However, despite all this, my roommate notes that unlike Spielberg, this scene, like the rest of the movie, comes away hollow. Despite the surface similarities, Pearl Harbor and Saving Private Ryan are diametrically opposed. Scratch away Pearl Harbor s splashy surface, and all you have is a blind unflagging patriotism. Saving Private Ryan s indelible opening scene was instead a paean to the horrors, the impersonality of war. A stark, chilling, comment on what we traditionally glorify, on what Pearl Harbor glorifies.
Pearl Harbor resonates because it is empty inside.
I feel that this section was totally unnecessary, but I suppose we can t have people walking out of the theatre in tears. After all, we won the war. For me, the rest of the film was eminently forgettable, and therefore, I will leave it at that. PhD 25 in Aeronautical Engineering. Pearl Harbor is a big splashy Hollywood extravaganza that couldn t fail.