neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Pearl Harbor
	Michael Bay Ben Affleck, Josh Harnett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Jon Voight 2001 Special edition —two-disc set; widescreen; closed caption; Spanish subtitles; "Journey to the Screen: The Making of Pearl Harbor"; The History Channel documentary "Unsung Heroes"; Faith Hill music video "There You'll Be". DVD-ROM: "Definitive Bibliography."		Sure, it's ostensibly about the devastating Dec. 7, 1941 attack launched by the Japanese on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor — the tragedy that finally brought America into World War II. The you-are-there digital effects are magnificent in the battle scenes, particularly the central sequence — the 40-minute assault on Pearl Harbor. But this leaden mega-budget blockbuster, from the director of "Armageddon," transforms a pivotal moment in history into a feel-good "Independence Day"-styled action film, complete with a gratuitous hour-long coda showing the Yanks striking back via a surprise raid on Tokyo. (Somebody yell "Wahoo!") A tough-to-swallow love triangle (noble nurse Kate Beckinsale is torn by her feelings for best buddies/ace flyboys Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) is shoehorned into the action, and the script is a mess of predictable plot devices and pathetically corny dialogue that seem lifted from an actual World War II B-movie. With Alec Baldwin and Jon Voight.