Anyone have any opinions on the movie Pearl Harbor? I have never been very interested int he Japanese-American portion of the war, always stayed more focused on Germany vs. Russia. Does the movie an accurate account of how everything happened, from the planning of the attack to how it was actually carried out? I'd like to find out more about this portion of the war and want to seperate and fact from fiction in the movie.
The film was very bad, generally speaking. Its love story is unrealistic, unoriginal and too much forced to fit situations. The script was also not very good. Typical situations and not an agile story. The story also has a gigantic flaw: you don't include three great historical moments —the Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbour and the Doolittle Raid— in a miserable three-hour film. Because you force the story and don't go into detail in any of the three. And about the film's accuracy, well... According to the film, admiral Yamamoto is on-board one of the Japanese carriers when in reality he was on-board the Yamato at Japan Sea, thousands of miles away. And in reality, there were no members of the USAC fighting in the Battle of Britain. There were American volunteers in the Eagle Squadron, but no former or current members from the US air service. <_<
'Pearl Harbor' is like 'Titanic'-zillions spent on the special effects, nothing on a decent script or proper historical research. Despite its flaws the 70's film 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' gives a better overview of events surrounding the attack on Pearl. 'Battle of Britain', the 1969 film covering other events messed up by Affleck and Co., is in my view one of the best examples of a film mixing fictional characters with real events in a generally accurate way, which gives the viewer some understanding of the historical incident. Why can't modern filmmakers do the same thing?
Perhaps because film-makers see no reason to change habits of a life-time? And, more than making a film they’re all about making money. Their biggest English speaking market, (well sort of English speaking) is the US of A, and, as the maxim goes, give the people what they want. What do they want? Something that runs like a Playstation game so they can issue a Playstation game and all the heroes are played by GI Joe who saves butt and kicks @rse. I hope you have seen, or will see, Dark Blue World about Czech pilots in the RAF. Not an earth shattering film but a worthwhile production. In the US it went straight to niche video (sorry, DVD for you rich kids), distribution without release. If, however, if had Cowboy Ragtime Joe showing everyone the ‘way to go’, it would have got distribution. There were a 3080 pilots in the formally designated Battle of Britain (depending on who’s stats you take), 2543 were UK nationals and a monumental 7 American. Hollywood are currently making a film called ’The Few’ with Tom Cruise playing one of the 7, Billy Fiske, and his character is going to show everyone what combat flying is all about and win the battle for us. The real Fiske only ever flew 3 combat missions, never downed a Nazi plane and died of his wounds after his aircraft crash landed. What next? The Alabama National Guard winning Agincourt or how about the 101st storming Hanoi??? No.9
'Tora, Tora, Tora' is the one to go for if you want a film intro to Pearl Harbor. If you're looking for an easy way into Pearl Harbor, and indeed the Pacific War or any aspect of WWII, I'd recommend The Oxford Companion to the Second World War, General Editor I C B Dear, Oxford, 1995, ISBN 0192141686. Good luck with your research. Best wishes, David
Definitely have to agree with everyone else.... I will admit to having seen this movie only once because I found it soooo bad! The love story is enough to gag a maggot and this historical innacuracies, well.... Even though it is quite dated and it doesn't have the "cool" computer-generated special effects, "Tora, Tora, Tora" is a much better film. One can only hope that "Billy Fiske" doesn't turn into the abomination that "Pearl Harbor" is.... SJW
Originally posted by No.9@Feb 21 2004, 04:26 AM Perhaps because film-makers see no reason to change habits of a life-time? And, more than making a film they’re all about making money. Their biggest English speaking market, (well sort of English speaking) is the US of A, and, as the maxim goes, give the people what they want. What do they want? Something that runs like a Playstation game so they can issue a Playstation game and all the heroes are played by GI Joe who saves butt and kicks @rse. I hope you have seen, or will see, Dark Blue World about Czech pilots in the RAF. Not an earth shattering film but a worthwhile production. In the US it went straight to niche video (sorry, DVD for you rich kids), distribution without release. If, however, if had Cowboy Ragtime Joe showing everyone the ‘way to go’, it would have got distribution. There were a 3080 pilots in the formally designated Battle of Britain (depending on who’s stats you take), 2543 were UK nationals and a monumental 7 American. Hollywood are currently making a film called ’The Few’ with Tom Cruise playing one of the 7, Billy Fiske, and his character is going to show everyone what combat flying is all about and win the battle for us. The real Fiske only ever flew 3 combat missions, never downed a Nazi plane and died of his wounds after his aircraft crash landed. What next? The Alabama National Guard winning Agincourt or how about the 101st storming Hanoi??? No.9 No 9 I take your very true point about "Hollywood History", but wish to point out that Billy Fiske would surely have done more if he had not been burned to death first. At least he was flying over Sussex in a Hurricane, and not sitting back the other side of "the pond" drinking Coca Cola! As someone who many think of as being anti-American I think that two groups of Americans, who volunteered to fight when America was neutral, should be remembered. Those who flew with the RAF, and the small group of American volunteers who became officers in the KRRC.
Pearl Harbour the movie was awfull. Mind you if you are interested in fact that a book or documentary is your choice and not a movie Regards, Marco
”I think that two groups of Americans, who volunteered to fight when America was neutral, should be remembered.” Fine, then someone can make a 15 minute documentary and do that. The points are that if these 7 stayed at home it would not have affected the outcome of the BoB one iota. Their contribution was appreciated as was that made by all the other non British who came to fly, for whatever reasons. Hollywood don’t want to make a film about the BoB and the men who did make a real difference, they want to make another film perpetuating the American ‘superman’ myth, and, in order to do that they have to lie, invent, and spit in the faces of the real achievers. But, this (they estimate) will put plenty of bums on seats and give their biggest market sector, what they want. All this does not mean to say that the US have no people and episodes they can make a ‘boys own’ film about, and, be relatively truthful. No.9
"Dark Blue World" is an excellent film. If you want to watch a good film about the Battle of Britain and its foreign volunteers along with a nice love story —all supported by a good story, plot and script— then it is your film. And certainly "Tora! Tora! Tora!" is the film about Pearl Harbour.
'Pearl Harbour'......................the worst twenty quid I ever spent on a DVD..............serves me right for buying before I had seen it first
Got to agree with most comments, I think the first 20 minutes if that told me I should stop watching but I paid for it so I saw it through to the end, Another Hollywood film where the facts did not really fit what they wanted to portray.
Shouldn't this be under 'Books, Movies & Games' as it is a comparison of a holywood film vs real theatre of war? It is not a pure discussion on war in the pacific. Ryan (purist :P ) By the way I agree with Friedrich on 'Dark Blue World'...
I couldn't stop laughing at Pearl Harbor. The only thing in it that was accurate was the gore. I gave up on counting all the historical errors. And the air battles were a scream...yes, World War II was definitely fought between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader amid the canyons of the Death Star. How could I have been so naive to think that an air battle takes place in the air! And I thought the Japanese were blunted at Midway, not by the Doolittle Raid. And I liked the "nurses' platoon," which had the clean-cut heroine in the love triangle, the "fast girl," the "sweet girl who gets it, the "brain," and the unattractive girl who was likely a lesbian. The best special effect in the whole picture was Kate Beckinsale's American accent. She was also the best piece of upholstery in the picture. Hubba-hubba!
I also liked the magic computer effects. Only about a dozen times could I see Jap Zeros roaring over mothballed Knox Class frigates (USN FFs circa 1975). It would have been better to generate the whole thing; at least it would not end up looking like that film when a modern (1980s) US aircraft carrier goes back in time to 1940 and nearly changes the course of history by preventing the attack on Pearl Harbor Richard
