because of all the hype surrounding it. Go and see this movie because it is good entertainment, and it might just make you give a little bit more respect to your parents and grandparents after seeing a little bit of what they lived through.