Movie · 2001 · War, Romance, History, Action · 3h 3m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.4/10 (587.1K ratings)
It takes a moment to change history. It takes love to change lives.
Overview
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.4/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 2.95/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 24%
Metacritic: 44
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Michael Bay
Production
Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Cast
Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, William Lee Scott, Greg Zola, Ewen Bremner, Alec Baldwin, Jaime King, Catherine Kellner, Jennifer Garner, Jon Voight, Cuba Gooding Jr., Michael Shannon, Matthew Davis, Mako, John Fujioka, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Colm Feore, Dan Aykroyd, Reiley McClendon
Curator Review
Verdict
An expensive, emotionally overblown war-romance with one genuinely spectacular centerpiece: the Pearl Harbor attack sequence. As a historical drama, it’s often criticized for thin characterization and melodrama, but as a glossy, big-screen spectacle it still delivers moments of real impact.
Best for
Viewers who want large-scale disaster and war spectacle
Fans of earnest, old-school melodrama
People curious about early-2000s blockbuster excess
Audiences who mainly want the attack sequence and aerial combat
Skip if
You want a disciplined or historically rigorous war film
You dislike soap-opera romance in action movies
You’re allergic to Michael Bay’s maximalist style
You prefer lean, character-driven storytelling
Overview
Pearl Harbor is a classic case of a movie reaching for epic grandeur and landing somewhere messier, louder, and more sentimental. The romance is broad, the dialogue is often clumsy, and the film’s historical framing takes plenty of liberties in service of melodrama. For many viewers, that makes it frustrating rather than moving.
Worth noting
And yet the attack on Pearl Harbor itself is a major set piece: chaotic, technically ambitious, and staged with the kind of visual force that made early-2000s blockbusters feel enormous. The film’s best material comes when it stops trying to be a sweeping love story and becomes a disaster-war spectacle.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for glossy, overcooked studio filmmaking with a few undeniable thrills, it has a certain guilty-pleasure appeal. If you want a serious war drama, it’s the wrong harbor to dock in.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Natalie · 2325 likes
why would you choose ben affleck over josh hartnett
Tentin Quarantino ☭ (3★) · 2047 likes
"I think World War Two just started!"
Yeah, about 3 years ago, you American fuck.
DirkH (1★) · 1181 likes
Now why did he have to go and stick such an incredible and well shot action sequence in such a painfully bad movie?
It's like serving caviar with a deep fried Mars bar.
may (2.5★) · 985 likes
best part of the movie is when ben affleck was dead too bad it only lasted 10 minutes
Matt Singer (2★) · 790 likes
There’s a spectacular chunk in the middle of this movie, the actual attack on Pearl Harbor, that rates with any war film I’ve seen. Shame about the rest. Michael Bay should make Michael Bay movies, not James Cameron movies.