| | | The incredible attack on Pearl Harbor as told from both the American and Japanese sides.
Features: Special Edition
Tora! Tora! Tora! is the Japanese signal to attack -- and the movie meticulously recreates the attack on Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it. Opening scenes contrast the American and Japanese positions. Japanese imperialists decide to stage the attack. Top U.S. brass ignore its possibility. Intercepted Japanese messages warn of it -- but never reach F.D.R.'s desk. Radar warnings are disregarded. Even the entrapment of a Japanese submarine in Pearl Harbor before the attack goes unreported. Ultimately the Day of Infamy arrives -- in the most spectacular, gut-wrenching cavalcade of action-packed footage ever. You'll see moments of unsurpassed spectacle and heroism: U.S. fighters trying to take off and being hit as they taxi; men blasted from the decks of torpedoed ships while trying to rescue buddies; savage aerial dogfights pitting lone American fliers against squadrons of Imperial war planes. It's the most dazzling recreation of America's darkest day--and some of her finest hours.
"Well-made film..." Leonard Maltin
"Well-documented and realistic..." VideoHound's Golden Moview Retriever
Editor's Note
A Japanese-American co-production, director Richard Fleischer (SOYLENT GREEN) and two Japanese directors put together this ultrarealistic account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor as presented from the perspectives of both nations, as diplomatic tensions rise between the two countries. While the Japanese military plans its attack on American military installations, the American forces nearly stumble into a much greater calamity due to a series of errors and mistakes. As the two sides plunge closer to war, the tension escalates until the final, spectacular air raid, the most realistic ever filmed. This ITA award winner has a fabulous cast, including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, Jason Robards, James Whitmore, and E.G. Marshall.
| Features | Special Edition | | Full Frame - 1.33 |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 5/15/2001 |
| Running Time: 149 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1970 | | Catalog ID: 2001292 | | UPC: 00024543012924 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Japanese | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, Japanese | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1971) |  | L.B. Abbott, A.D. Flowers, Winner, Best Effects, Special Visual Effects | | | Carl Biddiscombe, et al., Nominee, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration | | | Osamu Furuya, et al., Nominee, Best Cinematography | | | Inoue Chikaya, et al., Nominee, Best Film Editing | | | Herman Lewis, et al., Nominee, Best Sound | |
American Cinema Editors, USA (1971) | | | Inoue Chikaya, et al., Nominee, Best Edited Feature Film |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...The film glories in its Panavision sweep, from its full-length shots of battleships at sea to its artfully composed formations of Japanese fighter planes..." 06/08/2001 p.54New York Times
"[The] film now seems strikingly modern and mature." 05/23/2006 p.E5 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] scrupulously authentic recreation of the build-up to Pearl Harbor..." 02/01/2007 p.124 Uncut
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he work of seasoned pulp directors Richard Fleischer and future BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY man Kinji Fukasaku keeps things taut." 02/01/2007 p.106 Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 8 of 10
Events leading up to (well-staged) Pearl Harbor attack, from both American and Japanese points of view. Well-documented screenplay shows major and minor blundering on both sides, then recreates attack with frightening realism. Well-made film creates incredible tension. Oscar-winning special effects. - Leonard Maltin
VideoHound's Golden Moview Retriever 7 of 10
The story of events leading up to December 7, 1941, is retold by three directors from both Japanese and American viewpoints in this tense, large-scale production. Well-documented and realistic treatment of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the U.S. into WWII; notable for its good photography...
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