Directed by Michael Bay Starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale I, for one, am very suspicious of a movie about an historical event that lasts nearly as long as the event itself.
People die in war, and they do so in horrible, wasteful ways.
Caught largely unaware, Pearl Harbor lay ready for the taking, and the Japanese took full advantage of the relaxed conditions that existed with their early morning surprise attack. The film's portrayal of Japanese strategy sessions is riveting, and rather evenhanded. The images of men trapped to drown in sinking ships are sobering, equally those of Doolittle's raid on Tokyo. But when the movie attempts to bring in the human aspect of the times, it falters, and seems to drag endlessly on. Jon Voight as Roosevelt is very good at depicting the struggle he faced as he tried to instill a spine in America while faced with a world in chaos.