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May 25, 2001
Rafe McCawley: Ben Affleck
Danny Walker: Josh Hartnett
Evelyn: Kate Beckinsale
Doolittle: Alec Baldwin
Dorie Miller: Cuba Gooding Jr.
President Roosevelt: Jon Voigt
Touchstone presents a film directed by Michael Bay. Written by Randall Wallace. Running time: 183 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for sustained intense war sequences, images of wounded, brief sensuality and some language).
BY ROGER EBERT
"Pearl Harbor" is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours, about how on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle. Its centerpiece is 40 minutes of redundant special effects, surrounded by a love story of stunning banality. The film has been directed without grace, vision or originality, and although you may walk out quoting lines of dialogue, it will not be because you admire them.
The filmmakers seem to have aimed the film at an audience that may not have heard of Pearl Harbor, or perhaps even of World War II. This is the Our Weekly Reader version. If you have the slightest knowledge of the events in the film, you will know more than it can tell you. There is no sense of history, strategy or context; according to this movie, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because the United States cut off its oil supply, and it was down to an 18-month reserve. Would going to war restore the fuel sources? Did it perhaps also has imperialist designs? The movie doesn't say.
So shaky is the film's history that at the end, when Jimmy Doolittle's Tokyo raiders crash-land in China, they're shot at by Japanese patrols without any explanation about the Sino-Japanese war already under way. I predict some viewers will leave the theater sincerely confused about why there were Japanese in China.
As for the movie's portrait of the Japanese themselves, it is so oblique that Japanese audiences will find little to complain about, apart from the fact that they play such a small role in their own raid. There are several scenes where the Japanese high command debates military tactics, but all of their dialogue is strictly expository; they state facts but do not emerge with personalities or passions. Only Adm. Yamamoto (Mako) is seen as an individual, and his dialogue seems to have been rewritten with the hindsight of history. Congratulated on a brilliant raid, he demurs, "A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war." And later, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant."
Do you imagine at any point the Japanese high command engaged in the 1941 Japanese equivalent of exchanging high fives and shouting "yes!" while pumping their fists in the air? Not in this movie, where the Japanese seem to have been melancholy even at the time about the regrettable need to play such a negative role in such a positive Hollywood film.
The American side of the story centers on two childhood friends from Tennessee with the standard-issue screenplay names Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett). They enter the Army Air Corps and both fall in love with the same nurse, Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale)--first Rafe falls for her, and then, after he is reported dead, Danny. Their first date is subtitled "Three Months Later" and ends with Danny, having apparently read the subtitle, telling Evelyn, "Don't let it be three months before I see you again, OK?" That gets almost as big a laugh as her line to Rafe, "I'm gonna give Danny my whole heart, but I don't think I'll ever look at another sunset without thinking of you."
That kind of bad laugh would have been sidestepped in a more literate screenplay, but our hopes are not high after an early newsreel report that the Germans are bombing "downtown London"--a difficult target, since although there is such a place as "central London," at no time in 2,000 years has London ever had anything described by anybody as a "downtown."
There is not a shred of conviction or chemistry in the love triangle, which results after Rafe returns alive to Hawaii shortly before the raid on Pearl Harbor and is angry at Evelyn for falling in love with Danny, inspiring her timeless line, "I didn't even know until the day you turned up alive--and then all this happened."
Evelyn is a heroine in the aftermath of the raid, performing triage by using her lipstick to separate the wounded who should be treated from those left to die. In a pointless stylistic choice, director Michael Bay and cinematographer John Schwartzman shoot some of the hospital scenes in soft focus, some in sharp focus, some blurred. Why? In the newsreel sequences, they fade in and out of black and white with almost amusing haste, while the newsreel announcer sounds not like a period voice but like a Top-40 DJ in an echo chamber.
The most involving material in the film comes at the end, when Doolittle (Alec Baldwin) leads his famous raid on Tokyo, flying Army bombers off the decks of Navy carriers and hoping to crash-land in China. He and his men were heroes, and their story would make a good movie (and indeed has: "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo"). Another hero in the movie is the African-American cook Dorie Miller (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who because of his race was not allowed to touch a gun in the racist pre-war Navy, but opens fire during the raid and shoots down two planes. He's shown getting a medal; in real life, he died later in the war, and the Navy was none too swift to part with its medal even posthumously.
As for the raid itself, a little goes a long way. What is the point, really, of more than half an hour of planes bombing ships, of explosions and fireballs, of roars on the soundtrack and bodies flying through the air and people running away from fighters that are strafing them? How can it be entertaining or moving when it's simply about the most appalling slaughter? Why do the filmmakers think we want to see this, unrelieved by intelligence, viewpoint or insight? It was a terrible, terrible day.
I have visited the Battleship Arizona Memorial. My late Aunt Martha dated a boy, Willis Hartrick, who is entombed in the ship. Three thousand died in all. This is not a movie about them. It is an unremarkable action movie; Pearl Harbor supplies the subject, but not the inspiration.
With Baldone, how could it be good? I am sooo glad this movie is getting bad reviews. The WWII vets, my father is one, deserve better.
one word:
I never got past the words Alec Baldwin.
All I need to know.
And Affleck provides a twofer for that opinion.
I think Hollywood hired all them 20 something deadheads that worked in the Clinton White House as writers. Why is it you can buy a good mystery or well written book but out there the greatest thing they come up with are copies of old movies, very badly rewritten. Now they are planning to remake the Planet of the Ape.
"Pearl Harbor" is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours "
That's a classic line!
I never got past the words Alec Baldwin.
Same here. Maybe I can chug 3 Bass Ales right before I walk in and sleep through the movie...
And Ebert is a liberal. This movie must be even worse than he describes.
"Only Adm. Yamamoto (Mako) is seen as an individual, and his dialogue seems to have been rewritten with the hindsight of history. Congratulated on a brilliant raid, he demurs, "A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war." And later, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant."
Ummm, Ebert? Those are authentic Yamamoto quotes.
You also screwed up on the part about the oil. The embargo did trigger the plan for the attack against the US fleet, to get it out of the way so Japan could invade oil-rich Duch Indo-China.
Maybe it's YOUR knowledge of history that's the problem.
I am looking forward to Shreck. I think that's the big hit for this year.
Still boycotting Hollyweird.
Right about Yamamoto. He really did not believe that attacking America was the smart thing to do. Yamamoto: The Man Who Planned Pearl Harbor, by Edwin P. Hoyt, has the details.
* 1/2, that's pretty bad. Wonder what Leonard Maltin will give it.
"Now they are planning to remake the Planet of the Ape."
Dang. Must be a very small cast or one heck of a short film.
.....or one bad-assed ape.
I was so glad when Baldwin decided NOT to be Jack Ryan in the movies.
Ummm, Ebert? Those are authentic Yamamoto quotes.
Thank you. I thought I had old timers disease.
I am looking forward to Shreck. I think that's the big hit for this year.
"Fellowship of the Ring" coming in December.
He also got the history on Dorie Miller's Navy Cross wrong: he received it in early 1942 (before Midway, IIRC), and died in 1943 aboard the USS Liscombe Bay. It was NOT awarded posthumously.
Glad to hear it (about Shreck). A group of us (former military and militant types) are getting together tomorrow for a buddy's birthday party. We were planning on going to see Pearl Harbor, but have decided instead to go see Shreck. I may take Tora Tora Tora up to the house on video tape and we'll watch and pay tribute that way, but we've decided to wait until the movie hits the dollar theaters before we go and see it.
. . . although there is such a place as "central London," at no time in 2,000 years has London ever had anything described by anybody as a "downtown."
I can hear Petula Clark now wailing about "Ce-en-tral!! Where all the lights are bright . . ."
So maybe I'll see you there.
You speak the truth about Doris Miller. Here's the quote from the Navy's website:
Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born
in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three
brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. While attending
Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team. He worked on
his father's farm before enlisting in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third
Class, at Dallas, Texas, on 16 September 1939, to travel, and earn money for his
family. He later was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, was advanced to
Mess Attendant, Second Class and First Class, and subsequently was promoted to
Ship's Cook, Third Class.
Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was
assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess
Attendant, and on 2 January 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia
(BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that
year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery
Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 August, and was
serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December
1941. Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for
general quarters sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft
battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it,
so he went on deck. Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry
wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. Then an officer ordered him
to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. He subsequently
manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of
ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship.
Miller described firing the machine gun during the battle, a weapon which he had
not been trained to operate: "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and
she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her
for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were
diving pretty close to us."
During the attack, Japanese aircraft dropped two armored piercing bombs through
the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes into her
port side. Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe
flooding below decks, the crew abandoned ship while West Virginia slowly
settled to the harbor bottom. Of the 1,541 men on West Virginia during
the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded. Subsequently refloated, repaired,
and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end
of the war in August 1945.
Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942,
and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then
Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally
presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for
his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked:
This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts.
On 13 December 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis (CA-35), and
subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November 1942.
Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) in the spring
of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the
seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay's
aircraft supported operations ashore between 20-23 November 1943. At 5:10 a.m.
on 24 November, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from
Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern. The
aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within
minutes. Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was
officially presumed dead 25 November 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome
Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646
died.
In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal;
the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.
Commissioned on 30 June 1973, USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class
frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.
Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller, USN
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares. I suppose so. Sounds a lot like getting drunk.
Bad news for you. Harrison Ford is out now and the new Jack Ryan is...Ben Affleck! I kid you not. The next books in the series have Ryan as Veep and POTUS. I don't think Affleck's old enough to be a Senator.
"Pearl Harbor" is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours "
My favorte - Pearl Harbor; A movie that will live in infamy.
Ummm, Ebert? Those are authentic Yamamoto quotes.
Well I think the actual quote is "I fear all we have done is to awaken the sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve." I've seen several slightly different translations.
Maybe it's YOUR knowledge of history that's the problem.
Right on the money. Ebert is a leftist dolt whose porcine frame is only outweighed by his mammoth ego. I feel certain that he never did a moment of research himself regarding this galvanizing event in our history but left it to a subordinate.
Folks, i saw this movie today, the first show the first opening.....it sucks worse than an oval office intern. I agree wholeheartedly with Ebert's review, and predict this movie will turn out just like independence day and the other stupid hyped up crap hollyweird puts out. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE
Is that true? Don't ruin my weekend.
I don't mean to nitpick, but as long as we're debating errors here, the movie's title is spelled Shrek! For two great movie review sites btw, I recommend www.rottentomatoes.com for a wide variety of reviews and www.screenit.com for parents who want to know EXACTLY what's in a particular film. Screenit doesn't provide the same level of moral guidance Focus on the Family or Michael Medved does, but I have to recommend it over the other two for providing specifics as to content (e.g. which obscenities are used and how frequently). It's outstanding.
Let's hear it for the blockbuster of the year, "Battlefield: Pearl"
Yep, I'm going to the theatre tommorow to see "Memento", long live independent film! Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer movies don't get released...they escape! Stay away from brainless crap, you just encourage them to make more of it!
Here's hoping that word of mouth will kill twaddle like this!
Sad but true. I couldn't believe it either. That's Hollywood; cast the flavor of the month to draw in the all-important youth market. Tom Clancy must have lost all creative input with the studio.
I don't need someone to tell me what to think, thank you.
I just rewatched Tora, Tora, Tora, and I will be going to see pearl harbor Tomorrow AM.....I bet $10 it's f'ing great
Mr. Crankys review of Pearl Harbor.
You don't want someone to tell you what to think, but Disney has done everything just short of implanting advertisements into your dreams about this film! I have never seen a movie so shamelessy hawked by the studio. They spent 7 million alone just on the premier! You are a sheep, you let some slick ad campaign tell you what to watch,that you need to go see this huge ball of hype, and come tommorow, you will have wasted 3 hours of your life and 9 bucks...enjoy..
I don't think Affleck is smart enough to be a Senator from New YOrk.
And that's sayin' sumpthin'.
It's been panned by every critic in the country, and it truly sounds horrible. I wouldn't want to see it even if I weren't already boycotting Disney. But I'll bet it does well at the box office nonetheless. All those demented people who voted for clinton will probably go and see it three or four times.
The Cranky Critic sez: IN SHORT: Two of the three longest movies we've ever sat through.
I took my 12 year old son to it this afternoon and will spend the rest of the evening de-programming him. What a bunch of dreck!
Thanks for the links.
I have Leonard Maltin's movie review book, so it's kind of the baseline for me.
Let's see, love triangle and a big historical event...where have I seen that before..TITANIC maybe? Looks like Hollywood will be emulating the success of the TITANIC movie with a string of historical event/love triangle movies.
This is the Our Weekly Reader version.
ROFL! How we hated those things as kids! We called that Junior Commie Rag "Our Reekly Weeder." (Sorry, kid humour.)
You also screwed up on the part about the oil. The embargo did trigger the plan for the attack against the US fleet, to get it out of the way so Japan could invade oil-rich Duch Indo-China.
But the reason for the embargo was because the Japanese had invaded China and was guilty of many atrocities there. They needed the oil to keep their war machine going. The alternative was to get out of China, of course.
Looks like Hollywood will be emulating the success of the TITANIC movie with a string of historical event/love triangle movies.
Do you think I could perhaps sell a movie loosely based on the love of a New England Congressman for a male prostitute during the fighting of Desert Storm?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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