Mr. Bruckheimer and Mr. Bay, your history appears to be missing.

Rating: 5/10 (2 December 2007)

I have noticed a lot of discussion about this particular movie that there is apparently a whole plethora of things wrong with it. The fact remains that there isn't a whole lot wrong with this movie at all. There is only one thing wrong and that's the fact that it doesn't deal with a cataclysmic event that propelled the United States into the Second World War. The title strongly suggests that and so do the trailers, but it is simply not the case.
"Pearl Harbor" shows nothing, yes nothing, interesting that led up to or resulted from that morning on December 7th, 1941. Nothing is shown about Japanese spies secretly gathering information. Nothing is shown of the Japanese Navy analyzing it and planning the attack. Nothing is shown of American code breakers who actually decoded several Japanese transmissions before the attack. OK enough of what the film doesn't show, but what does it show? It shows that the most important thing before the attack was a painfully corny love triangle. It shows that two American pilots with hangovers can out fly and shoot down enemy planes all without taking damage. It shows us part of the Battle of Britain, which is only relevant in passing to this film. It shows that London has a downtown (it doesn't anymore, because the Germans destroyed it during the Blitz). It shows that WWII fighter air craft can pull off maneuvers like X-Wings from Star Wars, especially if the air craft in question are piloted by Americans. It shows the Japanese as stoic and emotionless individuals despite the fact they managed to pull off one of the most successful attacks in military history. Yet it doesn't show HOW they did.
Funny thing is that all this mess actually makes for a fun movie. A movie that consists of a teenage novel type of romance, 40 minutes of explosions, and then the rest of the movie about how the "good guys" get back at the "bad guys." That's your basic outline for a cheesy action movie. And that's half of what this movie is. The other half is an abominable travesty of history that is harder to forgive with repeated viewings. My advice is just to focus on the first half and you'll enjoy yourself and that makes the movie a guilty pleasure for the action movie fan at best. --- 5/10
Rated PG-13 for violence. Ages 7+
Director's Cut contains more violence. Ages 13+