Andrew Bellus

This is a terrible movie. They tried to cram too many story lines (Pearl Harbor, Doolittle Raid) into a little over two hours. As a result, they shortchanged key aspects of the battle (the back and forth of the Japanese changing weapons, the timeframe over which the battle occurred, ADM Spruance’s role in how the battle played out). The dialog is stilted and forced; almost like everyone was trying to be John Wayne. The lead actor played the role like a Brit trying to be an American. The battle scenes were CGI’ed (as expected), but the accuracy was questionable. For instancing, showing a submarines surfacing in the middle of the Japanese fleet at what appeared to be about 100 yards from a carrier. I expected that the movie would be Hollywood-ized; however, this movie was gutted by terrible acting, poor special effects, and poor coverage of the story lines. Why the Navy supported this movie, I will never understand.