In months time... It'll be the 80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor event... (1 Viewer)

[YANG]

I'm not sure if it's appropriate to bring up such subject on the fateful event.

However, i wonder with the ownership of FOX library of studio works, will we see a SEAR*: Special Edition Anniversary Release to... remember the Attack on Pearl Harbor?
Both Tora Tora Tora and Pearl Harbor should have UHD releases by now... Or probably a special package that contains both that are not the theatrical cuts(especially the theatrical cut of PH, which is much more of a popcorn flick than the DC that came in the DVD Vista Edition), and should not be package with promotional materials such as postcards of the featured characters, but perhaps little booklets on the production details of both films, as well as a small book that explains the history in short such that this booklet can be read by juniors?
(*while i understand that SEAR is a word that means to mark/burn, in a hurtful way, however... ... ... it's a painful part of history that shouldn't be forgotten)

 

[Robert Harris]

I’m one of those who believes that a horrific event in American history - the loss of all those brave American men and women - should not be commemorated through the eyes of Disney and Michael Bay.

Allow those who lost their lives eight decades ago, and that film, to rest in piece.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I’m one of those who believes that a horrific event in American history - the loss of all those brave American men and women - should not be commemorated through the eyes of Disney and Michael Bay.

Allow those who lost their lives eight decades ago, and that film, to rest in piece.

I remembered sitting in a movie theater watching that Bay movie and feeling badly that a few WWII vets were sitting there too watching that less than mediocre movie.

 

[Alan Tully]

Has there been a good film about Pearl Harbor?

I find Tora to be a wee bit too slow moving for me, & let's not even mention Pearl Harbor. I do like In Harm's Way & I now have the Blu-ray. Another one I like is Air Force (Howard Hawks 1943). A plane take off & while they're in the air, Pearl Harbor is attacked, & they sort of fly into the war. A really good movie, TCM UK have been showing it in HD, a nice transfer (it has a technical fault where the picture keeps freezing for a frame or two, but that's TCM's quality control for you). Of course films made during the war aren't too politically correct, but you accept that & take it in context. Two more Pacific war films I'd love from Warner are Bataan (1943) & Destination Tokyo (1943, like the other two).

 

[Walter Kittel]

Personally, I'm not sure how well a package of the films would sell, considering the very different approaches to the topic in the two features. Separate UHD releases might sell better and personally speaking, marketing tied to that fateful date in history is probably best left unexplored. To play devil's advocate, nearly everything in today's world is monetized and commercialized so I wouldn't be surprised to see a Commemorative Release.

I recall fairly divided opinion here on the HTF over Bay's Pearl Harbor. For my money, Bay's sensibilities as a filmmaker are far better served by the somewhat cartoonish Transformer's franchise where his penchant for demolition can operate unfettered by the real world.

- Walter.

 

[David_B_K]

Has there been a good film about Pearl Harbor?

I find Tora to be a wee bit too slow moving for me, & let's not even mention Pearl Harbor. I do like In Harm's Way & I now have the Blu-ray. Another one I like is Air Force (Howard Hawks 1943). A plane take off & while they're in the air, Pearl Harbor is attacked, & they sort of fly into the war. A really good movie, TCM UK have been showing it in HD, a nice transfer (it has a technical fault where the picture keeps freezing for a frame or two, but that's TCM's quality control for you). Of course films made during the war aren't too politically correct, but you accept that & take it in context. Two more Pacific war films I'd love from Warner are Bataan (1943) & Destination Tokyo (1943, like the other two).

I can see that Tora x3 is dramatically slow for many. It does not bother me because I'm a history buff and dry weighty books are mainly what I read. Another good depiction of the event is in the 2019 Midway film by Roland Emmerich.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Viewed on the History Channel one of my favorite documentaries "Pearl Harbor: 24 Hours After" (2011) which talked about President Roosevelt reactions in the earliest hours of the attack.

 

[seangood79]

If you want to commemorate that day, seek out first hand accounts of the attack, either from the soldiers and sailors who witnessed it, or those who heard about it on the radio from the safety of their homes on the mainland.
Everyday we lose people who remember that event, and in ten or twenty years they’ll all be gone.
Then all we’ll be left with is a few mediocre to awful movies, and From Here to Eternity.

 

[YANG]

I remembered sitting in a movie theater watching that Bay movie and feeling badly that a few WWII vets were sitting there too watching that less than mediocre movie.

Pearl Harbor (Comparison: Theatrical Version - Director's Cut) - Movie-Censorship.com

Comparison: Theatrical Version - Director's Cut

www.movie-censorship.com

A comparison between the TC and DC of Bay's Pearl Harbor. I feel that the DC have a stronger sense of the horror of war. However, i do still feel that the "TITANIC Rose and Jack" formula that applies in this historical reference movie is still kind of senselessly... long.
That was the kind of debate that generated worldwide that whether romance moments in war movie diminishing the true effects of war in history.

 

[YANG]

I can see that Tora x3 is dramatically slow for many. It does not bother me because I'm a history buff and dry weighty books are mainly what I read. Another good depiction of the event is in the 2019 Midway film by Roland Emmerich.

Same sentiments from History Buff Channel...


...but the key focus still goes to the event at Pearl.
Tora x3 IMO, may have 80% score on accuracy, Pearl Harbor delivers the terror of the attack in more than 90% score.

 

[dana martin]

If you want to commemorate that day, seek out first hand accounts of the attack, either from the soldiers and sailors who witnessed it, or those who heard about it on the radio from the safety of their homes on the mainland.
Everyday we lose people who remember that event, and in ten or twenty years they’ll all be gone.
Then all we’ll be left with is a few mediocre to awful movies, and From Here to Eternity.

Having been active-duty Navy for almost 25 years, one of the best Duty stations I ever did was it the Hampton Roads Naval Museum home of the battleship Wisconsin. Many of the docents were either World War II or Korean war vets, who can give you eye witness accurate accounts that you're never going to get from some bull crap Hollywood made-up fluff movie.
Oddly these men don't see themselves as Heroes, only as people that were in a certain place at a certain time when certain things happened. Which makes it all the much more outstanding, they honestly and truly were the greatest generation, period.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Same sentiments from History Buff Channel...


...but the key focus still goes to the event at Pearl.
Tora x3 IMO, may have 80% score on accuracy, Pearl Harbor delivers the terror of the attack in more than 90% score.

Yeah, we get it, you like the movie while many others don't think it's a good movie.

 

[jim_falconer]

I remembered sitting in a movie theater watching that Bay movie and feeling badly that a few WWII vets were sitting there too watching that less than mediocre movie.

Horrible, horrible film. I believe the only one I ever walked out on. Complete and utter trash

 

[Jeffrey D]

Horrible, horrible film. I believe the only one I ever walked out on. Complete and utter trash

The screenplay is horrible. The attack segment is pretty good, in my opinion.

 

[Thomas T]

I remembered sitting in a movie theater watching that Bay movie and feeling badly that a few WWII vets were sitting there too watching that less than mediocre movie.

I couldn't get through it and didn't even make it through the halfway mark.

 

[Robin9]

Horrible, horrible film. I believe the only one I ever walked out on. Complete and utter trash

I couldn't get through it and didn't even make it through the halfway mark.

Wow! I'm glad I never bothered to see it!

 

[Rick Thompson]

The biggest howler (and it had some pretty stiff competition) in Pearl Harbor is FDR standing up to convince everyone the Doolittle Raid was not impossible. Aside from the obvious physical impossibilities (he always needed help to get standing and then basically dragged his legs forward by sheer willpower), he didn't need to convince anybody of anything. If the President, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces under the Constitution, says the mission is approved, it is approved no matter what anyone (or everyone) else says.

 

[Robert Harris]

Having been active-duty Navy for almost 25 years, one of the best Duty stations I ever did was it the Hampton Roads Naval Museum home of the battleship Wisconsin. Many of the docents were either World War II or Korean war vets, who can give you eye witness accurate accounts that you're never going to get from some bull crap Hollywood made-up fluff movie.
Oddly these men don't see themselves as Heroes, only as people that were in a certain place at a certain time when certain things happened. Which makes it all the much more outstanding, they honestly and truly were the greatest generation, period.

Thank you for your service!

 

[dana martin]

Thank you for your service!

Thank You for the kind words, I always feel a little embarrassed and uncomfortable when that is said.

No thanks has ever been needed, it was my pleasure and I guess a calling of sorts, I met people from all walks from our country and many others. It provided a great chance for my children and wife to experience more that our original small midwestern town ( pop less that 100) life.

I loved my job and took pride in it ever day, and personalities onboard made it all that much better, a ship is a Lady because it needs a lot of power and paint, but the people stationed aboard are what makes it what it is. Some of the smaller tin cans have almost a family ethos, because of the camaraderie.

I got to travel the world, by the time I was 24 I had visited the Sistine Chapel, Masada, The Great Pyramids, the ruins at Pompeii , My very first deployment had some of the last active duty guys ( finishing out their careers) who had served during Viet Nam, off of the coast or river boats, helicopter gunners



I am no hero, but I sure have sailed with a few!

and to all those who have seen the truest blue of the deep before, i know a few on here have worn that same set of cracker jacks, or BDU's as the current "kids" do.

my wish for you in life is simple, be safe take care of each other , and may you have fair winds and following seas

 

[Indy Guy]

While the motion picture Pearl Harbor may not have been the film some people wanted it to be, it was a very successful film. It placed 6th in box office for 2001, competing with the first Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings entries. To risk 150 million dollars in an epic which needed to invent state of the art effects for convincing battle footage, the movie would have to make over 400 million to even make sense economically.

Pearl Harbor is also a Disney film, and it benefitted from being released 4 years after Cameron's Titanic. Titanic laid down new ground rules for grabbing the attention of not just history buffs interested in a tragic events, but capturing the hearts of the broad general film audience. People had to be motivated to see a blockbuster film like this multiple times to insure a box office win.

Walt Disney once said something to the effect "Our business is entertainment, not education. What we do stimulates awareness in the audience, and when it's done well, can even inspired people to learn more on their own". Bruckheimer and Bay were passionate about telling a story that embraced the innocent naiveté of young people sent off to a Hawaiian paradise before American entered World War II. The film team was on the same page as Disney and Cameron in realizing for the audiences to engage in a known outcome, they had to care about the hopes and dreams of the people being threatened by the terror. In many ways Pearl Harbor shares a lot in common with Snow White and Cinderella.

Movie goers that fell in love with the film locked onto the dreams of Rafe, Evelyn and Danny. They cried when Red lost the love of his life. The audience sensed that the well plotted Japanese attack was far removed from young people dazed by the wonders of a South Pacific paradise. From such an idyllic set up, the horrors of the attack have a more profound effect on an audience living vicariously through shared perspectives. It definitely helped the film work commercially and still stand near the top of box office returns for historic war epics.

I saw it many times during its 8 month theatrical run, and never failed to feel the cruelty of what war can do to people. How the American dream we often take for granted can be so quickly lost. The recent pandemic brought those frightening feelings back to the foreground once again. There are obviously more realistic and accurate depictions of the horrors of war, but Pearl Harbor focusses on the emotional cost of the carnage and how it forever changes the simple patterns we expect from life. Davy Crockett, Old Yeller, and even Pearl Harbor gave me life-lessons that I think about every time I pass by those discs in my collection, or experience an inconceivable threat like Covid.

Cecil B DeMille wrote Walt Disney after he and Mrs DeMille saw Old Yeller, "Walt what you did with two boys and an old yeller dog affected us more emotionally than I was able to draw from a cast of thousands in Egypt!"
The long first act in Pearl Harbor is there to do just that. Build a vested relationship between the audience and the simple hopes and dreams of young guys and gals about to be caught up in unimaginable terror.