PEARL HARBOR......Honey, Try To Hold Onto Your Temper!!

Few movies have touched me, and made me feel so many different feelings, as the movie 'Pearl Harbor' did! When I first approached my husband about seeing it, he told me he didn't know if he could see it because it made him so angry to think about it.

Having visited Pearl Harbor, when my husband and I were in Hawaii for our 25th anniversary three years ago, we were so deeply touched by the whole experience that it almost became a personal thing for us. I had never thought that much about it, even though my Dad was in WWII, on a naval ship in the Pacific!!

It was a movie I have been waiting to see since I first saw it advertised last Spring and I immediately decided I would see the movie when it came out. So it was that we found ourselves sitting at a 5:15 PM twilight matinee the day before Memorial Day.

THE SET-UP

The movie opens up in 1923, Rafe and Danny are about 8 years old and Rafe's dad is a crop farmer. They want to fly so badly that they get in his Dad's plane one day and accidentally start it. It takes off down the field and even goes into the air several times before they finally get it stopped. They are scared to death, but at the same time, exhilirated as they both want to become flyers.

THE OPENING

The next thing you see, it is 1941, and they are both in training for the U.S. Air Force. Hitler is on a rampage in Europe and the U.S. has not yet joined the forces against him. Danny and Rafe are still best friends and are good flyers, to the extent of putting on antics in the air, which they get in trouble for with the chief officer.

But Rafe is given a chance to join the British Air Force against the Germans. His Superior Officer (Alex Baldwin did a great job!) tells him they need him but he has been instructed to advise him against it as the U.S. Air Force would need him when and if they went to war. But when Rafe asks him what he would do, he says 'I'd go, if needed'. Since Rafe has such a respect for him, he enlists and decides to go. Danny is not happy about it.

THE ROMANCE

But there's another problem. A month ago, Rafe had met a girl, an army nurse, who had passed him on an eye test he probably shouldn't have been passed on. Oh,he could see, he just has a problem with letters. She took pity on him after he convinced her he was a great flyer. He waits for her after his physical (and this guy gives a whole new meaning to physical, after getting two shots in the behind and falling and hitting his nose on a table!), and they begin dating and fall in love. So, she's not happy when he leaves for England, needless to say. Rafe asks Danny to be the one to tell Evelyn if anything happens to him. He doesn't want her to hear it from a stranger.

PEARL HARBOR (The rest of the story)

Oh how I enjoyed seeing the scenery in Hawaii. Some great footage. Now Evelyn is in Hawaii, she and Rafe are writing to each other faithfully, and it's a bittersweet romance as they are so far apart.

Then Rafe gets shot down while fighting the Germans. Evelyn is devastated when Danny comes to tell her. They share their grief together and begin to have feelings for each other. They start dating in several months as they are both stationed in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Things are heating up in Japan and the U.S. The talks they are having are disintegrating. The Japanese are worried about their empire since the U.S. has cut off their oil supply. They begin to plan an attack on the U.S. Fleet in Pearl Harbor, all the while still deceiving the U.S. into thinking they are friendly and still giving hope of an agreement.

Dan Akroid plays the role of an intelligence consultant, for lack of a better description, and he warns the Government that he thinks something is coming. This part I had never known about, that the U.S. had any clue about what was coming. They want more proof though, something more solid than a 'gut feeling', so they wait.

Then, there is a development about Rafe. It turns out when his plane went down, he was able to escape and get to the surface. Using the vision of Evelyn's face, it gave him the will to survive and live. So he turns up one day, but sadly Evelyn and Danny are already in love and there is one other development I will not share!!

Meanwhile General Hito is planning the hit on Pearl Harbor and it is getting closer and closer. During this period I had a sick feeling, knowing what was coming, knowing what was part of our history. But I didn't know how hard it would be to watch!!

On December 7, 1942, a Sunday morning, the Japanese did what they termed 'surprise achieved', and without any warning at all, Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, was hit and hit hard. Many of our boys were still asleep in their bunks. Many were up shaving and making plans to go to church or what they would do with their Sunday off. Almost none of them ever had a chance to get off the ships. The U.S.S. ARIZONA was the prime target and all those around it. They took out the ships and then headed for the airfields. The attack went on for what seemed like hours.

Yes, it was very hard to watch. Even knowing it was in the past, even knowing that we retaliated and had ultimate victory. I remember reading in the U.S.S. ARIZONA Memorial, that a whole family, a father and three sons were taken out that day. Brothers were taken out. It could have been my Dad, my husband's Dad, any of our Dads! Death, carnage, if you will.

So sad and so, so hard to watch. But I made myself watch it, because it's part of our history. And in doing so, I became even more proud of the United States of America, this great country which was begun with the help and guidance of God!! YES, GENERAL HITO, YOU DID INDEED AWAKEN A SLEEPING GIANT!!

Seeing the boys keep on fighting, seeing them never giving up, seeing the aftermath and the hit on Tokyo. Seeing what the men in our country were and ARE made of. It heartened me. My heart bled for the boys, for their families but I couldn't help be proud and encouraged at how we 'came back' and did what had to be done as a result.

John Voight was wonderful as our President, the great "FDR" (Franklin Delenar Roosevelt). I didn't recognize him at first but, wow, what a great job he did. I think I am a new fan of Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsdale! What a great movie. I will not give away the ending between this love triangle but, let me tell you, you will not be disappointed!!

I give Pearl Harbor 'thumbs up'. Yes, my husband did get angry all over again, along with me. Yes, there were sob scenes, yes, it was very hard to watch in parts, but I think I would see it again just for the feelings of pride and hope it evoked in me. See Pearl Harbor, it's a fitting way to spend Memorial Day!! God Bless America and God Bless You All!

Genre: Action/Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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