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Pearl Harbor
R1 - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Rob Hunt (1st May 2004). |
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The Film
 Widely slated upon its theatrical release, for the historical inaccuracies, the great budget and the "acting", this is by no means a great film. In fact by most standards it is truly average at best. Regardless of this though, taken with a strong pinch of salt, this film is not as bad as the hype. The 1st Hour: The story begins with two best friend aviators (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett). First weak point - calling the two leads Rafe and Danny. I don't know how historically accurate this would have been, but you really need to take that with a pinch. Once past this though, the other character's have better names - Evelyn, James, Earl, Billy and Red - names that sound like they belong. The story sets off with the two friends and how Rafe (Affleck) meets the lovely Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale), and they fall deeply in love. Naturally, Rafe gets himself enrolled into the Eagle Squadron soon after and is sent over to England. Time for the second pinch of salt - Affleck really is the odd one out here, and not in a good way. The love story is really quite weak but this has been edited down for this director's cut! Well done Michael Bay. The 1st Hour overall sets the story up, but requires a lot of patience and some suspension of disbelief. The 2nd Hour: This 2nd Hour is probably the highlight of the film - the attack on Pearl Harbor is one of the best ever put to screen, and although sometimes technically inaccurate (as to how the bombs would have fallen) is a marvellous spectacle. The initial release featured just the CGI effects, and as such looked great but was not so realistic. This director's cut restores some R-rated violence that was needed greatly in the first film. This can be a bit OTT at times, but for the most part enhances on the theatrical release. Other R-rated material includes the swearing at "the [EDITED] Japs". Not unnecessary, but not especially required either, this did nothing to enhance the film. The scenes in the hospital restore the "worst" of the violence, and when i first watched this (on a full stomach) i began to regret it. Thankfully slowed down the scenes almost blur by in colours of white (uniforms) and red (blood) and shows the distress and distraught of the nurses well. Probably the best "non-CGI" bit of the film. The 3rd Hour: This hour would have been the weakest, were it not for the "acting" of the first hour. Appalingly inaccurate to the historical facts and very tongue in cheek this ending is not a bad one, but could have been a hell of a lot better. The acting by Jon Voight, Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin and Cuba Gooding Jr. is the best in all the film, but then coming from these actors one would expect no less. Watch out also for early appearance from Jennifer Garner and Jaime King as two nurses, and a cameo by Matt Damon as a machine-gunner. All in all a reasonable film, but you either love it or despise it.
Video
Despite the film itself this transfer is beautiful. The film is spread across two discs, and the result is superb. The images are crisp and refined, and there is no trace of either grain or edge enhancement. The cinematography is lusciously set out, and the fact this is in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio helps matters enormously.
Audio
The audio mixes (yes all of them) are superb. I havn't listened to the dts track, but the 5.1 and the Headphone mix do a fantastic job, so i would expect even more from the dts track. Surround sound is well placed, and vocals are clear and level. The Dolby Headphone mix is pioneered here, and despite appearing average this one is superb. Plug in some headphones and be prepared to hear movement from both side to side and (don't ask me how they achieved this) from back to front. The attack sequence is of course the highlight of the film, and the audio doeesn't give up once. Fantastic.
Extras
Disc One: As soon as you boot up the disc you will be stunned. The menus are perfectly created to represent the time (nothing like the film...) and the background music plays an excerpt from the radio. (Unfairly) hidden in the Audio Set-Up page is a Star, which when accessed provides a 2minute explanation on why Widescreen is - indeed - better than fullscreen. Both Disc One and Two provide 3 commentaries, which are reported to be very good, but i was more concerned with the behind-the-scenes footage on Discs Three and Four Disc Two: Pretty much the same as Disc One, but with an interesting 47min Making-Of the film, a Trailer for a National Geographic DVD relating to the historical events and a Music Video for Faith Hill's "There You'll Be" - pretty standard stuff that was also on the original DVD, but nice to see they included it anyhow. If you press right when the Music Video is highlighted you are taken to an Easter Egg of 10mins of Outtakes. This is pretty average but shows that everyone had a good time working with each other. Discs Three and Four is where we start to get some material that is worth the asking price alone. Disc Three: This contains 10 mini-featurettes about the production. Detailed and short these keep interest and inform, with most providing optional audio commentary by Michael Bay. The two Boot Camp featurettes are interesting enough, but the (shorter) one of Alec Baldwin is by far the more interesting, although it was fun to see Affleck and Hartnett suffer in their one. Also included are the Teaser and Theatrical Trailer, which are interesting to watch once, to see how the film was hyped. Super 8 Montage provides a short film made for use in the film. Interesting, but short. Also included is a short Oral History featurette about nurses. Finally comes the real two gems - the 50min documentaries - One Hour Over Tokyo and Unsung Heroes of Pearl Harbor. These provide compelling viewing of the actual historic events, and are very worthwhile. It was a very good decision by Buena Vista to include these on this Vista Series disc. Disc Four: The final disc contains an Interactive Attack Sequence, with three angles and seven different soundtracks - devoted to effects, score, production sounds and commentaries. It will take you a good four hours or so to get through all of these. Deconstructing Destruction is an interesting conversation with Bay and Eric Brevig (the supervising guy behind the visual effects), and contains many branched elements so you can see what is going on. The Animatic Attack is a fun 5min demo of some of the attack. There are a load of Galleries which are good for a go through. The highlight on this disc, however, is the Interactive Timeline. A fascinating study of events leading up to the attack it includes clips that discuss the actual historic events around Pearl Harbor, and no stone is left unturned. Truly amazing.
Packaging
From the moment you open this Vista Series package you will be truly impressed. Set out like a war journal (as used by Red in the film) it folds out to reveal "photos" stuck down as in a journal (printed onto the case), a screenshot of a camera, a wide band complete with buckle holding 4 original lobby cards, an inner fold-out pocket for a detailed and informative 24-page booklet, a small pouch for all the discs, and a letter tucked into the opening flap made to look authentic, with the famous quote about December 7, 1941 by Roosevelt, complete with stamp at the top. Brilliant - if only all (decent) films were done like this.
Overall
Love it or hate it this is not a great film, but it could have been a lot worse. The entire DVD package is near flawless, and makes this a worthy purchase.
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