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As oversized and sleek as a vintage Cadillac, this sprawling World War II epic directed by action-specialist Michael Bay is an old-fashioned melodrama retrofitted with all the high-tech special effects money can buy -- think Saving Private Ryan crossed with Titanic. Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer always dish out disaster and mayhem with style, but in Pearl Harbor they also add a healthy helping of romance. The story, which unfolds in Hawaii as Japan prepares for its fateful attack on the American fleet, follows two young farm boys turned ace fighter pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett), who find their lifelong friendship challenged when they both fall in love with the same beautiful young nurse (Kate Beckinsale). The characters -- unfailingly earnest, sentimental, patriotic, and heroic -- are a deliberate throwback to an earlier, less complicated era of American moviemaking. "We may lose this battle, but we’re gonna win this war," says Alec Baldwin, portraying the famed airman Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle with definitive bombast. "You know why?" he asks, pointing to Affleck and Hartnett. "Because of them." Pearl Harbor is that kind of picture; and one with plenty of retro Hollywood glamour on display, too. The three stars -- Beckinsale, with her ruby-red lips and Veronica Lake hairdo; the young men, all broad shoulders and rippling muscles -- never look anything less than gorgeous, whether dodging bombs or posing in period bathing suits against surging surf. The high point of the film, of course, is the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and here Bay truly excels. State-of-the-art cinematography and effects make for a thrilling and harrowing extended sequence that plays like a mini disaster movie. It brings the horror of America’s first "Day of Infamy" vividly to life. Viewed in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, Pearl Harbor, for all its gloss, resonates and moves in ways that Bay and Bruckheimer probably never could have imagined when they made it. Kryssa Schemmerling

All Movie Guide

At the time of its release, this lavish period war drama from hyperkinetic director Michael Bay became the most expensive motion picture ever green-lighted by a studio. Ben Affleck stars as Rafe McCawley, a military pilot stationed under Jimmy Doolittle (Alec Baldwin) in New Jersey, along with his best friend from childhood, Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett). Rafe is chomping at the bit to get involved in World War II, but America has not entered the conflict, so he is forced to fight on loan to the Royal Air Force in Britain, leaving behind his beautiful girlfriend Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale). After Rafe goes overseas, both Danny and Evelyn are transferred to the naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where word arrives that Rafe has been killed in action. A grief-stricken Evelyn and Danny become romantically attached, a situation that becomes a lit powder keg when Rafe suddenly reappears, having survived his ordeal in the European war. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor puts the romantic triangle on hold, as the best friends are ordered to undertake a top-secret and highly dangerous retaliatory mission to bomb Tokyo, once again under the command of Doolittle. Although the trio of leads are entirely fictional, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, and Jon Voight (as FDR) co-star in the roles of real-life historical figures. Pearl Harbor is based on a script by Randall Wallace, writer of Braveheart (1995) and The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). Taking a page from the production history of James Cameron's Titanic (1997), many of the actors and filmmakers involved with Pearl Harbor deferred their usual salaries until the film "broke even" at the box office. Karl Williams

Los Angeles Times

Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the entire cast and crew have given us a Pearl Harbor to remember. Kevin Thomas

Product Details

• UPC: 786936724745
• Source: TOUCHSTONE / DISNEY
• Region Code: ABC
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Editions: Anniversary Edition, Special Edition
• Time: 3:03:00
• Sales Rank: 18,089

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