Mike Penskar

Overall a good movie, with somewhat uneven but strong acting (with interesting and in my opinion well done performances by Woody Harrelson and also Dennis Quaid)) based on a true and critical early period of WWII. Although some of the acting is a bit overplayed (though the moxie is right in character!), the film is underscored by the strength of the story that needs to be told, and conveys well the sense of the absolutely harrowing, stomach-churning battles both on the ground and from those frail and exposed cockpits in the sky, which frankly left me squirming in my seat. The film also conveys much better than other films - such as the more recent version of Pearl Harbor - the situation, subtleties, and dynamics within the Japanese military and political environment.