Tora! Tora! Tora! [1970] [DVD]

This is still one of the best and most impressive American war films ever made, presenting an honest, balanced and historically faithful depiction of the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the USA into the war. It fares quite well on today's large-size digital TV screens; I originally saw it in the cinema and – as you'd expect - it was pretty spectacular, with breathtaking flying sequences which still retain their thrill even on the reduced scale. A long film (cinemas had an intermission in the middle) it has quite a preamble before the real action starts; unusually for Hollywood it takes a rather documentary-styled approach which helps concentrate the storyline on what matters rather than some romantic interest or character development; indeed, at the time mainly less well-known actors were cast to retain an ensemble feel to the film and avoid any fixation on stars. It is also historically balanced, giving a lot of time to the Japanese side of the events; the evocative carrier take-off scenes at dawn are some of the most memorable and visually striking aerial footage outside of authentic wartime archives. A great deal of consideration was also given to the authenticity of the production with carefully modified aircraft and clever mock-ups standing in for the types used in the period. It certainly still outclasses Michael Bay`s behemoth “Pearl Harbor” (2001) which seems outrageously hokey next to this, despite all it`s CGI special effects. A very fine movie that has aged well and still engrosses as a viewing experience. The standard DVD release is as listed above in the product description and it delivered a sharp and satisfactory picture on my own TV.

The movie is in two parts. The first part is a reprise of the build-up leading to the infamous day when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. This charts ambivalence and incompetence on the part of certain America middle order officers and top brass who short-changed their countrymen. The prequel to the Japanese invasion indicates how the Japanese were led by their army who must have held idiocy as part of the qualification for promotion. Imagine Japan in 1941 thinking that they could invade the USA. The logistics were gargantuan and thinking otherwise indicates that the Japanese high command were led by similar incompetence to that of Nazi Germany. The second part of the movie is all about the bombing, full of action and some impressive film footage that indicates the sheer terror of the attack. Considering when this movie was made the quality of the DVD was very good as was the acting from an ensemble cast consisting of the stars of the day both American and Japanese. I must admit that one has to admire how the USA pulled itself together after such an attack and organised their resources to counter the Japanese aggression. Thereafter the horror of the Pacific War ensued. The whole affair made me very unhappy thinking about the waste of so many decent people on all sides. I give the movie 5 out of 5 as it does not thump the chauvinist barrel, but reports the facts plain and simply in a manner which communicates a considerable amount of history in a single movie. Highly recommended to anyone wishing to gain more history about the origins of the American war with Japan and what bought them into WW2.

This movie was produced as a joint Japanese-American venture. The acting by both casts is excellent, and the Japanese dialogue which takes up much of the action is well translated in the sub-titles, which are not so obtrusive as to interfere with the action. Filming is excellent, and the main irony of the history of Pearl Harbor, that not only was the US officially notified by the Japanese after the attack had commenced but that the US intelligence itself was not communicated to those in power, comes over clearly. This movie has generally been underrated: I give it full marks.

Great historical move can be long but if you like history you will like this"Better than the modern move PERL HARBOAR" more tension and a lot less of that love girl stuff ?. It show how the americans went about the war and how they bet the japanes by just being in the wrtie place at the write time, all of this based on the fragments of information they had collected, from cracking japanes radio and telegraph code, JUST GREAT. Dont site down to watch this with the wife or girl friend she will be board to death.

As advertised.

Enjoyed watching this again after many years

What Japan didn't know we value our freedom and will fight for it. My father-in-law was in the Navy and was at Pearl Harbor when they attached. He said he only had a 45 on him at the time. This movie doesn't last very long, I wouldn't bought it if I had known that.

Ce film nest pas un film de guerre comme un autre . Passionnant de bout en bout en bout , il est remarquablement documenté et servi par des acteurs super .C'est un modèle du genre . Il explique très bien comment la surprise de l'attaque fut totale et pris l'armée américaine au dépourvu .Belle leçon d'histoire ! A cela il faut ajouter les scènes de l'attaque filmées de man!ère époustouflante sans les trucages numériques . C'est un film en tout point remarquable que je recommande à tous les passionnés non seulement de film de guerre mais aussi de rigueur historique .

DVD players will only play DVD's made in the Region they are made in. So if you get a DVD that is produced in Europe it will not play in your DVD player.