Its hard to live up to 12 months worth of hype

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2001)

In a word...LONG...over three hours. All in all, good flick. Special effects, top notch...a little sappy at times...of course the battle scenes were the highlights.
The most impressive facet of this film...the fact that nothing was overtly trivialized or glorified...brave men, on both sides, were depicted...and the best line in the movie came from a Japanese admiral. I really respected the way they handled the Japanese, not the usual propaganda evil, stupid enemy crap. Honorable men, performing dishonorable deeds, but doing what they felt had to be done to protect the Empire of Japan.
Summary: Go see it. But don't expect to be one the edge of your seat the entire film...unless your getting ready to sprint to the bathroom as soon as the credits run.