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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Touchstone / Disney
Salesrank: 1744
Released: December 4, 2001 |
| Our Price: $9.49 |
| Used Price: $1.84 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
History comes alive in the unforgettable epic motion picture PEARL HARBOR, the spectacular blockbuster brought to the screen by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. Astounding visual and audio effects put you at the center of the event that changed the world -- that early Sunday morning in paradise when warplanes screamed across the peaceful skies of Pearl Harbor and jolted America into World War II. This real-life tale of catastrophic defeat, heroic victory, and personal courage focuses on the war's devastating impact on two daring young pilots, Ben Affleck (ARMAGEDDON) and Josh Hartnet (BLACK HAWK DOWN), and a beautiful, dedicated nurse, Kate Beckinsale (SERENDIPITY). PEARL HARBOR is extraordinary moviemaking -- a breathtaking reenactment of the "date which will live in infamy" and a heartfelt tribute to the men and women who lived it.
Description of Pearl Harbor (Two-Disc 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition):
To call Pearl Harbor a throwback to old-time war movies is something of an understatement. Director Michael Bay's epic take on the bombing that brought the United States into World War II hijacks every war movie situation and cliché (some affectionate, some stale) you've ever seen and gives them a shiny, glossy spin until the whole movie practically gleams. Planes glisten, water sparkles, trees beckon--and Bay's re-creation of the bombing itself, a 30-minute sequence that's tightly choreographed and amazingly photographed, sets the action movie bar up quite a few notches. And in updating the classic war film, Bay and screenwriter Randall Wallace (Braveheart) use that old plot standby, the love triangle--this time, it's between two pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) and a nurse (Kate Beckinsale) who find themselves stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, during what they thought would be a nice, sunny tour of duty. Then, of course, history intervened.
For the first 90 minutes of the movie, Affleck and Beckinsale find a nice, appealing chemistry that plays on his strengths as a movie star and hers as a serious actress--he gives her glamour, she gives him smarts. Their truncated romance--the beginning of which is told in flashback so we can get right to the point where he has to leave her to go to England--works, thanks to their charm. They're no Kate and Leo from Titanic (a strategy the film strives hard toward), but they're pretty darn adorable in their own right. Hartnett, as the not entirely unwelcome third wheel, squints bravely but makes only a slight dent in the film. Everyone else in Pearl Harbor--from Cuba Gooding Jr.'s brave navy seaman to Jon Voight's able impersonation of FDR--is pretty much a glorified walk-on, taking a backseat to the pyrotechnics and action sequences that keep the three-hour film in fairly constant motion. But when that action does take hold, Pearl Harbor is quite a thrilling ride. --Mark Englehart
Pearl Harbor (Two-Disc 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition) Reviews:
Good Transaction 
2009-11-27 - Product was listed "like new" but when I got it, it was not. When I asked to make an exchange, they refunded my money right away and let me keep the product. I would do business with them again because of that.
Worst movie ever made? It's got to be close... 
2009-11-21 - It's a shame. Large, talented cast. Great locations. Lots of money spent... on everything but the script. I remember seeing previews and being really excited to see Pearl Harbor. Imagine my dissappointment when I saw the movie and learned that the movie was just BARELY about Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor isn't an appropriate title for this movie. A better title would be, "Adolecent minded adults find themselves in a trailer park type love triangle - and WWII!"
Additional appropriate tags for this movie: Crap, Springer, Film Makers You Wish Could Be Killed by Bees...
You actually call THIS a "war film?" 
2009-11-19 - You know, I can think of other film directors besides Michael Bay who could have done a much better job of filming Pearl Harbor, a film that had lots of potential before it was turned into an overproduced train wreck. Let's see, there's Michael Mann, Ridley Scott, Terrance Malick, heck, even Stephen Spielberg! But what did Touchstone do? Accept a horrible script and hire Michael Bay (of all people!) to direct a romantic film that just happens to be set before, during, and after the notorious attack of Pearl Harbor. To be honest, I don't completely hate Bay. He has created two great action films: The Rock and Bad Boys II (the former being slightly more realistic than the latter). But to have him do a historical film like this? Something toxic must have been in the producers' coffee, because what we get is something that's uneven and unconvincing. This is basically a love story that's mixed with a major historical event, and we've seen that sort of film before, haven't we? *cough* Titanic *cough*
The only good things about this film are the special effects, the action, and the drama during the actual attack on the harbor. The rest of the film is nothing but an embarrassment. The actors' talents have been wasted because of a script that's filled with silly dialogue and cliched scenarios. The film itself is too darn long: even if it is supposed to be a war epic, it certainly doesn't feel like a war film at all. But I think the worst thing about this movie is the fact that they just happened to insert a romantic plot, a love triangle that has nothing to do with Pearl Harbor itself. The film would have worked better if it was a coming-of-age story, or a political thriller. But no, we have uninteresting characters falling in love with each other, and all of it is just painful to sit through. It's more of a soap opera, at least to me. Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Alex Baldwin, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, and Cuba Gooding Jr. are all very good actors. It's too bad, however, that they had to appear in this wasted opportunity of a war epic.
I don't know about you, but all of the men and women who have lost their lives on December 7th, 1941, deserve a more provocative film about that dreadful day. The brilliant special effects and the intense action sequences really cannot make up for the inappropriate romance, the dull characters, the unbelievably bad script, and the obvious cliches that take control of this movie. I think I should check out Tora! Tora! Tora! very soon.
Grade: D-
Detailed Mediocrity, But Pleasant Memories of Childhood Stomping Ground 
2009-11-11 -
Three decades after the events depicted in this story, part of my "Air Force brathood", as it were took me to the scene of the main area of drama for this movie. The older I get, the more unsettling it becomes to think of how such a beautiful place as Oahu looked during the early years of many of my early-life authority figures and neighbors...
This 2001 feature provides us with a fictional love triangle against the backdrop of one of the most cataclysmic events in American History.
It begins with two young Tennessee lads named Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker (Jesse James and Reiley McClendon), first pretending to fly in a makeshift airplane as they wait for Rafe's crop duster father(Steve Rankin) to land his plane.
Overtaken by a sense of adventure and mischief, the two boys sneak into the newly landed plane, accidentally starting it up and taking it a few feet before facing the wrath of Danny's father( William Fichtner), who was left a "doddering wreck" due to service in World War I.
By the early 1940s, both young men( Ben Affleck, and Josh Hartnett) have channeled their love of flying into service in the military. While in a military clinic being tested for their abilities as pilots, Rafe encounters Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale), a pilot's daughter who, despite Rafe's dyslexia sympathetically allows him to pass, having seen firsthand what happens when pilots lose their wings. A romance ensues between the two.
With Evelyn's co-workers in tow, they have an elegant evening out at a swank jazz joint in New York.These include the very young Betty Bayer (Jaime King), Barbara(Catherine Kellner), Sandra (a bobbed-haired and begoggled Jennifer Garner), and Martha(Sara Rue). The officers they encounter at that outing include Lieutenants Billy Thompson, Red Winkle, and Anthony Franco( William Lee Scott, Ewen Bremner, and Greg Zola).
Rafe soon accepts assignment in Blitz-torn England, much to the dismay of Evelyn and Danny. Evelyn and the other nurses are soon transfered to sunny Hawaii. In watching those scenes, I can almost inhale the familiar fragrances of coconuts, pineapples, and plumerias. It was only during the last full year that I was there that I learned the historical significance of Pearl Harbor. But thanks to this film, I enjoyed a brief view of the Hickam water tower, behind which my siblings and I attended Hickam Elementary.
We encounter the young Navy cook, Doris Miller (Cuba Gooding Jr.) winning a boxing match and having his minor injuries treated by Evelyn, who is subsequently confronted with the news of Rafe's death in Europe by Danny. They share their grief with each other, and toast him with the other nurses. Parting company for sometime afterwards, a chance encounter draws them closer together.
In the meantime, Commander Minori Genda( Cary-Hiroyuki Togawa), and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto(Mako) are fueling Japan's war machine( The parting rituals of the young pilots is intriguing to watch) while Admiral Kimmel(Colm Feore), Captain Thurman(Dan Aykroyd), Vice Admiral Fletcher(Thomas Arana), Secy. of the Navy Frank Knox( Tom Everett), try to stay a step ahead of them.
On Saturday Evening, December 6, 1941, Evelyn receives a surprise visit from the very-much-alive Rafe, who had been trapped behind enemy lines after his plane went down and was unable to get word out until shortly beforehand. Realizing that Evelyn and Danny are now a couple, a devastated Rafe goes to a local watering hut for a drink. A brawl ensues when Danny confronts him there.
Fleeing the scene before the police arrive, the two lifelong friends wonder how their relationship will ever be the same.
But soon larger events overshadow their dilemma...
One major inaccuracy of this film is that the first bombs dropped by the Japanese would have hit land and not the water since most bases on Oahu are further northward and Pearl Harbor is in the South Central area of Oahu.But the film's dramatic presentation of the attack did enable me to view the Kohoolau Range,my one-time home of Hickam Air Force Base (then Hickam Field), and other childhood haunts.Until the battle begins and everything turns to twisted steel of iron gray, orange flames, and billowing, curling smoke, the view is lovely.
A Navy Newsreel photographer(Pat Healy), jumps into Danny's car as Danny and Rafe, still casually dressed, try to get to an air field. Evelyn and the other nurses rush to the Army hospital.
One accuracy fo the film is its depiction of how doctors saved more lives in this war than the previous one by focusing on treating only those they knew they could save. But one young woman with a troubled past but promising future is sadly, among the casualties.
Doris Miller swings into action after witnessing the death of Captain Mervyn Bennion(Peter Firth).He will become the first African American to earn the Navy Cross.
Tom Sizemore's Sgt. Earl Sistern supplies the troops with weapons during the land battle, and soon Danny and Rafe take to the skies.
President Roosevelt(Jon Voight) makes his famous declaration of war on Japan, and later inspires his staff with his can-do attitude, illustrating his point with his polio-plagued body. Lt.Col. James Doolittle(Alec Baldwin)recruits Rafe and Danny for his famous raid that will turn the tide in the war in the Pacific.
For one of the two friends, it will bear fateful consequences. But a part of him will always remain with Evelyn and the true love of her life.
Michael Shannon as Lt. Gooz Wood,Scott Wilson as Gen. George C. Marshall, and Graham Beckel as Admiral Nimitz are among the many supporting characters.
The film is one of an occasionally forced sense of drama,but the cinematography is sharp, and to reiterate, seeing my beautiful Hawaii again is it its main redeeming quality.
More gore, but still a bore.
2009-11-10 - By adding a lot more gore, including severed heads, limbs, and oozing innards, Michael Bay manages, with his 'Director's Cut', to turn his schmaltzy epic into a more credible war film, although the atrocious acting and sappy screenplay still hold the entire piece down. Racial slurs are far more prevalent, with extensive use of the "J" word, along with some non-repeatable epithets. All of which would be fine, if the film were even remotely credible as an authentic WWII period piece. Alas, by inserting very 21st-century dialogue and a complete lack of historical perspective, 'Pearl Harbor' the director's cut comes over as a poor man's Titanic, aiming for a teen audience while bilking the Greatest Generation out of its deserved tribute. The film is gorgeous, saturated in vivid color and photographed to present the lead actors in full Hollywood glamour, yet the entire effort seems remote and calculated for maximum box office and minimal emotional resonance. The DVD packaging, although quite elaborate, is cumbersome and awkward, including 4 sleeves guaranteed to scratch the DVDs after just a few uses.
