Pearl Harbor
Don’t be fooled by the high rating for this film - I am not branding it as the historically accurate document of a few weeks that will live in infamy; nor am I singing the praises for the wordsmiths who watched a lot of M*A*S*H and not a lot of Jane Austen before setting pen to paper. No one in their right mind would go to a Michael Bay-directed, Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, and Ben Affleck-above-the-title film expecting to be swept away by the human story behind the tragedy. Therefore, those not in their right mind walk out thinking, “Eck! Great effects, though.”
Listen up people: Bay/Bruckheimer are not the historical accuracy nazis that other directors are, but as action producers, they have no equal. Example: Armageddon. A whiz bang of a blow em up shooting through space action adventure, with some talking. Pearl Harbor - a period film, a very emotionally charged world war, and a love story thrown in to put chicks in the seats, but by golly this is an ACTION MOVIE. And it is a damn good ACTION movie. Let’s not lose sight of that, OK? By Bruckheimer standards, actually, this movie has far less inane dialogue than I was prepared for. For my dollar, for the action and the effects, it’s a matinee price plus snacks.
I, for one, am a chick who will already see action movies even if they don’t stick in some chick-drawing goopy love story. When it’s thrown in, it’s thrown in - it’s not integral to Japan’s strategy to have the shimmering beauty of Kate Beckinsale marred by the quandary of loving two men. Beckinsale is beautiful in this movie. Ben Affleck is Ben Affleck, he’s flat and cocky and strong-jawed and always best when he’s shooting or clammed up. Josh Hartnett, who may or may not be right off the WB lot, is better than Ben. One of the best actors in the movie is Ewen Bremner who plays Red, and he and trained actress Beckinsale carry the story as far as they can with all the bombs dropping.
Let’s go to the bombs dropping. Holy mackerel! Not just fat fireballs rising above the unmoving targets, we have humping up battleships and swelling, screeching, expanding metal. I would gape in awe at the preview and the preview (while definitely spending some of its money shots) only hints at the fantastic effects work done for this movie. Comparisons to Titanic are inevitable, what with the big boat going down (and in the same tank used to shoot Titanic) and all. The comparisons are flattering and accurate. the dialogue is comparable, but so is the technical mastery.
During the credits I was pleased to see it was flagship effects house Industrial Light and Magic taking the credit - the people who did the Mummy Returns were clearly jilted for this, superior effects film. Tiny tiny details fill the screen - this will lose a lot to video so do try and see it on the big screen while you can. Whizzing underwater bullets a la Saving Private Ryan, delicious swooping camera work like Cliffhanger, it’s all in there. I am sorry to say that I prefer the Thin Red Line’s score (as used in the preview) to the relatively generic (but similar) music used here. But we can’t have everything, can we? Lighting and camera work were very impressive.
Earlier I invoked the name of the revered television comedy/drama M*A*S*H, which was occasionally (if justifiably) heavy-handed with its “war is bad” message. I agree war is bad, but to have a top-line general spouting pap about “O if such machines of war could be turned to greater use” it kind of takes the wind out of the drama - a reluctant enemy with whom we have since made peace and whose overseas box office revenues we desire, well, come on. If I want that kind of yap I’ll watch the highly one-sided Star Trek - I came here to see the beginning of the last cut-and-dried, right-and-wrong conflict this nation ever got involved in. As the Onion so beautifully put it, “Dastardly Japs Attack Colonially Occupied U.S. Non-State” - if you’re going to soft-pedal it, do it right. (Please refer to page 60 of “Our Dumb Century” for the famous speech.) Anyway, it’s kick ass to watch, so go watch it.
MPAA Rating PG-13
Release date 5/27/01
Time in minutes 180
Director Michael Bay
Studio Touchstone Pictures
