Pearl Harbor (4 Disc Documentary) Reviews

• I liked this movie - Too bad it's another MPEG2 encode

  
  By A3FZKKKI62G0Q on 2007-01-30
  This movie was definitely one to show off the Blu-Ray format, but some corporate genius decided not to pay MS royalties for the use of VC-1, and they went with MPEG2 again on PH. Unless you have the sharpness dialed down on your set, or a 720p display blocking can be seen on this title pretty easily. If you're not sensitive to it then you're lucky. It comes through looking almost like a second layer of grain, but not the very fine grain of good film we're used to. I know some films are intentionally grainy, but rather than error diffusion (like real grain) this movie exhibits patterned grain. It is an artifact of MPEG2 block in motion.
  
  Titles released on Blu-Ray in VC1 encoding have proven how much better they can look. Why won't they maximize the potential of the format already?
  
  

• We get a Blu-ray Edition as a Retrospective

  
  By A7Y6AVS576M03 on 2007-01-07
  Over five years have passed since this film was released and one has to wonder what all the negative fuss was about in the first place. Well, this Blu-ray Edition looks very good and the film seems to look and be much more palatable than I remembered. The film does work and makes us take a moment to reflect that tragic event in American history.
  
  After the Academy Awards were presented for the films of 2001, I happened to notice that PEARL HARBOR was passed over, ignored and generally disregarded. I had a violently negative reaction to this film when I saw it in the theatre. I just remember saying to myself that it will probably earn an award for Special Effects and that's about the extent of it. However, when PEARL HARBOR got trounced at the presentation it just somehow seemed like an injustice to me. I watched it again at home. The half-hour or so of the actual Japanese attack was generally impressive visually, dramatically and emotionally. A lot of research and technical work went into recreating the attack. It is so much more moving now than when I first saw it, not just that sequence but the whole film.
  
  PEARL HARBOR is touching, poignant and inspiring in its own way. I liked the inclusion of the Doolittle Raid showing America's response to strike at the heart of our enemy. Even though it was strategically a token retaliation, the message of America's will and determination to bring the fight to the enemy will never be deterred.
  
  

• Great movie, but so so video transfer

  
  By A2NY83RZ5NGV0L on 2007-11-07
  This movie is very enjoyable in plot and special effects. But, unfortunately the video transfer was poorly done in Blu-ray. If you already have standard DVD version, save your money.
  
  

• The most accurate Documentary I have seen.

  
  By on 2001-05-28
  I am a Pearl Harbor historian and I bought a copy of this great documentary on DVD. It is 100% accurate and has footage never before seen. The "Survivors" that were interviewed gave excellent recounts of what it was like to be there. Never before have I seen extra footage of the bombing of the Arizona from a Japanese plane. Scott Freund and Tim Csabyani have done an excellent job. The quality and quantity of this DVD is something I would have expected from A & E or the History Channel.
  
  

• Blu-ray quality review only

  
  By A1JCJKD0AFOPUG on 2007-01-08
  The review for Pearl Harbor DVD release was done many moons ago.
  
  I am reviewing the HD quality of the movie. The picture quality was dark and grainy on most of the scenes. The movie was not shot in HD. This was simply a film to HD conversion. Most of the older movies did not have HD filming back then. "The Cave" was partially shot in HD to show some of the beauty of the actual cave. The sound was low during the vocal scenes. I had to turn the volume down during the fight scenes. It was shaking the whole house.
  
  The movie comes to life in all the fight scenes. The special effects bombing of Pearl Harbor was absolutely stunning. The sound and picture quality was absolutely breath-taking. They really worked on putting the 1080P to the test during these scenes. This made up for the rest of the dingy quality of the movie.
  
  If you watch a lot of HD movies or HD TV shows, you should know what I'm taking about. If you want to see some really crystal clear HD quality, then you should buy or rent Mission Impossible 3 on Blu-ray. Every single light in the city sparkles with super clarity. IMAX films have some impressive quality. Most of the new releases like "Click" are very clear. Terminator 2 was nice, but they already had a compressed HD version on the T2 Extreme DVD version for the PC.
  
  Watch the History Channel extra included on the disc!
  
  Note: Quality does not change from Blu-ray, HD-DVD or Terrestrial Stream .TS
  HD=HD More space does not = better quality (until they actually start using most of the space for better quality)
  
  
  
  
• Beautiful Sound Beautiful Picture!
  By A3PRE4G40N0TBP on 2006-12-26
  I love this movie! When I saw it on blu-ray it seriously took my breath away. If you want great picture and sound then please get this blu-ray.
  All the features that are on the two disk dvd is on the blu-ray. If you love this movie then I know you will love it even more on blu-ray.
  
  
• Impressive despite Historical Liberties
  By A1GS2EXQFPJH6 on 2007-01-03
  This film still looks impressive after five years just for its recreation of the actual attack on Pearl Harbor. In the face of historical liberties and inaccuracies in events depicted and the overall scripting this film still gets its point across. The devastation and loss of life at the hands of the unprovoked Japanese attack is mesmerizing and heartbreaking to watch. This is a very good looking copy of the film.
  
  
• misleading
  By AG3KG6PWGYLVK on 2006-12-23
  I have purchased several Blu Ray titles from Amazon and had no difficulty playing them on my Samsung player. I tried playing this one but the player rejected it each time and reported "unable to play this disc." After some investigation, I determined that Blu Ray discs are region encoded, such that a player purchased in North America is only capable of playing discs intended for North America (region A.) Unfortunately, the disc that I got from Amazon is not appropriate for playback on a unit purchased in North America. Look into this before you buy.
  
  
• Well, at least it works as camp.
  By A1LQ9J5SQLTUSX on 2008-02-12
  I'm sorry, but Pearl Harbor is a terrible, terrible film. One of the worst films I've seen. It's historicaly inaccurate in pretty much every thing. The acting sucks, and the dialogue is GOD-AWFUL. It glorifies war and revenge. It's racist against the Japanese. It has the soppeist romance Iv'e ever seen in a movie. It's campier than than a 1970's disaster film. In fact, Pearl Harbor is so bad it's funny. Pearl Harbor is unspeakably hysterical. I'm sorry, but the filmmakers diserve all the grief they have gotten for making this film. But the attack sequence is spectacular and moving. But you need more than that to make a great. I'm sorry, bad is bad.
  
  The Blu-Ray is also something of a let down. Although the Picture and Sound are amazing, it should have included the theatircal version and the director's cut of the film and the fourteen hours of special features of the director's cut DVD.
  
  Overall the film and the disc could have been so much more.
  
  
• Picture Looks Very Good
  By A20JYIHL1W1U54 on 2007-01-03
  Judge this film for its well intentioned efforts. When imperial Japanese aggression leads up to the attack on Pear Harbor the world changed. This film which contains several historical inaccuracies and misconceptions and a protracted love triangle somehow manages to enthrall the viewer and capture the feel of that moment. Lives were lost and changed and America never looked backward taking up the challenge. Slow moving and not exactly methodically paced PEARL HARBOR manages to convey these events on an epic scale. This film has meant so many things to so many people it is hard to judge it too harshly.
  
  
• A terrible film
  By A262XEAR1I3E7Z on 2007-02-19
  What were they thinking? Pearl Harbor is nothing more than an attempt to remake Titanic with Japanese Zeroes instead of an iceberg. While not quite "Postman" bad, Pearl Harbor's awful acting, terrible dialog, and overall uninspired dross toward a delicate historical event marks this film as one for the bargain bin next to "Showgirls."
  
  
• Pearl Harbor Blu-ray
  By AEA3419POYDUX on 2007-11-02
  Another disappointing re-make, the picture "flutter" in the action scenes is terrible, compared to the just released "Troy" which is a fabulous piece of work, even on my high def plasma, this one does not cut the ice and is most certainly not worth the hefty price tag.
  
  
• Amazing sound, good pictue quality
  By A35451LISW1FNN on 2007-05-12
  This is a great movie to show off your sound system. The uncompressed 5.1 pcm is outstanding.
  
  
• Pearl Harbor Blu-ray DVD
  By A3TTZAPN0V0WY2 on 2007-12-11
  Excellent conversion! Great picture and great sound! All of the action scenes look life like and jump out at you. Great gift to go with a new Blu-ray player.
  
  
• Terrific Movie
  By A3FW385RUWPHXM on 2008-02-14
  The SQ and PQ is simply amazing. Worth paying and collecting. One of my treasured few.
  
  
• Awesome Graphics!
  By AU7USG59IWV44 on 2008-03-22
  I know that historically there are many flaws in the movie, but it is a superb piece of hidef entertainment. Ben Affleck is also one of my favorite young actors, which drew me to the movie to begin with, and I've really enjoyed his performances in a number of movies in recent years --- I would go so far as to say he's probably one of the new generation's "Rat Pack" along with Mark Wahlberg, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney. If I see any of their names in a movie, it's automatic --- I either see or buy it or both!
  
  
• Pearl Harbor Blu-ray Review
  By A2MCLVVJ6SKQVR on 2008-04-05
  A home theater sound system makes this movie the one that shows off all that blu-ray can do. You can't beat a great story and great cinematography either.
  
  
• Worst Movie Ever
  By AH1L9HXPMGF3Q on 2008-05-13
  This ranks among the 5 worst movies I've ever seen. Visually appealing, yes. But the story, the acting, the flow of the movie - just terrible. It was so bad, my wife and I actually contemplated not watching the 2nd disc - even though that's the half that has the attack, which I knew would be cool to watch; and yet - I had no desire to waste more time watching this film. The joke now is that if someone tells us they liked this movie, we know that we cannot rely on any opinion they might give on another movie.
  Yes, it's that bad.
  
  
• Pearl Harbor
  By A2EXA1W682Y0DC on 2008-09-28
  Pearl Harbor, in my opinion, is one of the best movies I have seen. I have read may of the reviews by other members, and the derogatory comments they have made about the film, and yes, from their point of view, they are correct. What you have to understand before you can really appreciate a film like this is that although part of the plot is fiction, the rest is not. This means that the creators have to make the film fit into the framework of established historical fact. Not only the historic lines, but also the culture, the attitude of people in general, and the overall norms of that time. With this premise out of the way, I found the film to be very entertaining, romantic, and extremely authentic as far as props, attitudes, and historic content. It was a well spent three hours that I would do again. For me, it really answered many questions I had about the WWII era that in my personal research, I could not answer. In addition, being a hopeless romantic, I really loved the story, which was authentic for that time, as to how people acted.
  
  
• Spectacular
  By APASOUCF2UD42 on 2004-12-31
  In Pearl Harbor, the infamous attack on the Amercian naval fleet in 1941 forms the backdrop for an intriguing love triangle. Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett play best friends and pilots, while Kate Beckinsale is the woman they both love.

  Despite the inevitable comparisons to Titanic, this historical drama -- more gritty than grand -- soars on its own. It features accomplished direction by Michael Bay, whose only miscalculation comes during the aftermath of the attack: the footage is blurred to accentuate the nurses' confusion, but good acting and editing would have sufficed. However, the attack scene alone is worth the price of admission, and it's an extraordinary feat to have outdone the impressive recreation depicted in the otherwise embarrassing Tora, Tora, Tora. The film also offers two riveting aerial battles, clever newsreel segments, stunning cinematography, and A+ sound. Hans Zimmer's score is both memorable and moving, but the theme song "There You'll Be" is no match for "My Heart Will Go On."

  The script by Randall Wallace vividly captures an era of innocence and hope, and speaks of duty, determination, and courage. Though the Japanese are not portrayed as bloodthirsty villains, it leaves their motives to the history books. Unfortunately, there is an unnecessary and lengthy postscript that tries to prove America's superiority by detailing a retaliatory raid on Tokyo. Since we all know the U.S. triumphed in the end, the flag-waving should have been dispensed with -- indeed, it would have been more effective to end the film with the title assault.

  Ben Affleck gets top billing, but he is clearly not ready for leading-man status; some of his facial expressions are laughably bad. Kate Beckinsale, though lovely, is rather weak as the female lead, but the charming Josh Hartnett carries the film. The massive supporting cast includes the other pilots and cadre of nurses, all of whom are delightful and interesting. Dan Aykroyd, Colm Feore and Cuba Gooding Jr. shine in their supporting roles, while both Alec Baldwin and Jon Voight give Oscar-worthy efforts as Jim Doolittle and Franklin D. Roosevelt respectively.

  Pearl Harbor is a heart-wrenching motion picture with spectacular visuals. Suspenseful, shocking and tragic, it serves as a fitting tribute to that Day of Infamy, when a presumed Armageddon descended on paradise. Rating: 8 out of 10.
  
  

• No Titanic, though it tries to be.
  By A37V8BRLBQ2WK5 on 2005-12-30
  A trite movie which tries it's d*&#est to be another "Titanic"--or, at least, to make some of the money that "Titanic" made. I found the characters unbelieveable, the plot contrived. This is a movie that had no business being made except--kaching!--for the possibility of riding on the crest of the great epic drama
  craze that T helped to start. You see, the recipe is supposed to go like this:you have something for the men (the sinking of the Titanic and the bombing of Pearl Harbor) and a love story for the ladies and -voila!-everybody is happy. The problem is who can stand Ben Affleck? I find most anything he's in to be unbelieveable and , most of the time, trite. In contrast to real sparks between DiCaprio and Winslet in T (which even the men could appreciate), I found myself hoping the poor bland unnamed actress in Pearl Harbor would try to find a real man. Oh, and to make things even worse, her other boyfriend dies on her...hokey estrogen city, dude.
  
  However...rent this movie (surely you're not thinking about buying it) if you want to see an excellent battle sequence. If they had just made the movie twenty-thirty minutes long and just had the surprise attack sequence alone it would made for a most entertaining and enlightening movie half an hour. The computer guys get and A for their work.
  
  Also, I got the distinct impression that real history was toyed with in order to make the movie more palatable to the rest of the world (especially Japan?) The movie suggests that Japan wasn't the aggressor and that they had to traipse thousands of miles in their carriers armed with thousands of bombs because, silly USA, they were forced to kill US soldiers as they slept because the USA wouldn't allow them to get the oil they needed. (How do you say -kaching- in Japanese?) I really believe that the people who made this pale imitation of historical drama need to apologize to every family who lost a loved one in the Pacific theater in WWII. Utterly absurd and insulting.
  
  Drive your Packard on past this dud and see if you can find "Tora,Tora,Tora" at the video store.
  
  
• The worst intelligence failure in the history of the U. S.
  By A1S3C5OFU508P3 on 2006-02-10
  No event has affected the American public more than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, although the destruction of the twin towers in 9/11 comes close. There are many parallels, in both cases it was an attack that cost thousands of lives and massive destruction. Each can be considered a sneak attack although in both cases there was a lot of warning. In 1941, everyone in the high levels of government knew that the Japanese would attempt a major military action in the Pacific and there was message traffic that indicated the target was Pearl Harbor. In the case of 9/11 there was wide knowledge that the terrorist organizations were going to attempt a major assault. The identities of some of the attackers were known and the intelligence communities failed to reach the appropriate conclusions.
  In the case of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the key point of failure was the belief that the Japanese simply weren't capable of mounting such an attack. As always, conspiracy theories abound, including those that believe that Franklin Roosevelt knew of the attack but wanted it to succeed so that America would be thrust into the war. As is made clear on this tape, all can be explained by a combination of American complacency and Japanese military efficiency. The Japanese navy was a first class military unit, capable of achieving great things, but lacking the reserves necessary to carry out a long war in the Pacific.
  There were profound changes in the American public mood as a consequence of the attack on Pearl Harbor, some of which were still part of policy making fifty years later. To understand American involvement in World War II, it is necessary to understand the attack on Pearl Harbor and this tape will give you the fundamentals of what went right on the Japanese side and so wrong on the American side.
  
  
  
  
• Best Blu-Ray yet
  By A2NO49HXUHMH9L on 2007-03-17
  I have several Blu-Ray movies, but this one is the best of them all.
  
  
• great sound!
  By A3PDW5G9HFBRN2 on 2007-04-03
  Nice video transfer but better sound. Uncompressed 5.1 PCM, the perfect demo disc.
  
  
• Didnt like the movie content, but it has some good action scenes
  By A32G3GTW4UNRRH on 2007-04-10
  The back story blows! But of course the Action sequences of the actual battle are what makes this movie worth watching. Who ever wrote the back story should be gutted then burned. What could have been a great movie was ruined.
  
  
• Blu-ray improves an ordinary film!!
  By A13CUHHF50Z3LI on 2007-09-03
  So a film that in standard definition was average at best, is really brought to life and justice is done to it on Blu-ray. The raging battle scene at the end of the film is just awe-inspiring and jaw dropping. A pleasure to watch. Story line was still a bit cheesy, but hey, you aren't buying Pearl Harbour for its stunning war time plot now are you? :P
  
  
• A Documentary about Pearl Harbor
  By A173YVKVW3EUM on 2007-10-09
  This is a documentary about when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, not the Movie with Ben Affleck by a similar title. A lot of the information stated on Amazon is wrong.
  
  
• Great version of a horrible movie
  By ACMSCXK9GNQJ on 2007-12-07
  A truly horrible movie with bad acting and moronic script. When the best thing you can say about a movie is that the special effects were good, then the movie sucks. The bluray version looks great. A big budget(wasted here) movie like this was obviously shot with great equipment making a prime candidate for a bluray release. Too bad Ben Affleck couldn't act his way out of a paper bag in this one. Almost like he knew how bad this would suck already. I guess the Michael Bay thing tipped him off.
  
  
• Documentary Content
  By A3TNUGRZ75P1BO on 2008-01-08
  To clear up any confusion, this Amazon.com listing is for the Collector 4-pack DVD documentary series "Pearl Harbor." -This is not the movie starring Ben Affleck.-
  
  This collectors edition contains six documentaries over 4 discs, filmed mostly in black and white:
  
  "December 7th" + "The Fleet That Came to Stay" - Lt. Cmdr. John Ford skillfully blends action with studio shots in an OSCAR-winning look at the tragic events of December 7, 1941, while genuine combat footage depicts the invasion of Okinawa.
  
  "Memories of War" - Fifty years after Japan brought the U.S. into World War II, former adversaries meet for the first time in friendship at a retrospective symposium - a unique anniversary tribute to the brave men on both sides.
  
  "Payoff in the Pacific" - Originally shown in two parts on the U.S. Army's documentary series "The Big Picture," this chronicles the war in the Pacific as seen by the men who fought it, from Pearl Harbor to the Japanese surrender.
  
  "Pearl Harbor Payback" - The Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor united all Americans against a common foe, and from that day forward they spared nothing in order to mobilize against the menace that continued to threaten them in the Pacific. Also included are "Target Tokyo," a 1945 documentary narrated by Ronald Reagan, which follows the first bombing raid on Tokyo by B-29 Superfortress, and another WWII short film, "Air War against Japan."
  
  "Appointment in Tokyo" - Featuring enemy film taken from captured Japanese newsreels, this 1945 documentary depicts MacArthur's long struggle to fight his way back to the Philippines, after his enforced evacuation, and beyond to Japan.
  
  
  
• Positively Fantastic!!!!
  By A28VU1V0YFRY8J on 2008-07-02
  I rec'd this brand new Blu-ray of Pearl Harbor so fast! Perfectly packaged! It was my first Blu-ray movie to watch and it was Positively Fantastic!!!!
  
  

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