Pearl Harbor

...watched it on NBC last night. Did any of you catch it? What’d you think?

Honestly? Pretty stupid. I wasn't expecting that much nauseating, love-your-country, patriotic sludge.

Man, I was watching last night... it felt like a loop of "Mike, watch out for that bullet!" and "Thanks, Steve." 👎

And another thing... the movie was just plain stupid.
The level of American patriotism shoved down your throat at every turn... it was nauseating.

I didn't even bother watching it yesterday... because the last time I saw it, it was already way too much for me.

If I tell you that instead of watching the conflict between Americans and the Japanese, I was glued to the TV watching the political power struggle between Clinton and Gingrich on NBC, then you already know exactly what kind of night I'm having.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the movie ended with the entire Japanese fleet being wiped out and Affleck personally stepping in to give Admiral Yamamoto a knuckle sandwich.

Total nonsense. I’ll give them credit for the cinematography alone—it was visually stunning... truly great shots.
But the plot? It’s nothing but pure, unadulterated American patriotism.
And the acting... you've got Affleck and that other guy—what's his name again?—plus all those women where you can't tell who is playing what or even why they're in the scene... 🙄

👎

Caught a few decent scenes here and there, but honestly? The rest was pretty much a snooze fest.

Total garbage—felt like some cheap indie propaganda piece.

dustyscout53 said:Garbage movie, just more propaganda.

It’d be a hit if a Japanese person was drilling and Affleck wasn't involved! 😁>😁

It’s basically just a war movie stripped down into a total mess of pyrotechnics and cheap CGI, all wrapped up in a cheesy love triangle.

Honestly, I went into this expecting a complete disaster based on all the backlash online, but it wasn't actually that bad. It was definitely too lighthearted given the subject matter—the romance took center stage instead of the actual war—and the final hour felt like it was tacked on just so the Americans could finally get their payback. They portrayed the leads more like action movie tropes than actual pilots, but look, if you don't go into this expecting some heavy-hitting, serious anti-war epic and instead view it as just an action flick with plenty of explosions, it’s perfectly fine watching material.

quietmaker44 said:...was at the theater watching the new release last night. Did any of you catch it? What did you think?

It felt pretty mindless to me. I certainly wasn't prepared for that much nauseating, patriotic sentimentality.

Well, what else could one really expect?
Personally, I didn't hate it.
Worth a watch once if you have nothing better to do—I saw it in theaters when it first came out—but that’s about it. 😁

I remember watching him back when he first popped up on VHS, I even teared up a little at the end 🙄 😢 shame on me, c,c...
But honestly, one night I just didn't have the energy to sit through the whole thing again (except for the crying part 😁)... like someone said, it's fine for a one-time watch... just once 😉

Look, the movie was just... okay. Not great, but I wouldn't say it was total trash either.😁

If they hadn't included that stupid invasion of Japan at the end, the movie might actually have been watchable. If you ask me, they should have just wiped them out right there. Real war heroes die in the end.
Rambo doesn't count, though—he's not a soldier, he's just a guerrilla.

Man, when I first watched that madness, I was a wreck—crying like a baby by the end. But yesterday? I finally saw it for the absolute nonsense it actually is. I guess the only part that still holds any water is when Affleck’s sister jams that needle up his ass or when he goes nuts with his nose 😁

Out of all those American superheroes who can crush an entire squadron of Japanese fighter jets with one hand while casually grabbing a fifth Heineken with the other—Batman is still my absolute favorite.

😉

Look, Americans are Americans, right? It’s honestly hard to expect anything remotely intelligent from them. In this movie, the only parts actually worth watching are the action sequences; everything else is just incredibly sappy and over-the-top. It’s a mediocre watch, barely passing for me.

Does anyone know of a movie featuring better aerial combat set during World War II? I found the dogfights and the attack on the harbor to be decent enough, but the romantic subplot was just terrible,
And everyone seems to complain about the blatant American patriotism, especially since the film centers on Pearl Harbor... isn't a patriotic surge expected from a story like that? As far as I recall, Doolittle was a real person and they actually did launch those raids against Japan... someone earlier claimed otherwise, but at the end of the day, they won the war, so why shouldn't there be a little dramatization? If I were in their shoes, I'd probably do the same. May the Force be with you..

👎 Dogfights in these games are completely unrealistic. Anyone who has actually played something like IL-2 Sturmovik or any serious flight sim knows the Japanese had the advantage in altitude and speed, not to mention their planes were superior... I don't have all the exact historical data memorized, but I honestly believe Americans stood no chance in the air. They might have been able to splash a few planes from ground positions or using AA gear on the carriers, but that’s about it.

👎 And that part where the pilot drops a bomb right over the ship? Pure nonsense. Bombs have a trajectory and velocity; they need to be released much earlier before flying over the target....

Ah, those Americans...

I only caught part of the movie—starting from when the characters scramble into their planes. The visual effects are top-notch, I'll give them that. My only gripe is the heavy-handed American ultra-patriotism and, frankly, the forced romance subplot. Either commit to making a gritty war film or just make a romance set against a war backdrop. It's hard to do both halfway.

I did a little digging on IMDb, though, and found an interesting tidbit regarding this film... they actually re-edited it for the US market. Certain scenes were cut or altered, mostly those where the dialogue painted the enemy in a negative light.🙄

@ urbanhawk28
A video game is a completely different beast. Regarding those Japanese fighters, the Mitsubishi A6 Zero was certainly more maneuverable than the American planes of the era (like the P-40 Warhawk shown in the film), but it lacked any real safety. The Zero utilized a wooden structural frame covered in metal skin, and it had almost no protective armor for the engine or the pilot.

More info on this topic here:
http://www.acepilots.com/planes/main.html
http://www.acepilots.com/planes/b25.html
http://mitsubishi_zero.tripod.com/opponents.htm
......

As for the vertical bomb drop, that’s entirely possible if you're flying a dive bomber. Unfortunately, I missed that specific sequence, so I can't say for certain what happened there.