In six days, the 80th anniversary of the December 7, 1941 Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii will be observed. This was the catalyst that thrust the United States into World War II.
It will be tempting (no doubt movies on the attack will be scheduled to commemorate the anniversary) to pop in a movie on the the attack.
There are two movies that should be worth noting on which to watch and not to bother with, if one is so tempted.
To avoid:
Pearl Harbor (2001) is a bloated soap opera approach to the attack that is heavily weighed down by bad acting and scripting of a love story. The attack was computer-generated and has been given high marks. The good thing about seeing this on home video is that one can fast-forward through the glop to the attack (the movie is a little over three hours long). At the time of its release, Pearl Harbor was universally panned for good reason. Time has not made this movie any better.
To watch:
Tora, Tora, Tora (1970). Despite its clinical direction and wooden acting, at least this movie has the benefit of looking at the attack from both the American and Japanese perspectives with good historical accuracy. I'll probably pop this one into my video machine.
By the way, “Tora, Tora, Tora” was the Japanese code to begin the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was transmitted from the Hario Wireless Towers near Sasebo on the Japanese island of Kyushu.
Otherwise...
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| Above, the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Better yet, if one can, go to Pearl Harbor to see for one's self the battleship USS Arizona Memorial and the battleship USS Missouri.
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