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PEARL
HARBOR REVIEW
Subject: Pearl Harbor Review
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002
From: Josh Hartnett
I disagree with
all of the bad reviews of Pearl Harbor said by anyone. I have watched
it 45 times and know every little detail. First of which is, OK,
Betty said she lied about her age and enlisted in the Navy...which
means she is not 18, she is 17. That is why she says, "We're gonna
wait two years until I'm nineteen. Red can buy me a ring." Also,
I have been doing a great amount of research on the actual attack
on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. I am reading a book called Day Of
Infamy. Pearl Harbor is VERY historically accurate! You know when
the guy with Navy Newsreel says, "I didn't even know the Japs were
sore at us!"? That really happened. Someone said, "I didn't even
know they were sore at us!" Also, if you notice, as the Japanese
are listening to the radio, it says, "This is KGMB in Honolulu..."
KGMB is the actual station. There were actually 2 guys who shot
down 7 planes, portrayed by Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, two very
good and hot actors, ! as they are flying in the air, shooting the
Japanese planes during the raid. I also disagree with whoever said
that the survivors didn't like it. On the behind the scenes, there
were a lot of survivors, and they were all invited to the set. They
sure ACTED like they liked it. The planes did fly very close to
the ground. They DO feel that the bomb that blew up the Arizona
came from a high level bomber and went into the magazine room. Some
American's did suspect that Japan would try and hit Pearl Harbor
(Dan Akyroid). When Jon Voight stands up and says, "Do not tell
me, 'It can't be done!' ", that's not something to be "offended"
by. It just adds to the feel of things. His speech after December
7 is completely accurate. The Battle of Britain is really at the
right spot: The White Chalk Cliffs of Dover. I loved the movie.
It did not get you emotionally envolved with too many characters.
Just Rafe, Danny, and Evelyn. That's why you cry at the end. Well,
why I cry at least. I think they portray Evelyn Johnson, Kate Beckinsale,
as just some girl who tries to have sex with every guy. First she
tries Rafe; he said no. She tries Danny; he said yes and got her
pregnant. Then, she gets back with Rafe. It's like she doesn't care
WHO it is. Almost all of the military men were out at night at clubs
and parties on December 6th, 1941.
OK, I think
I am going too long...sorry.
If you feel differently about any of these and have a strong opinion
about it,
email me at JoshHartnettFANATIC@joshhartnett.com.
LEADER
OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK SAVED!
Subject: Pearl Harbor
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001
From: "Tadayoshi Minakawa"
Dear brothers
and sisters, I'm a Japanese Christian and just found out about this
beautiful true story about the Love of God during World War II,
and I'd like to share it with you. You can find out more about the
story at www.bli.org. God Bless. Your brother in Christ,
Tadayoshi Minakawa
INSPIRATION
Subject: Pearl_Harbor
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001
From: Todd
I would like
to respond to David Bruce's review of Pearl Harbor. First of all,
I absolutely hate this movie, but that bears no influence on my
comments. Bruce said one of the most tremendous scenes in the film
was when Roosevelt stood up to show the military leaders what could
and couldn't be done. This scene was the worst scene in the movie
and in my opinion, the worst scene in film history. It's strictly
manipulative crap and a far cry from anything possible. He never
could have stood up out of that chair, and I think it's irresponsible
of the filmmakers to imply that he could. It's very similar to the
commercial with Christopher Reeve, where he is shown walking. It's
all very manipulative and very much a Hollywood addition to the
movie. The attack scene was very well done, but the rest of the
movie is horrible. The reality of the movie is extremely minimal
and most of the survivors of the attack don't like the movie. Unlike
Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, the movie takes real,
tragic events and gritters them up to get people to enjoy the movie.
Both of the other movies portray things realisticly and have gone
down as two of the greatest movies in film history. Hopefully, Pearl
Harbor will only go down as a joke and another failed attempt at
a worthwhile Bruckheimer film.
INACCURATE
Subject: Pearl Harbor
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001
From: Sarah
I enjoy reading
your movie reviews, though I admit I haven't been to your site for
about a month. I was visiting this afternoon, though, and I wanted
to let you know a few things about Pearl Harbor which are inaccurate.
First, in talking
about Roosevelt, you say:
I really appreciated the films portrayal of President Roosevelt
in a wheel chair. It is not the first film to do this, but I think
it is the first film to portray it as a strength. One of the most
tremendous scenes in the film is when Roosevelt is faced with a
table full of US military leaders who have nothing but "can't do"
excuses. Roosevelt places his hands on the sides of his wheelchair
and struggles to stand. With great effort he finally stands on his
withered legs, "Don't tell me that it can not be done." That's
great, but that scene never actually happened.
The directors,
when asked, said no, it didn't happen in real life, but "it should
have." I thought the scene was touching, as well, but it's sad that,
from now on, there will be a misconception that it really happened.
(Of course, the scene never actually happened
-David)
Second, you
say of the shot of the boys in Hawaii playing baseball as the Japanese
planes flew overhead:
Nobody plays a baseball game this early on a Sunday morning.
It's placed in the film as symbolic of the shift from innocence
to devastation. From Paradise to Paradise lost. It is the Garden
of Eden story couched in an actual historical event.
That's not true.
There were actually boys playing baseball as the planes flew by
overhead. It wasn't an actual game, just boys playing ball. That's
one of the few details of that dat that the film portrayed accurately.
Yes, it was early, but these are children. Children get up and play
very early. Can you even imagine what those boys were thinking?
They likely didn't even know what those planes meant, and 10 minutes
later, their world was just shattered. (Thank
you, I did not know there were boys practicing baseball. But, still,
there was no game. The game was symbolic of America's loss of innocense.
Thank you for the info).
You certainly
pegged the sexuality thing on the mark, though. I really was glad
that the director chose to have Rafe and Evylyn not have sex. That's
likely the choice they would have made back then. And I was equally
glad to see old-fashioned values come into play when Evylyn chose
to stay with Danny, because he was the father of her child, rather
than return to Rafe.
Anyway, I appreciate
your website, I just wanted to point out a few inaccuracies. (I
appreciate your kind words. Thank you. -David)
HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED, HERE'S WHY
Subject: Review of Pearl Harbor
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001
From: Mark Beutel
Pearl Harbour
was blasted by many critics when it came out for fabricating real
events and downplaying things how they actualuly were. It was also
said that the movie included a love triangle that was entirely unnecessary.
Going into this movie I had mixed idea's. I usually really enjoyed
war-movies and this was one event that I had just recently learned
about so I figured that the movie would offer me valuable insight
as to how things really were, so I could actually picture the events
that happened there. The first hour or so of the movie is basically
introducing the various main characters of Rafe and Danny and the
the girl that eventually comes between them. For this first hour
Pearl Harbour is hardly even mentioned, while the relationships
between the main characters was all that was introduced. Once the
film actually starts with the Pearl Harbour bombing, it stays relatively
close to the actual story, and surprisingly both the Chinese and
Americans are reflected upon in a positive light. Captain Minoru
of the Chinese is seen as reluctant in his decision to attack Pearl
Harbour, but basically we are told that it is something that he
felt had to be done. In reality, Captain Minoru was completely against
the bombing of Pearl Harbour, he was actually an ambassador to the
US prior to the bombing. The battle scene itself is the true winning
element of the story that allows it to gain a favourable review
in my eyes. For almost an hour we are subjected to utter chaos at
Pearl Harbour, countless lives are lost yet this is not shown in
a gruesome fashion like other recent war movies. Nonetheless one
can still come away from this experiance with a much greater understanding
of the toils that men and women went through during this time period,
the end result is much more effective then anything previously done
on Pearl Harbour. The one scene of the film the stuck in my mind
was when the men and women on the carriers/battleships were still
caught under the water after the attack was long over, and when
they were reaching up through holes in the hull of the ship, desperately
wanting to be set free from their watery deathbed. Rescue workers
desperately tried to save these people but many died holding the
hands of rescue workers who were trying to free them. These scenes
were particularly powerful. The rest of the movie is comprised of
the evident death of Rafe and the love that is kindled between Danny
and Evelyn. Unlike earlier in the film where sexuality is actually
presented in a positive light where Rafe doesn't conscend to sex
with Evelyn the night b4 he has to leave, Danny and Evelyn go through
a whirlwind romance that ends up with Evelyn getting pregnant. By
the movies end Danny is killed off and Rafe, who miraculously survived
the shooting down of his aircraft takes over as the role of the
father of Evelyn's yet unborn child. This entire love-triangle is
no doubt a ploy by the producers who are trying to appeal to the
younger female audience w/the likes of hearthrobs Hartnett and Affleck
just like Leo Dicaprio did in the close to 3 hour Titanic. Other
then the tedious affair of the love triangle presented in the movie,
i really enjoyed Pearl Harbour and would highly recommend it to
anyone interested in this specific genre.
By Mark Beutel
NOT
JUST A LOVE STORY
Subject: Pearl Harbor
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2001
From: "Dhiren Mahiban"
Pearl
Harbor: Love Story, I think not. Many complained that all the movie
Pearl Harbor was going to be about was a love story. But it wasn't,
only a third of it was what you might call a love story, the rest
of the movie consisted of a friendship between Danny (Josh Hartnett)
and Rafe (Ben Affleck). The main plot of the movie however was the
actual attack and the time leading up to the attack. The main part
of the movie consisted of the Japanese planning the attack, the
actual attack on Pearl Harbor and then the American's counterattack.
The best part of the movie was Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, as
well as the scenes, which showed how the Japanese set spies to plan
out their attack. The effects looked so real and I think Michael
Bay did a great job. Also the Americans attack on Japan was really
good too. It showed how the Americans will never let anyone else
have the last say.
>From Dhiren Mahiban
PROS
AND CONS
Subject: thoughts on Pearl_Harbor
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2001
From: Sabrina Lewis
I
thought Pearl Harbor had its major pros and cons. Well first of
all, I thought the cinematography was amazing, especially during
the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I liked how they showed different views
of the war. From Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character of the black cook
to the Japanese General, all were well exemplified. Also the idea
of how sexuality should be something not taken lightly was a surprise
to me. I personally can't remember a recent movie that tried to
make that point. The idea of grace between best friends was touching.
I liked how the bombing of Pearl Harbor didn't some how glorify
the Americans. What I didn't like about the movie was how it was
so long. The two hour love story seemed quiet irrelevant to me.
I started to drift off to sleep. The love story wasn't even decent.
If it has to last for 2hrs, couldn't they have written a better
screenplay for it? Overall, I think that the movie is not worth
seeing for the storyline, but the for the special effects. It was
just another Hollywood blockbuster that could have been better in
many ways.
from Sabrina Lewis
COULD
BE BETTER
Subject: Pearl_Harbor
Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2001
From: Josh N.
I
thought that the movie really could have done better than it did.
The commercials made the movie look better than it was, but i have
got to admit that the special effects where excellent, and the dog
fight scenes where very well done. I wacthed the moive and the first
thing that came into my mind was how Americanized it was. As a Canadian,
i respect Americans, but when they make it look like Pearl Harbour
was not a major blow into their pride, it really bugged me. I also
didn't like the love story in the movie. It's not the way the guy
is supposed to get the girl. I would have rahter had the typical
Hollywood ending to the movie than have Rafe get Evelen that way.
You can't just kill off his best friend, Danny, who was the father
of the baby to have Rafe get his woman back. And my last point is,
the movie was dragged out way to long. Three hours for a half hour
event is just pulling it. To put in a simple way, i would rather
have watched Titanic again.
Josh N.
COMMENTS
ON PEARL HARBOR
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001
From: Lana Jones
Overall, I thought
this film was well done. The camera work and special effects create
a whole new view of reality on what's happening to the characters,
which helps us to understand some aspects of what people must have
gone through and experienced during the actual event of Pearl Harbor
itself. Although the story line didn't quite focus so much on the
details of Pearl Harbor, and more on the love triangle between Danny,
Rafe, and Evelyn, it stayed true to what happened. It portrayed
both America and Japan in good 'light' and we especially see this
when Commander Minoru does not wish to go to war against America.
Something else that I highly admired in the this film was that the
idea of becoming sexually involved with someone has it consequences.
The media today usually portrays sex as something that will fulfill
a persons innermost needs and it that it's almost always great all
the time. Not that sex can't be, but realistically, it needs to
be used in the right context. This is shown when Evelyn and Danny
rush into sex to fast and as a result everything becomes even more
complicated and more hurt as a result, especially when Rafe shows
up alive. Where as when Rafe and Evelyn make the choice to 'wait'
we find that their love seems to be more pure. I liked this because
this is something that we don't often have portrayed in our society
today.
-Lana Jones
A
HISTORY LESSON
Date: Sat, 26 May 2001
From: M. Vanzant
After having
just seen "Pearl Harbor" I feel a need to respond to "I Smell a
Stinker" and to the journalistic critics. I was twelve years old
when Pearl Harbor was bombed and sixteen when the war was finally
over. Critics have written and spoken this movie was high on explosions---true
that is what happened. For two hours Pearl Harbor was bombed and
the time of innocence was over. When the fighting ended there were
two thousand six hundred some lying dead, some are still entombed
on the Arizona at the bottom of the harbor. We now have two generations
in this country who have little or no knowledge of the history of
our country in that period, and what a shame that is for our educational
system. Those persons have no idea what their grandparents, great-grandparents
experienced. Knowing the history of our background is an important
part of who we are.
One critic stated
the movie was low on plotline or even interesting dialogue. The
moral standards were different in that period of time than current
standards. It was common for lovers of that time to delay sexual
activity, and at the same time there were those who did not delay
that experience because we were living in a time when being a casualty
of war was very real. As for the dialogue in the movie, that was
the speech of that period in time.
The only fault
I found with this movie was when Betty said they would wait for
two years to marry because she would be 19. That would have meant
she was 17 at the time and in Hawaii as a nurse. Nurses' training
at that time required three years and women were not admitted into
a training program until they were 17 or 18.
Some have complained
that the movie was too long. I believe that comment comes from those
who do not know the history or the impact that event had on the
people of the United States at that time. And that is the sad part
about not knowing the history of your country. This movie does an
excellent job of showing us what grace and forgiveness and reconciliation
are about. We need that in our culture at this time. I liked this
movie and I am glad that someone finally told the story of that
Sunday morning.
May 26, 2001
M. Vanzant
Response:
Thank you so much for your well thought out remarks. -David
I
SMELL A STINKER
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001
From: Dewanyne Williams
Michael Bay
and Jerry Bruckheimer are now trying their hand at a WWII epic,
eh? Before everyone gets too excited (which many already are), let's
keep in mind that these are the bozos who gave us such turkeys as
Con Air and Armageddon. High on explosions
and special effects, low on plot line or even interesting dialogue.
I suppose lot's of folks will rave about what a marvelous homage
this film will be to the events surrounding the war in the Pacific,
when really all it will be doing is capitalizing on ol' fashioned
patriotism and the good looks of Ben Affleck, Josh Hairnet (heh-heh),
et al. Do yourself a favor folks-go rent The
Thin Red Line if you want to see a truly great film...or Saving
Private Ryan if you're feeling particularly patriotic or bloodthirsty.
Just don't go see Bay and Bruckheimer's latest dud. You'll only
encourage them.
Yours, Dewanyne Williams
HOPE
FOR NO ANTI ASIAN BIAS
Subject: I hope that Pearl Harbor does not lapse into anti-asian
bias
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2000
From: "Chris Suh"
I sincerely
hope that Pearl Harbor does not lapse into anti-Asian bias. My family
is from Hawaii, and actually lived there when the Japanese bombed
the fleet. Like the majority of the people who live in the state
of Hawaii both then and now, they were Asian-American in background,
and had lived in America for many generations. They also enlisted
in the United States Army in huge numbers afterwards, despite the
internment of a number of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps.
Their 442nd division is the most decorated American military unit
in history. I hope that the makers of Pearl Harbor do not fail to
convey the reality of the brave Americans in Hawaii, who brought
honor to both their country and their Asian-American heritage in
WWII, choosing instead to at best gloss it over and at worst stir
up increased anti-Asian bias. Please feel free to post these comments.
- Christopher S.
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