In Reply to: "Pearl Harbor" Reconsidered posted by mikenyc on August 11, 2002 at 11:45:24:
C'mon Mike, that movie was a travesty. The acting was cardborad, the dialogue was pedestrian, the relationships were sappy and worst of all it played fast and loose with history (i.e., Ben Affleck comes to the rescue of the RAF). About the only thing well done in this flick were the special effects which amounts to about thirty minutes of a 3 hr movie. I knew something was up when the studio (Buena Vista) made a publicity stunt of wining & dining veterans of the REAL Pearl Harbor attack for several days, then providing them a special VIP screening just before the movie openned wide. They did this because the History channel was geared up to heavily promote the historical film to the point of running a special episode of History VS the Movies on the eve of it's premier with those same veterans making the comparisons.Well, the veterans were polite during the program and several even liked the film, after all, Buena Vista had rolled out the red carpet for them. However, reading between the lines combined with comments of a couple of the more curmudgeonly vets made it very apparent that the movie wasn't anything like what they experienced. As for Pearl Harbor being "less complicated to understand, and more plausible" than other war films such as Midway, From Here To Eternity, Tora, Tora, Tora, etc., well, that's a stretch. If you mean by less complicated, less challenging, then I might agree, but plausible? The historical distortions in Pearl Harbor are Hollywood at it's worst!
>>> "...someday this film will get the due it deserves..." <<<
The only way that this film could get it's due, would be to refund some of the nearly $200 million dollars earned at the box-office to those who were suckered in by the hype.
>>> "...and the critics favorite punching bag, Michael Bay, perhaps, will get some respect." <<<
Can the critics help it if Pearl Harbor was a dud and the bombs hit the Bay instead? ;^)
AuPh
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Follow Ups
- Reconsidered for what? - Audiophilander 20:40:26 08/14/02 (5)
- Re: Reconsidered for what? - mikenyc 00:37:05 08/15/02 (4)
- No offense Mike, but where history is concerned I hold a slightly different view. - Audiophilander 06:30:57 08/15/02 (3)
- I hold a slightly different view. - mikenyc 07:02:48 08/17/02 (0)
- Amen to that, AuPh. <nt> - Bruce from DC 08:04:39 08/15/02 (1)
- Now Biblical epics, that's another story! ;^) - Audiophilander 08:12:36 08/15/02 (0)