"It's your job, right? You know, the guy who kills me, I hope he does it 'cause he hates my gut...
"It's your job, right? You know, the guy who kills me, I hope he does it 'cause he hates my guts. Not 'cause it's his job" - Sonny (Al Pacino) in 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
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After more than two years of conflict in Europe (World War 2), America had managed to stay out of the war. They had only been sending supplies out to its British ally but that's about it. Still after numerous German U-Boat (submarine) attacks on these merchant vessels, America still did not give in. It was on December 7th 1941 (as forementioned) when the base of operations for the US Pacific fleet, Pearl Harbour undergoes a surprise bombing attack by the Japanese, did they declare war. After sixty years, Hollywood heavyweight, Jerry Bruckheimer (Armageddon, Top Gun, Bad Company, The Rock, Bad Boys 1 & 2, Beverly Hills Cop, Gone In 60 Seconds... the list goes on) decided to make a big blockbuster adaptation of this horrific tradegy and huge loss of life.
The script, penned by Randall Walace - "Braveheart" was placed in the hands of Director, Micheal Bay. Micheal Bay is without a doubt:
THE MOST SPOILT DIRECTOR WORKING IN HOLLYWOOD TODAY!!!
Since his movie debut "Bad Boys" back in 1995, and this one "Pearl Harbour", Bay has had $407 million to play about with. And this doesn't include the $130 million the ' King Of Corn ' had of (again) Jerry Bruckheimer's money to make "Bad Boys 2".
The most anticipated and arguably most dissapointing film to premier in the 2001 summer showcase of effects laden eyecandy, Pearl Harbour stars Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, plus an impressive supporting cast in a "breathtaking story of love, loss and heroism" (not my words).
After the obligitory opening credits, we are on a farm in 1924 with two young boys Rafe and Danny. Both boys depend on one another and are therefore best friends. Rafe is dyslexic and Danny is vulnerable, especially to the likes of his burnt out WW1 veteran father. They both share the same dream, to fly planes. When they grow up, they both join the airforce and train to be fighter pilots.
We now cut to 1941 at an Airforce Training area on Long Island. Rafe (Affleck - "Good Will Hunting") and Danny (Hartnett - "The Faculty") are doing what they've both dreamed to do, fly. Danny is shipped off to Hawaii and Rafe has been assiagned to the Eagle Squadron in the south of England to help fight the Battle Of Britain (well, he actually volunteered). But on their last night together with all their friends they meet
up with a group of nurses and go out on the town. Rafe meets up with Evelyn (Beckinsale - "Underworld") a nurse who had cleared him in a routine medical exam, despite his Dyslexia. Rafe goes of to England, Danny and co go to Pearl Harbour as does Evelyn and her group of nurse friends. Rafe and Evelyn keep in touch despite being "half a world away from each other" (again, not my words) by writing letters. Ah... how romantic.
Rafe is shotdown during a dogfight over the English Channel and is presumed K.I.A (killed in action). After some months, his friends (Danny and co) begin to move on and get on with their lives. Danny and Evelyn get together a couple of times for coffee and to keep their own personal morale high, but it soon leads to more. They fall for each other and 'get it on' so to speak in the parachute hanger. Ah... how romantic.
But, guess what? Rafe's not dead! He was found by French fishermen and made his way back to the States. He comes to Peral Harbour only to discover that the girl that had given him the will to keep him alive is off with his best friend. The following day however goes from bad to worse as throughout the course of the film so far, there has been the occaional scene with the Japanese planning their suprise attack. It is this day where they make their move and decimate Pear Harbour with over 300 planes. After the attack, one would imagine that the film would wrap up in the next ten - fifteen minutes... It doesn't. The love triangle angle (tee he) is continued and the story begins to fixate on the American retaliation - The Dolittle Raid.
Performances from the three leads, Affleck, Hartnett and Beckinsale and actually fairly average and are quite wooden at times, Hartnett especially. Ben Affleck is not my favourite actor and by no means not the most tallented out there, but he is competent, capturing the fear and anger that must have gone through the minds of thousands of men during the conflict. Beckinsale is... I 'm not sure actually, I can't really say anything. She's just so... plain.
Surprisingly it is the overal impressive supporting cast that outshine the heavyweight heart-throbs. With the likes of Jon Voight ("Mission Impossible") as the Pollio possessed President Roosevelt, confined to that of a wheelchair, Tom Sizemore ("Saving Private Ryan") as the chief engineer of one of the Hawaiian Air Strips, Cuba Gooding Jr ("Jerry Maguire") as the repressed Navy cook, Alec Baldwin ("Mercury Rising") plays the fearless Colonel Dolittle and Dan Aykroyd ("The Blues Brothers") as the suspicious Washington DC Millitary Analyst.
The supporting cast are all great, the best however must be Jon Voight as President Roosevelt. His scenes with his executives are the most compelling and his " December 7th 1941 - A date which will live in infamy " speech to the world press (as forementioned in the title) is by far the most moving moment.
The main problem is that Director Michal Bay and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer are too heavy handed to carry off the subtlty of a good love story. After the first ten minutes, it is thrusted into our face and instead of turning into a worthy subplot, it turns into the main pulse of the story with the bombing and battles tip toeing around it. With James Cameron's disaster epic "Titanic" (a film that this film wants to be) , the love interest is gently apllied and built apon, not after the first fifteen minutes.
Also, Bay can't help but make his heros cheesy and just... too heroic) The way the camera is used at times makes you stand from your seat and shout: " Oh, come on! ". The dialogue doesn't help much either being very flat at times. A good point tho, regarding camerawork is that although its cheesy as hell, it does strike some memorable images. One of the most memorable moments is President Roosevelt defying his disablility and standing up out of his chair without assistance to show his determination concerning retaliation. Another is when the ship's cook (Cuba Gooding Jr) stations himself at one of the anti aircraft guns on the side of his battleship without orders to shoot down enemy planes. Again it is fairly moving.
One thing that does not move me and really should be begging my forgiveness is the number of Historical inaccuracies in the film. Scriptwriter, Randall Wallace was obviously thinking about the money at the time and not portraying a true to life story.
Historical Inaccuracy #1 The Cropduster in the first opening scene of the film, with the two young boys on the farm in 1924. First of all, that particualr model of plane did not exist until the late thirties. Secondly, the science of cropdusting was not implemented until after the second world war.
Historical Inaccuracy #2 Rafe goes off to help fight the Battle Of Britain in the autumn of 1941. By this time, the Battle of Britain had already been won, the blitz on London had moer or less ceased and we (the British) were flying over to France and bombing German millitary units. Therefore, the film had brought a historical turning point on the western front forward one year so that it could have its cliched hero involved.
Historical Inaccuracy #3 During the dogfights of the Battle Of Britain (which happened in 1941by the way, not in 1940 when it actually did happen), there were several models of Spitfire on display: Mk1, Mk2, Mk5 and Mk9. The Mk5s and Mk9s did not exist until the mid forties when the war was coming to an end.
Another thing that made me wonder was: Can fighter pilots be automatically registered to fly bombers without any extra training? (anyone who knows and wants to set me straigt can leave a message in my guest book).
Still on the topic of the (ahem) script, there's not much too it. It doesn't help the main cast who already sound wooden enough and is not particualry memorable either. The attempts at comedy in the earlier scenes are just attempts, it is not really laugh out loud stuff, Especially with Michael Bay's vissually orientated direction.
Speaking of Vissual direction, the actual bombing of Pearl Harbour is without a doubt fantastic. Live action innocently integrates with CG rendering so seemlessly that you don't notice it. The fighter jet dogfights are also impresive, again mixing real flying planes with CGI to create a gritty combat environment. Although it is a spectacular battle with over 250 explosions (that doesn't include the CGI ones!), but its a damn shame that it takes 90 minutes to get to it. This 90 minutes consists of the lovey dovey, long distance love affair between Rafe and Evelyn and also Danny and Evelyn (in the parachute hanger) when it is led to be believed that Rafe is dead. The aftermath of the Battle is also beautifully shot, capturing the truma, anarchy and desperation of the soldiers and doctors and nurses involved. The failure to cut the trapped sailors inside the capsised USS Arizona is also touching, again our two heros (Danny and Rafe) are involved, they seem to be involved with everything...
The soundtrack is both poingant and powerful, its one of those soundtracks that forces you to feel certain emotions at certain points. Admitidly it sometimes works but all in all it just sounds cheesy.
BOTTOM LINE Pearl Harbour has a spectacular second act that is second to none. Its the before and after that is the real endurance test. Michael Bay proves that he can not direct passionate drama and really should stick to the more brainless movies that he has established himself on for the last nine years. His heavy handed, stylised approach to EVERYTHING doesn't do the film justice. However it is worth watching for the bombing sequence alone, just have the pause and chapter skip buttons of your remote controll within easy reach "The Tip Of The Sword" I very much doubt...
CERTIFICATE : 12 TIME APPROX : 176 minutes
CAUTION Some war peril and truma
IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY : - Titanic : - The film Pearl Harbour wants to be but ends up not.
Not a complete waste of celluoid
< DarkMark
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Production Year: 1997 - Drama - Director: Gillian Armstrong - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson, Richard Roxburgh
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Have to admit I really enjoyed this film! I cried so much, but I think it did things like raise awareness of sorta what happened back then, making it totally cheezzyy too of course. ~Maz x
eve6kicksass 01.06.2004 12:31
This film suffered the same fate as Titanic I thought...the events potrayed based on the real life tragedly are vividly realized and eye-popping, though the love story is a complete distraction and just didnt' work. Excellent op once again!!! Chris xxx
December 7th 1941 - A Day Which Will Live In InfamyAs the lives and loves of a generation ... more
are tragically swept into the greatest conflict modern man has ever known - World War II - the events at Pearl Harbor become an extreme test for the strength of t...
Advantages: Historically accurate, covers both political and military side of the conflict, no pansy romantics. Disadvantages: Doesn't have the big-budget explosions.
May 5th, 2004
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