With a huge budget of over $135 million Pearl Harbor was either going to be a huge hit or a huge flop and in my opinion it will flop. It’s not just a terrible film, it’s over three hours long as well which makes it appear even worse.
It’s a period romance set against the backdrop of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941. It begins with two American farm boys dreaming of flying their dad’s crop dusting plane. They grow up and join the US Air Force, hoping for real combat experience in WWII. America is reluctant to enter the war so one of the brothers, Rafe (played by Ben Affleck) flies to England to help out in the battle over the channel. He is shot down and believed to be dead and his best friend Danny then falls in love with the girl Rafe had been romancing, Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale).
It turns out thought that Rafe isn’t dead, but when he returns Evelyn stays faithful to Danny even though she still wants Rafe. Then the attack on Pearl Harbor happens and this fills the movies middle section. It lasts for over half an hour and is by far the best part of the film. The special effects are brilliant and this part is full of action. After this the film goes on for another hour about an American bombing raid into the heart of Japan. The film ends with one of the two men lead, leaving the other the other to marry Evelyn.
It’s a terrible and depressing film with an awful script. The acting is diabolical and it seems like the director was more interested in the slaughter of men, women and children than wasting time on character and plot. People will still go and see it but come out wondering why they wasted three hours of their life.