A Bomb of a Movie

Rating: 1/10 (9 April 2002)

Yes, I know. My tag line was very cheesy. However, I felt I should keep within the theme of this movie, which contained some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard. Everything about this movie is designed to make you feel something. The problem is that the movie tries so hard to jerk tears from your eyes, it ends up gouging them out instead. The first hour and half of the film is devoted to an excessivley slow moving rather boring romance. Actually, two romances. Ok, so they tried to copy the "Titanic" mold and frame the historical event within a romance, right? Yep. But it didn't work in "Titanic" either. There is almost no insight as to why the Japanese attack. We are subjected to a couple of one or two minute subtitled scenes that take place in Japan. I guess the filmmakers felt that was enough background on the event that forced the U.S. into WWII. The only redeeming factor in the movie, is the attack on Pearl Harbor itself. For about minutes or so, you watch in white-knuckled suspense, and you know what it was like to be there on that terrible day. There are some inaccuracies in these scenes, but overall, the effect is stunning. After the attack, it's back to the awful dialogue, and redeeming battle at the end of the movie, and an ending that desperately wants you to cry. If you have three hours of your life that are expendable, that by all means, watch this movie. Just remember, you will never get those three hours back.