Pearl Harbor

First things first, the fact that many of the posters only show Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale is a travesty. Josh Hartnett's Danny is the heart and soul of this film and one of the driving forces for this review to be more positive than negative.

Pearl Harbor is a fascinating film. On one side, you have the incredible action sequences that depict the devastation of the events of December 7, 1941. On the other side, there is an abundance of melodramatic romance that becomes tiring and cumbersome. The problem is that the action sequences are only about 1/4 of the film, where the romance is the other 3/4. If that was flipped, I think Pearl Harbor would have much better reviews and would have resonated more with audiences.

Best Character: Danny Best Quote: "No, you are" - Danny Best Scene: December 7th Best Piece of Score: "Tennessee.

Pearl Harbor is a terrific movie with a well developed storyline and a fantastic cast.I really don't understand why this movie gets so much hate,it's a good story and despite the historical inaccuracies,I think it stays true to the events in the way that the characters behave and the drama that develops throughout.Many people complained about the love story,saying that it was unnecessary,but I completely disagree,the development of these three characters and the love and rivalry that occurs makes their story a lot more personal, it is definitely what kept me watching for the whole three hours,it was sweet,romantic and tragic,and I don't think the tragedy at the end would have been any bit as upsetting without this conflict that was shown previously.Ben Affleck,Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett all deliver great performances,they really became these characters and were living in the moment for each scene,there was great chemistry between all three,and despite some of their lines being very cheesy,they certainly didn't deserve Razzie nominations.Where the movie does fall flat is the fact that it tried to be the Titantic of war movies,I get that it was a huge movie at the time and Michael Bay was trying to make his own version of it,but trying to be like another film is never a good mind set for filmmaking and that is certainly a significant part of why many people criticized this movie.It may have a few flaws,but I still had a great time watching Pearl Harbor and certainly didn't consider it a waste of three hours,and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good drama or war film.

Follows the lives of two best friends as they enter the war as pilots and both start to fall for the same woman.

Best Performance: Kate Beckinsale

I don't care how much people hate this movie and how cheesy it is. It's entertaining, gripping, beautiful, romantic and a good old war/love epic i always circle back to time and time again. Plus Josh Hartnett in a pilots uniform? HEK YESSSSSSS!

For the past two decades now, Michael Bay has been known littering his films with countless explosions, and with this heavy special effects, garners wide success at the box office. Here, Michael Bay steps into the war genre with this intense, dramatic retelling of the fateful event that pulled America into World War II in the 1941. Set near the dawn of World War II, Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett play Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker, two Airforce soldiers who have been best friends since childhood. As they grow up, they are caught in a love triangle when they both fall in love with beautiful nurse named Evelyn (played by Kate Beckinsale). Things get pretty complicated when Danny and Evelyn are transferred to Pearl Harbor where Rafe returns from fighting overseas in Great Britain to find the two are in a relationship. Next morning, December 7, Danny and Rafe wake up to find hundreds of Japanese fighter pilots dropping bombs on Pearl Harbor. The two friends arm themselves with the F-51s in attempt to fight off against the Japanese fleet. With the U.S naval base devastated and thousands of innocent lives lost, the U.S declares war against war. From there on, Dafe and Rafe and their army lead by Lieutenant Colonol James Dolittle (played by Alec Baldwin) prepare for a fight against Japan to overcome their country's catastrophic defeat. This film also features Cuba Gooding Jr. who plays Captain Dorie Miller, the first African- American in history to be awarded the U.S Navy Cross.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor was one of the most shocking moments in the history of America, and it makes interesting subject matter to be told on on screen. Although this movie does manage to paint the horrors that took place during that fateful day, this film does suffer from some flaws that director Michael Bay is often known. Now with a war movie being directed by Bay, audience should go into this movie expecting abundance of explosions and this film plenty of these during the 40-minute action sequences that takes place during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The entire scene is very well done and the special effects are great. The scene really captures the grim details of what the civilians of Pearl Harbor suffered through as we watch countless of people killed from gunfire and drowning, as well as others who suffer some gruesome injuries. This entire scene is quite difficult to watch and it really pulls at your heart strings. Now here is where the film falters. Along with the whole Japanese attack and its aftermath, audiences are treated with a romantic subplot involving Josh Hartnett, Ben Affleck, and Kate Beckinsale that takes up a good portion of the film. What we get from this is poor acting and cheesy dialogue between Affleck and Beckinsale, including a line "I love you so much it hurts", a line that is highly laughable and far too corny, especially when dealing with a war flick. The whole love story is not terrible, but definitely takes more than what is needed of the film. With the whole story, the film ends up running 183 minutes.

Pearl Harbor is certainly not one of the best war movies in Hollywood and definitely not the best of what Michael Bay has to offer. I feel that this could have done better if it was handled someone like Steven Spielberg who has been masterful with the World War II genre (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List). Overall, this is film is not terrible. Despite some of its flaws, it still works and is entertaining to watch.

About one third of the way through this mess, my daughter left her friends and came to me for some money to go to the concession stand. I asked her if they were selling pillows there. This is one of the longest movies I have ever sat through (at least that's what my back tells me). It has some of the worst writing I have ever heard. The set-up and the romantic intrigues are predictable and uninteresting. There is absolutely no suspense. The whole plot is contrived. Oh, yes, there is an endless attack by the Japanese, but by the time it happened, my mind was wandering. As far as those tragic lovers, I thought I was watching a bunch of eighth grade girls and boys ticked off because she said he said she said, whatever!! Then, of course, we have Jimmy Doolittle, going on his raid to make up for what those guys did to us. What a slap in the face to the real event. How can a director with 135 million dollars make the attack on Pearl Harbor dull. Yes, it probably looked like that. Those bombers and fighters moving clandestinely in on the island--destroying the fleet with no conscience. What about a script? What about the building of some sort of momentum? How about focusing on the realistic politics of the time and seeing the world from both sides. I was so disappointed in this film. People wonder why it's so expensive to go to the movies these days. It's because the studios are footing the bill for this kind of bilge!