PEARL HARBOR was given the go-ahead at an expected budget of $130 million. It's certainly not the costliest movie ever, but it is the film with the highest projected budget. It has been compared to TITANIC not only by reviewers but also by Bay and Bruckheimer. The similarities are obvious; a large-scale production, a three-hour running time, realistic action scenes, and a love story set against the backdrop of a turbulent time in our history. And yes, it is as bland and washed-out as I make it sound. The difference between PEARL HARBOR and TITANIC is that PEARL HARBOR will fade out within a month or two, while TITANIC will be known as the top grossing film of all-time.
If you’ve heard of the movie, you’ve heard of the “spectacular” forty-minute action sequence. What you may not have noticed is the fact that this film is rated PG-13. Yes, a movie filled with forty consecutive minutes of violence is accessible to thirteen-year-olds. Considering the film is historical, I can see why some concession would be made. After all, a younger generation getting exposed to an event this important in our nation’s history is an honorable notion. Unfortunately, the bombing sequence is too stylized to pass off as realistic. Also, another war film from not long ago, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, was rated R. This film, of course, was far more violent, but at least it was a better representation of what veterans say the battlefield is like.
One of the issues most people and critics have with this movie is the lack of historical accuracy. I have not done any research on this subject. Anyone who has attempted to prove fallacies in the film is wasting their time. Film will never be accurate about anything that’s "based on a true story". Being accurate is impossible, or at the very least not very profitable, and certainly not entertaining. So if an airplane’s maneuvering was not quite right, or the look of a ship was not dead on, all is forgiven. This is not to say that the filmmakers were not trying their very best to make it as believable as possible. The Navy gave full support to the production. They’re hoping that PEARL HARBOR will be a recruiting tool the same way TOP GUN was for the Air Force in the 80s.
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