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Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Dolby Digital (5.1)
Two childhood friends, Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett), had always shared a passion for flying, which leads them to join the United States armed forces in the early 1940's as the rest of the world was becoming embroiled in World War II. Eager to participate in combat, Rafe feels compelled to join the British, leaving his girlfriend, army nurse Evelyn Stewart (Kate Beckinsale) behind. She and Danny are later transferred to the tropical base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where they eventually find out that Rafe was shot down in combat in Europe. Eventually Danny and Evelyn move on and become romantically involved, but their happiness is cut short by Rafe's unexpected return and the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that changed the course of history forever.
"...makes Titanic look like a kiddies' bath toy..." Neil Smith, BBC
"...the best piece of popular entertainment to come along in years..." Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
"An unabashedly old-fashioned and irony-free wartime romance..." Joe Leydon, San Francisco Chronicle
Editor's Note
Director Michael Bay (ARMAGEDDON, THE ROCK) uses a tragic romantic triangle to set the stage for the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in this epic tale of love, loss, and patriotism. When Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful Navy nurse, meets dashing ace Army fighter pilot Rafe (Ben Affleck), the two fall madly in love, only to be separated abruptly when he is called upon to help fight the war in Europe. Unforeseen circumstances lead Evelyn into the arms of Danny (Josh Hartnett), another fighter pilot and Rafe's best friend since childhood. In the meantime, the Japanese military is planning the surprise early morning raid on Hawaii that will pull the United States into World War II. Spectacular special effects vividly recreate the attack in devastating detail as bombs explode, torpedoes shoot through the water, and bullets fly, shaking tranquil Pearl Harbor to its core. Bay deftly captures the patriotism and the loss of innocence of the young men and women who were suddenly thrust into the war. Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jon Voight, Alec Baldwin and Mako also star in this tribute to both the fallen and the survivors of one of the most horrific tragedies ever to occur on American soil.
| Features | Audio: English DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | Faith Hill Music Video | | Teaser Trailer | | THX Certified | | Widescreen Version Enhanced For 16x9 TVs | | History Channel Documentary: Unsung Heroes" | | Featurette: "Journey To The Screen: The Making Of Pearl Harbor" |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 6/7/2005 |
| Running Time: 183 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2001 | | Catalog ID: 23889 | | UPC: 00786936164282 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...The aerial combat is thrillingly executed, and Mr. Bay has clearly mastered some tricky war-picture techniques..." 05/25/2001 p.E14USA Today
"...[Featuring] an excellent turn by Jon Voight....It's an extravaganza worth seeing..." 05/25/2001 p.1E Variety
"...[The film] combines razzle-dazzle pyrotechnics with high-grade visual effects..." 05/28/2001 p.17-28 Entertainment Weekly
"...Bay's staging is spectacular but also honorable in its scary, hurtling exactitude..." 06/01/2001 p.59-60 Los Angeles Times
"...A blockbuster entertainment that has passion, valor and tremendous action..." 05/25/2001 p.1 Los Angeles Times 10 of 10
...a superb reenactment of Japan's Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of a sizable portion of the U.S. Pacific fleet in Honolulu, an engaging love story and a remarkable evocation of a time when Americans virtually overnight pulled together to begin the grueling process of turning a military catastrophe into eventual triumph... The film's immense cast and crew...blend artistry and technology to create a blockbuster entertainment that has passion, valor and tremendous action... The film is sustained by a grand theme: innocence lost. - Kevin Thomas
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| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Cinematography |  5 | | Plot |  3 | | Acting |  4.5 | | Overall Satisfaction |  3.5 |
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4 of 5 Better Than I Expected Monday, January 14, 2002
WarrenT from Aliso Viejo, CA
***The Movie***
I was given the impression that this was a rather boring & disjointed movie, more a love story than anything, and not too exciting. Despite this, I love Michael Bay as a director, the way he composes his shots is just awesome. So I figured this DVD would at least be worth it for the action scenes & I was not disappointed. It was recommended to me to just start from chapter 20 where the bombing begins since the first half of the movie is just all slow & boring. So that's what I did & I was totally absorbed by the non-stop action, it must've been like 20-30 minutes of constant action. Anyways, after I watched the bombing scene I decided to watch the DVD from the beginning & see just how bad the start was. And you know, I didn't think it was too bad at all. Sure if you go in expecting to be dropped right in the middle of a war, you'll be disappointed the first half. But I felt the first half was all setup for the second half. I mean, you can't make the Pearl Harbor bombing last 90 minutes, you can't make a movie based just on the bombing. You need story about the characters. So in reality this movie is more a story about love & friendships intertwined with a story of the tragedy & heroism of Pearl Harbor, with neither one outweighing the other in importance. But if you just want to watch some locked & loaded war footage, skip the first half of the movie, but you'll be missing out on a lot & would only be selling yourself short.
***The Video***
Overall the video quality is pretty decent, but not awesome. Certainly colors are very vivid & Michael Bay's use of colors is very good. But there is major use of edge enhancement here, so much that it's just nasty. Catch any shot of a plane across the sky & you see this big halo around the wings. And a few scenes were really grainy & dirty. But overall it's good enough. Supposedly they split the movie over 2 discs because making it fit on one would have sacrificed too much video quality. But they really should just have made a separate Dolby Digital & DTS release, thus giving space to fit the whole movie on one disc.
***The Audio***
The DTS soundtrack is very very good. In the bombing scenes directional pans of warplanes are constantly sweeping across speakers. Bullets fly all over & come from all over. Bass extension is well, extensive! Explosions pack a big bang, and everything just comes thru with dynamic impact. Defintely a demo disc for DTS audio! Was this review helpful?  
0 of 2 customers found this review helpful.
2 of 5 A WWII movie gone bad Sunday, January 06, 2002
Sullsutan from Oxford, Ohio
As I watched in awe a brilliant trailer for a movie called Pearl Harbor I expected something of a Saving Private Ryan. A movie that capture the brilliance of WWII movie making. I went in with high expectation and had only some of them filled. The first 3/4 of the movie was focused a strange love triangle that had no place being in a movie of this stature. Only after all of this was the actually Pearl Harbor taken into play. I was impressed by the fight sequence but I don't think it made up for the 2 hours of poorly done love scenes. Then came an our of place bombing campaign that really didn't need to be there. Personally, I think that they should have taken a veteran of Pearl Harbor and used his story instead of constructing such a monstrosity. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Best movie of the year w/o nudity and/or excessive Wednesday, December 26, 2001
anguyen from Saint Paul, MN
Nowadays, movie makers think that they have to add a tremendous amount of swearing and/or nude scenes to make movies that attract audiences. This movie proves that they are wrong. Pearl Harbor is one of the best movies for both entertainment & education purposes. Was this review helpful?
4 of 5 Another reason to be forwarned Friday, December 21, 2001
Louis M. from Amherst, MA
Besides the Japanese to English subtitles being practically illegible, this movie is split onto the two separate disks. If you only have a single disk player, you will have to get up and change disks to watch the entire movie. This is not mentioned anywhere that I could find on the product page. It is a long movie, however they could have done better by offering an either Dolby Digital or DTS versions of the film and saved everyone the headache. Was this review helpful?
4 of 5 Letterbox Format Problem Wednesday, December 12, 2001
efc103 from NJ
Rating applies to DVD only...not the movie itself. Be forwarned that the english subtitles when the Japanese are speaking are unreadable. All Wide screen copies appear to have this problem. Was this review helpful?
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