RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media pearl harbor (no spoilers)

i saw pearl harbor on monday, fittingly memorial day. the movie was good. REALLY REALLY good.

below, im gonna break it down, revealing generalities about the movie, but not giving away any shocking movie bits, so, feel free to read on.

the movie is first sumarized by its length - 3 hours and change. definitely a long movie. unfortunately, thats probably its worst characteristic, and its a big one! the second defining characteristic is that the bombing and related war scenes dont start until 86 minutes into the movie (nearly an hour and a half). ... thats a long as time to wait for something you know is gonna happen.

so, whats the time filler? a love story! a BAD love story! relatively corny and predictable -- great for girls (as i found out... not hurting, im sure, that both guys are hot to'em), but for guys, an annoyance. it takes too long, its slow, its anti-climatic, etc... just nothin good.

im no ben afflec fan, or anything, but, i gotta say, i think he did an excellent job in the film. his part was very well played. the other guy and the chick, however, were just no good. if you're an actress, but, im sorry ... your job comes down to 1 of 2 things. either you're super hot, or you can cry on cue like a faucet. this girl could do neither. neither her, nor that other guy, sold me on their parts 1 bit. (and i think cuba had a line or two)

all that aside... lets talk about minute 87 and the bombing of pearl harbor... THIS was absolutely incredible. the war / actions / climax of the movie lasted a non-stop 45 minutes. it was incredible inspiring, emotionally compelling, and just jaw-droppingly amazing. every shot and every angle was just fantastic. THIS i was totally sold on. the whole time, my hands, my feet, my whole body was just clenched up in a fist. i was pissed! VERY pissed! ... it was a movie, and i was pissed! the whole 'ride" was very emotional, and, i just felt rage pumping through me the whole time

(which, actually, i think might be kinda scary. cuz, i know there's some guy out there in oklahoma or los angeles that's not really sure if this is a historical movie or live news footage, and, is gonna go beat up some japanese americans somewhere....)

anyway, after that explosive and rip-roaring 45 minutes.... BAM... we're back into the love story for another half hour or so. which was an INCREDIBLE let down. its like when you're driving 80 or 90 on the highway, and, you pull off onto a back road that SAYS yer supposed to do 25, but, yer mind and yer car just dont understand.

i did notice that as soon as the love story picked up again, there was no ill effect on teh women in the audience. they carried on from the war scenes to the love story as if they were on an even pane. every guy in the audience, however, was just looking around at one another, sorta confused and a little disappointed. frustrating.

there was a smaller action scene at the end, and of course the love story wrap-up.

all n'all, the movie was really good. the initial 85 minutes CERTAINLY could have been summed up in 45, with ease. i understand the intent of the movie before the actual war, to help the audience relate to the emotional state of the, otherwise "everyday" country at the time, but... the story wasn't great and neither was the acting, so, lord knows THATS not gonna happen.

the BOTTOM bottom line, tho... is that the movie is definitely worth seeing. its got all the "lifetime channel" movie appeal for women, and emotionally charged, incredibly exciting action movie appeal for guys... certainly worth the money to see it on the big screen.

Ummm.....no.

shut it, aussie!

I saw it Sunday afternoon...

Didn't like:
¤ 30 minutes in (give or take) they bring in the "triangle" aspect. Way too early for that.
¤ She did get on my nerves.
¤ Harnet, Hartnett whatever his name is: he was cute, and that's about all I liked about him.
¤ The sudden lull after the bombing.

Did like:
¤ Loved all the arial shots.
¤ I wasn't expecting to see much of the Japanese planning, so that was a pleasant surprise.
¤ Loved the line from the Japanese Admiral about "waking the sleeping giant". When I heard it in Tora Tora Tora! it gave me gooe bumps...same here.
¤ It could be my bias, but I enjoyed all the scenes on the Japanese mainland (especially the planning sessions) and the carrier scenes.
¤ Loved seeing the Japanese fighters coming in over the land and into the harbor. Fantastic. I actually got goosebumps when the two boys saw it in the hills.
¤ Alec Baldwin was an interesting addition.
¤ John Voit made a pretty good FDR.
¤ The US carrier take-offs were very good. I was rooting for them.

There's more to each list, but I don't feel like listing it all.

To put it shortly...it could've been much more with so much less. But I wouldn't take out any of the F/X. None of it.

You know, I was GOING to see this movie...but then I realised that it was just another American attempt to get us to all spell Harbour without the letter U, so I refused. I swear, you bloody Amreicans are sneakier than the damn communists!

Color Colour...same diff Mick!

hey we saved the worlds ass (as always) so if we dont want no sting u in our harbor we wont use one!

the "u" is for "u needed our help," "u got your ass beat in," and "u are not america!"

Fuck U!

Sorry, my attempt at humerous wit has struck a blow to my cause in protecting the letter U, as it can be misinterpreted so that I was shooting expletives at the latter, as opposed to you fascist yanks. My mistake, and I apologise to u.

BTW, am I the only one who is starting to think it mighty suspicious that it was the letter "U" censored from the DCMB a few weeks back? Was that stage one of the plan or something?

u will never know