What is even more impressive is how the film managed to completely subvert the course of the nation s discourse this holiday weekend. Every network ran specials on Pearl Harbor. Every newspaper ran numerous articles. All this means that by the time I write this review, there will be hundreds of others already out there. Therefore, to distinguish this review, I will try a different tack from the pack, and leave you with my eclectic thoughts.
Most people agree the film was too long.
The purpose of this section is to perfunctorily develop the characters so we have people to identify with in the upcoming battle. Soon, Rafe finds himself as a volunteer for Britain s RAF, flying sorties against the Germans in the Battle of Britain. At the end of this montage, we see a thrilling aerial battle, very obviously based on the same archival radio tapes that inspired the final scene in Star Wars, in which Rafe is shot down and purportedly killed. Rafe returns just in time for the immortal infamous day. Interspersed through this, we see snippets of what is happening among both the Japanese and the US leadership.