So bad that it's...bad (contains mild spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2001)

Pearl Harbor was a truly awful film. I tried to like it. I felt I ought to like it. But I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy such utter rubbish.
It suffered from plot 'twists' that were visible from some twenty miles away, as well as bad acting and terrible dialogue (notably Ben Affleck's line "Please ma'am, don't take my wings!")
I admit, the special effects were excellent. But I don't feel that they were enough to save a film that in all other respects was totally sub par.
I also felt that the 'love story' was confused. It was obvious by the end of the movie what you were supposed to WANT to happen. But little feeling was injected into either relationship, and I was left wishing that all three main characters would just get blown up so that I could go home and watch 'Coronation Street'.
As a British viewer, and a teenage one at that, I was unable to warm to the blatant promotion of America and it's all round brilliance.
"Come on, we're great! Those evil Japanese people may have caught us unawares, but look we can get them back for it! And kill off a character in an attempt to make this film a tear jerker at the same time! Could this film be any better?"
Well frankly, yes. It could have been much better. By the end of Pearl Harbor, I wasn't in tears for the fate of the characters. I was glad to get out of the cinema and stretch my legs!