Tora Tora Tora this is not.

Rating: Null/10 (18 November 2004)

*****SPOILERS MAY BE INCLUDED********
OK, first off I was really hyped up about this movie. However, after seeing it several times, I find myself going back to Tora Tora Tora. The sheer number of errors in this movie are appalling, considering how much was spent on it. Let me name a few.
1. OK, Cuba Gooding Jr., playing the role of Dorie Miller on the USS West Virginia (BB-48) runs and grabs a twin .50 cal aircooled MG mount and opens fire. Already all this is wrong. When he fires it, as you look at different scenes, in 1 scene it has 2 closed ammo boxes, then 1 closed 1 open, and then only 1 closed, yet no one is around him and he is firing all the time. Secondly, on US prewar battleships, only single .50 cal WATERCOOLED MGs are used, and thirdly if you look in the background, you see a USN Frigate. Outboard of the West Virginia was the battleship Oklahoma, and on the other side Ford Island. No Frigates anywhere.
2. In the movie, when an A6M2 Zero gets shot down, it crashes into a battleships boat crane, and bends it. In all photos after Pearl, all the cranes on all the BBs are still straight, with the possible exception of the Arizona.
3. We see a tripod mast from an inboard battleship collapse, and fall on an outboard battleship. Only 4 battleships had tripod masts at Pearl Harbor, and none fell on another ship. Oklahomas broke off when she rolled over, Nevada and Pennsylvanias were undamaged, and Arizona's foremast slumped forward.
4. The battleship Missouri sits in for the West Virginia during Goodings fight scene. The Missouri's triple 16"/50 turret can be seen. The West Virginia had twin 16"/45s.
5. When the Oklahoma capsizes, it raises out of the water, with the only the deck to the fortop in the water before it sinks.
6. Ben Affleck are flying P-40N Trainers in closeups, and in exterior views are flying P-40Es. P-40Bs (2 cowling guns, 4 wing guns, not 6 wing guns) were at Pearl.
7. When Josh Hartnett is dogfighting Zekes, he is pulling hard on the stick, firing, and swinging everywhich way. IF he did that in real life, he would 1) Be out of ammo in 9 seconds (only 1,200 rounds total, at 700 rounds per gun), 2) couldn't hit squat, and 3) stall his plan and throw it into a spin.
8. When the B-25s take off of the Hornet, In one shot the flight deck is of a 3D modeled Essex (that's not a Yorktown style flight deck), then in another we clearly see the split flight deck of a Nimitz class CVN
9. When we see the "Japanese" carrier force (Kido Butai) heading towards Pearl, you can clearly see 2 Nimitz Class CVNs, Arleigh Burke class DDGs, and a surfaced Los Angeles Flight 1 SSN.
These are the 9 most glaring errors to me, and the ones I think I can fit in this comment. If you want a good Pearl Harbor movie that is factual, real, doesn't look like a video game, and isn't riddled with errors, go see Tora Tora Tora.