Common Sense Media Review
Violent war story mixed with soapy love triangle.
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Pearl Harbor
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 13 parent reviews
Based on 45 kid reviews
Kids say this film features an intense depiction of the tragic events at Pearl Harbor, combining elements of war drama with a central love story that some found cheesy. While the battle scenes and emotional weight left a lasting impression on many viewers, the movie's historical accuracy has drawn criticism, and it's advised that it may not be suitable for younger audiences due to its graphic violence and mature themes.
- intense drama
- historical inaccuracies
- mature themes
- graphic violence
- mixed reviews
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
PEARL HARBOR begins as America is sending equipment and supplies to Europe, but has not yet entered World War II. Friends Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett) are army pilots. Anxious to get some action, Rafe volunteers to go to England, where he can join an American division of the RAF. Before he leaves, he meets a pretty nurse named Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale), and they fall in love. He leaves for England, and Danny and Evelyn are assigned half a world away, to the Naval Station at Pearl Harbor. When Rafe is reported killed, Evelyn and Danny are devastated. They comfort each other, and become involved. Rafe arrives to find them together, just before the Japanese attack. That attack, lasting just about as long on-screen as it did in reality, is devastating to the unprepared Naval Station and to a country that thought it could stay out of the war. But Rafe and Danny train for a counterattack on Tokyo to send Japan a message that America can and will punish those who attack the U.S.
Is It Any Good?
Director Michael Bay has visual flair and superb command of action sequences. Dan Ackroyd is fine as an intelligence officer and Jon Voight shows us FDR's compassion, political skill, and intelligence. Affleck, Hartnett, and Beckinsale look gorgeous and do their best to give some depth to the cardboard characters, but they cannot overcome a soapy plot and dialogue that is often wooden and sometimes wildly anachronistic. Pearl Harbor fails to provide any sense of the reason for the conflict, and it bends over backward to be fair to the Japanese, portraying them as brave and loyal. But it is also dismayingly U.S.-centric, showing (inaccurately) both the English and the Japanese in awe of American spirit and strength.
But both the love story and the war story here have a synthetic feel to them that doesn't permit us to care enough. Like Titanic, Pearl Harbor ties a love story to a catastrophe, with the theory that if it can make us care, make us gasp, and make us cry, they'll have a box-office bonanza. It's worth seeing -- but only once.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the events that led to World War II and about some of the real-life characters who are depicted. Make sure that they know that in 1941, the armed services were segregated. Dorie Miller, like most other black soldiers, was not trained to fight and was assigned to cooking and menial jobs.
Michael Bay movies tend to have a similar style. How is Pearl Harbor a good example of this?
Movie critics were brutal in their reviews of Pearl Harbor, criticizing aspects like the dialogue, the love triangle, and the never-still camera shots. What do you think? Are movie critics given too much credit from audiences as well as the movie studios, who use the critics' positive reviews of their movies to help market them on movie posters and DVD cases?
Movie Details
- In theaters : May 25, 2001
- On DVD or streaming : December 4, 2001
- Cast : Ben Affleck , Josh Hartnett , Kate Beckinsale
- Director : Michael Bay
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Walt Disney Pictures
- Genre : Drama
- Character Strengths : Courage
- Run time : 183 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : sustained intense war sequences, images of wounded, brief sensuality and some language
- Last updated : June 6, 2020
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