Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is probably going to be a huge box-office hit just like Titanic was. It's three hours long, just like Titanic, contains a love story just like Titanic, and has some incredible special effects, just like Titanic. Unlike Titanic, however, it is not a particularly good film.

The first hour of the film is of course the build-up to the famous attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941. During this part of the film, we meet Rafe McCawley, played by Ben Affleck, and his best friend Danny Walker, played by Josh Hartnett. They are both pilots in the US Air Force. Shortly before leaving on an assignment to England, Rafe meets Evelyn, a nurse played by Kate Beckinsale. They fall in love. But Rafe has to leave, and asks Danny to take care of Evelyn. Danny does more than that, he falls in love with her. Considering the circumstances, which I won't disclose, this is quite reasonable behaviour. Danny and Evelyn are posted to Pearl Harbor, and when Rafe returns, we have a nice little love triangle.

If you can bear to sit through the cheesy first hour, you'll see what you really came for, and that's just under an hour of continuous special effects. These are truly brilliant, and we are treated to some excellent shots as the camera follows missiles from the planes to the ground. The effects are so good that I just sat back and enjoyed them, and I wonder if anyone will stop to think, or even care, that this event really happened. 3000 off-duty personnel were killed, and countless others were horribly injured during the attack. Because they were not on alert, but were just having breakfast, shaving and so on, they were almost completely helpless. Although the film shows a lot of damaged equipment, it shows hardly any damaged people. We wouldn't want to be shocked watching a summer blockbuster, would we? Oh, and of course, Rafe and Josh manage to get up there and shoot down some Japs.

Finally, after the devastation, we are called back to the love story, in which none of the characters are suffering from any kind of trauma, but just continue to argue about who's dating who, and whose baby the nurse is carrying. And then, just when we think it's over and looking forward to stretching our legs, another hour begins in which some very brave soldiers go on a suicide mission to get revenge on Tokyo. This part of the film is very well done, but it could have been left as a sequel.