Pearl Harbor
2001 Directed by Michael Bay
Synopsis
December 7, 1941 - A day that shall live in infamy.
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
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Popular reviews
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Now why did he have to go and stick such an incredible and well shot action sequence in such a painfully bad movie?
It's like serving caviar with a deep fried Mars bar.
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THIS is the one you should apologize for, Bay.
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If ever there was a book on 'how not to make a war film,' Pearl Harbor would be on the cover. Throwing away objectivity, historical sensitivity and believability, Michael Bay decides that if it ain't exploding or kissing it's not important. So, the Japanese become mindless, malicious murderers (getting 5 or so minutes of screen-time) and the Americans become benevolent heroes and victims. Coated in cheese, oozing with melodrama and sickeningly superficial Michael Bay rapes history right in the ear and joyfully misinforms a whole generation. Watch Tora Tora Tora instead to see it done right.
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RIP MICHAEL BAY!
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Why do I love films
That are as corny as this?
Love, war, bombs galore -
Yes it's Michael Bay, yes it's very over the top, and yes it's very American, but I can't help but love it. This is my biggest guilty pleasure, but I don't really feel guilty about it at all. It may be very very long but it has a bit of everything - drama, romance, war. The story line about two different romances is really compelling, and I enjoy how they each play out. The three leads are brilliant, for what is expected of them, and their chemistry in turn concludes in a very emotional end. I can't really fault it, personally.
Recent reviews
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Really liked this movie. I have ended up enjoying war related movies a lot more than I thought I would.
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[pass] (26min)
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Why do I love films
That are as corny as this?
Love, war, bombs galore -
I get pangs of complete and utter annoyance when I’m watching a good piece of entertainment get racked with a fierce, lopsided history lesson, and vice versa. The vice versa stands totally naked in Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, an epic cut beautifully as a gutless mini-series, but predominantly shallow on the big screen. Sliced evenly, like white bread (for the almost sick drive of patriotism attached to every bookend), the tragic event of Pearl Harbor becomes an excuse for a blood curdling vengeance, a prolonged (but well-etched) action sequence, and a detached, utterly preposterous love triangle hell bent on prolonging the masked subtext of near-sighted racism and tireless grandstanding. Is there a reason the film feels the need to over-exert…
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lol no.
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Oh my...where to start with this one. A noble effort from the start, but almost painfully so. Bay's attempt to recreate the feel of a 1940s war picture feels strained and contrived, and fatally unfocused. Randal Wallace's script has cheese and self conscious earnestness to spare. But that attack sequence, oh that attack sequence, may be the finest thing Bay has ever directed. Tries way too hard to be the 2nd coming of TITANIC, to no avail, but there are certainly things to admire here, even if you have to slog through three hours of sappy romantic drivel to get to it. You have to admire what Bay was trying to do, even if it's an unwieldy mess, but it's not without merits.
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THIS is the one you should apologize for, Bay.
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Blerg!!!!
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Not bad