Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor – Two friends, Rafe and Danny, who have grown up together, enlist into the US air force during the early days of World War II. At Pearl Harbor, Rafe falls in love with nurse, Evelyn, but when he is shot down and presumed dead while fighting for the British, her grief pushes her into the supportive arms of Danny and the two soon fall in love. However, Rafe has survived and returns to find that Evelyn has moved on but before he can fully accept the situation, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor…

Pearl Harbor (2001) – Director: Michael Bay

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5832417

Rating: 12

Running Length: 183 mins

Starring: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale

Genre: Period, Romance, War

REVIEW: PEARL HARBOR

A good war epic is always popular with audiences so throw in a love triangle and you can’t really go wrong, right? Well, unfortunately with Michael Bay at the helm, you can. What starts as a strong buddy movie, thanks mostly to the acting of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, quickly declines once the nice but rather bland romance is brought in. Kate Beckinsale’s Evelyn is barely more than a plot device to make Rafe (Affleck) and Danny (Hartnett) fall out for all of 5 minutes, making the love triangle completely pointless.

Having different groups of people and showing the same event from their different points of view is often a good way to make a movie interesting, however in Pearl Harbor, there is the men – sex obsessed, the women – sex obsessed (apart from the whiter than white, Evelyn) and Cuba Gooding Jr – a chef who proves his bravery. Having a black character here was an opportunity to delve into the racism, prejudice and strength of those who history tend to ignore but Gooding Jr’s character is seen briefly a few times and hardly interacts with anyone so any lessons to learn are wasted.

What the movie does do well is the fighting. The dogfights are gripping and the whole attack of Pearl Harbor is suitably epic. It’s just such a shame that the action comes so late into the movie. While the three leads are perfectly watchable, the movie drags until the action starts. Pearl Harbor’s mixture of romance and wartime action will be hit for some but for us, there just isn’t enough of interest to make it worth watching again.

CONTENT: IS PEARL HARBOR SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Two young boys play together until the father of one of them intervenes. He is aggressive and roughly drags his son across a field, calling his friend ‘stupid’. The friend hits the man across the back of the head with a plank of wood, knocking him to the ground and stunning him but it does not seem to give him any serious injury.

Many of the military men have a preoccupation with women. One gives several others a tip to manipulate a woman into bed. This tip is tried out later and works very successfully.

Several soldiers are seen to be given injections in their behinds. The wince, grimace and cry out in pain but this is a comedy scene. One character tries to flirt with one of the nurses and is unceremoniously and painfully injected by her.

One a first date, a male character takes a female character into a hotel but immediately takes her outside as he will be leaving the following day. She knows this and tells him that she wants to go in with him but he insists, saying that he doesn’t want her to regret anything.

A character is given a plane to fly which has been used in battle with another pilot. The plane is riddled with bullet holes and there is a large blood smear on the window of the cockpit. He is told that the previous pilot was a ‘Good chap. Didn’t die until he landed and shut down his engines’.

A character writes to a loved one and laments on how he enjoyed the company of two friends one evening and ‘yesterday they got killed’.

A major character’s plane is hit by enemy fire and as it descends, the pilot begins to panic as he is unable to regain control and a fire breaks out by his feet. He cannot bail out and the plane crashes into the sea. Reports of his death are sent back home and a friend goes to relay the message to their loved one.

Evelyn is part of a small group of nurses who have been sent to work at Pearl Harbour. Some of them are very keen on all the men in uniform around them. One in particular is always after the men (although she does start a relationship with one of them) but later the dialogue makes it clear that she is only 17 years old.

Two characters lay down on some parachutes and begin to remove each others clothes. They get naked and kiss passionately and although nothing graphic is shown, it is clear that they are having sex.

When the bombing of Pearl Harbour starts, there is mass panic due to no-one being prepared for it. There are large explosions and people are shot. Ships are tilted over and the people on the top deck fall a long distance into the sea, often hitting solid objects on their way down. One incidental character panics and struggles to hold on, crying out that he can’t swim. This is a prolonged scene and shows many deaths.

A ship crashes into the water and crushes numerous men underneath, those who manage to escape are quickly sucked under water and many are shot.

Injured men are taken to the hospital which entirely overwhelmed. Bad burns and bloody wounds are shown as more and more men are brought in. One man is terrified of dying, Evelyn checks his wound and sees it is bad; she reassures him that he will be ok but tells a doctor that he’s not going to make it.

Men are trapped in a sinking ship and those outside desperately try to help them. Hands reach out of a hole but despite their best efforts, no-one can help them and one by one the hands go limp, indicating that the men are drowning.

After the attack, new orders are brought in. A character states ‘We’re going to Tokyo and we’re going to bomb it’; the whole room erupts into cheers.

Some characters are captured by the enemy and a fight ensues. An established character is fatally shot and after a few words, dies in the arms of a friend who is devastated.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS PEARL HARBOR FOR KIDS?

The romance may be a little boring but the action is nail-biting stuff. But ultimately Pearl Harbor struggles to have enough oomph to spark interest between the fight scenes. Due to some adult themes throughout the movie, we recommend it for kids aged 12 and over.

• Violence: 3/5
• Emotional Distress: 3/5
• Fear Factor: 0/5
• Sexual Content: 4/5
• Bad Language: 3/5 (mild and moderate cursing throughout. Some characters refer to the Japanese as ‘Japs’)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (references to deaths and killing. Some characters are happy to kill others)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of love, friendship, sacrifice, death, relationships and the consequences of war.

Words by Laura Record