Pearl Harbor (2001)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2001
	Director: Michael Bay (Transformers 1-5)
	Actors: Ben Affleck (Paycheck, Dogma), Kate Beckinsale (Underworld 1-5, Total Recall), Josh Hartnett (Sin City)
	Country: USA
	Genre: War, Romance, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 02.04.2019, VOD, 42" TV screen.
Synopsis: While the USA are not yet engaged in WWII, Rafe (Affleck) volunteers to go fight in Europe, leaving his best friend Danny (Hartnett) and new girlfriend Evelyn (Beckinsale) behind, on their way to serve in Pearl Harbor, the heavenly location of the USA's Pacific fleet.
Review: Believe it or not, Pearl Harbor may be the most serious movie directed by Michael Bay, right before The Rock and The Island, released between the two but surprisingly also around the same years as more goofy Action comedies like Armageddon and Bad Boys II. In fact he sticks to a rule that you may have verbal exchanges with smiles, make jokes for the ladies and be cocky, but not make fun of anything related to the War. But it doesn't mean that the movie has to be a boring Drama, and that's where Michael Bay did something quite unique, well if you consider the idea of inserting a fictional Dramatic Romance in the middle of a historic event not being a rip-off of James Cameron's Titanic. Bay combines naturally charming actors (Affleck & Hartnett plus others) with wartime romance stories (between nurse and pilots), values like friendship, family and honor, orchestral music and state-of-the-art special effects culminating with the breathtaking attack scene. Hell, he even managed to paint a positive image of the enemy. He sets himself the objective of refreshing a story not told on the big screen with such a magnitude since the 1970's more factual Tora! Tora! Tora!, or as background for The Final Countdown (1980), and I think he succeded. In passing he uses an ensemble cast of breadth reminding of the one of The Longest Day (1962) in its time (I will not link all the movies mentioned): Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Mako (Conan the Barbarian, Sand Pebbles, Rising Sun), Jon Voight (National Treasure 1-2), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Men of Honor), Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters), William Fichtner (Elysium), Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy TV-series), Ted McGinley (Married with Children TV-series), Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy 1-2), Tom Sizemore (Red Planet, Black Hawk Down), Colm Feore (The Chronicles of Riddick, Thor), Tom Everett (Air Force One), Michael Shannon (Man of Steel), Leland Orser (Alien: Resurrection). I come now to mention the bi-polarity of the movie: on one hand it is very good-looking, in particular the flying scenes, and the central attack scene is so immersive when watched in good conditions (it was not the case for me this time but I remember the effect it had on my when seen on a good Home Cinema). The quality of that scene is I find underrated, maybe because interleaved with scenes showing our heroes, but I agree with Mickey in his YouTube review that it is a pity that the crew didn't receive more recognition for they work. On the other hand, the romance is sooo cheesy in its unraveling, serious tone, shooting, music... And everything has to be shot perfectly with sunset in the background and low angles and slow motions and camera flashes exploding and the president being so heroic and etc... It often feels overwhelming with feelings. And in the end it explains my rating for this movie, the average between 8/10 for the Action / War scenes and 4/10 for the Romance and cheesiness.
Rating: 6 /10