Pearl Harbor (2001)

John Chard

5.0

Sep 25, 2014

OK! Lets not beat around the bush, it's historically suspicious, badly written, badly cast and clearly an hour too long. A splendid "support cast" are wasted as Michael Bay and his production team think they can produce some sort of Titanic of the Skies like epic and fail in their objective. By the time of the brilliantly constructed assault by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, and "it is" exhilarating and edge of the seat heart pounding, you are left with the feeling that all the main characters in the piece are not really worth our emotional investment. It's not an outright stinker, situation…

CinemaSerf

6.0

Jul 1, 2022

After about half an hour, I started to wonder if this film was going to take as long to get going as a pearl takes to form in an oyster! It's a close run thing, as it must be around eighty minutes in before the Japanese come to the rescue of the audience and introduce some action into this over-long and dreary romance. Certainly it is all handsomely presented with Ben Affleck ("Rafe") at his most swarthy as he gets it to together with "Evelyn" (Kate Beckinsale). Having put us through the usual "how to get the girl" shenanigans, though, he heads off to the UK to help in the Battle of Britain. I…

Wuchak

9.0

Jan 30, 2023

**_A fine drama/romance combined with great war action_** "Pearl Harbor" (2001) is a Titanic-ized version of the tragic events of Pearl Harbor—a fabricated drama/romance hooking the viewer into the deceitful attack of December 7, 1941. It's 85 minutes before the attack occurs so the drama/romance and build-up to the infamous day BETTER be good, and it is. It's believable too (except maybe for the premature sex scene, which inaccurately transfers modern morals to the early '40s). This first act successfully brings us back to the era of the early '40s and sets the stage for the attack. I d…