I’ve not watched this movie for quite some time and, to be honest, I’ve just remembered why.
What a load of absolute rubbish. The flight sequences are great, but the excessive bravado, painfully over-writen script and idiotic lines like, “I think World War Two has just started” as the Japanese attack (this is set in 1941 by the way) is insane.
Most other allies are ignored, and the Doolittle Raid, which was originally undertaken and stuck onto the end of the movie mearly to boost morale, failed to cause much damage.
I think this review sums it up when it says…
“Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor” is a cheerfully offensive rape of history that cheapens the lives of World War Two veterans by making a dumb popcorn movie out of their suffering while assuming the form of an epic. The film is three hours long, with major stars, lots of soppy music, and a clear desire to be taken seriously — yet it’s a phoney affair that exploits the Pearl Harbour tragedy for action set pieces and cornball filler.
All this movie attempts to do is copy every level of “Titanic” and fool viewers into thinking they’re seeing something just as good. The filmmakers tried to get the same amount of publicity by originally budgeting the project at $250million. They’ve given the picture a big running time. They’ve used a love story to frame a famous historical disaster. They’ve cast a British actress in the lead female role. The opening credits even use the “Titanic” font.
Here’s another day that will live in infamy: May 21, 2001, when the U.S. Air Force allowed Paramount Pictures to hold the “Pearl Harbor” world premiere on its premises. This is a movie that walks over the graves of those who fought for the free world. Only in the America of George W. Bush would the military approve of it, instead of telling Michael Bay that his work is appalling and where to stick the premiere.”