Michael Bay retells the events of the bombing of Hawaii in Pearl Harbor. We follow the fictional stories of multiple individuals who all become heroes in the historic event. There are so many incredible aspects of Pearl Harbor, I'm not sure if I'll be able to consider all of them within your attention span.

Firstly, I need to discuss the amazing score by Hans Zimmer. The many iconic themes were necessary to the success of the movie. The score was able to convey so much emotion which added to the wholesomeness of the movie. And the score was not overused. There were moments where the lack of music added to the mood and then there were moments where the score was able to make the audience feel a certain way. This was partly due to the astounding sound editing which, unsurprisingly, won the movie an Oscar.

The characters of Pearl Harbor felt very realistic and natural. Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale and others made their respectable characters seem so relatable which added to the many funny moments of the film. I am surprised that very few of the multiple award nominations were for the outstanding actors and actresses.

I could go on forever about the many great things about Pearl Harbor: the perfect balance of action and romance, the suspense, the deep messages; but one of the most important aspects of Pearl Harbor, which may have put some people off, was the prolonged length of the film. At 3 hours and 3 minutes, this movie is undoubtedly long, but as I was watching the movie, very rarely did I want the movie to be over. I did get a little restless, but I watched Pearl Harbor all in one sitting. It isn't impossible to watch it in one go, but it almost feels like the movie was made to be watched in three separate sittings.

There are three main chapters which could be watched at three different times or viewers could have an interval in between each. The first chapter tells the story of the events leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the second displays the actual bombing, and then the third shows the aftermath and answers the question which is rarely answered in movies: "what happens next?" I would suggest clicking pause at the 50 minute mark, there is an obvious change of pace at this point; and then pausing again just before 2 hours and 9 minutes, right after President Roosevelt's big speech.

Pearl Harbor is a fantastic movie for those interested in a unique retelling of the events of 1941. There is no doubt Pearl Harbor is a long movie, but it is the only movie so far to receive a 9.5/10 on my website so the extensive viewing experience must be worth it.

Director: Michael Bay

Starring: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale

Year released: 2001

My rating: 9.5/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 11/04/21