Pearl Harbor (UK)

I almost pre-ordered this movie about a dozen times, but decided I cannot give in to the hype and order it before actually watching it at least once. So I rented it, and what can I say, although it is quite spectacular, it won`t go into my shopping list.
Putting the historical inaccuracies and romance aside, this is another show off movie. Everything looks 100% real. The recent attack on September 11th gives this movie a whole new meaning regarding the surprise factor.
The video transfer is excellent. There are no compression signs to be seen and the visuals are stunning. There is a lot of CG shots which are very difficult to detect (even upon extreme zooming).
The DD 5.1 soundtrack is very good. The surrounds are constantly used (especially after the 1st hour) and the sub gets a hell of a workout. The musical score is almost haunting and is well suited for this movie.
The menus are beautifully animated with sound.
The extras on the 2nd disk include a 45 minutes behind the scenes look, another 2 minutes featurette and a music video. Although the 45 minutes featurette is very informative and well done, this kind of a movie deserves SO much more, especially from a 2-disk set.
Bottom line - an ordinary love story, a tragic event and a spectacular disk (although low on extras) makes this movie a must see (but also a must don`t-buy-and-wait-for-a-better-edition).

I never saw Pearl Harbor at the cinema but I heard the critics slamming this one with vengeance, and not knowing anyone who had seen it I couldn't do anything but believe the hatred for this one, and was eagerly awaiting the rental so I could make up my own mind because I'm a huge Michael Bay.

Unfortunately the only rental version for the UK release was a VHS copy but I rented it anyway.
The film was fantastic and had a very mixed bag of themes, Love, Hatred and the fear of war.
A lot of people hated the love story of the film (which dominates half the film), but I thought it was a great opportunity to get some very good character development going on (Affleck is the bomb in this one), and then these characters have to face the horror of Love and War.

Picture: -

PS. I did buy the DVD version after renting the VHS, so this review is of the DVD.

The Picture is excellent, showing no signs of compression, grain or dirt, the transfer shows off the style of the 40's with beautiful and vibrant colours.
The transfer is a 2:35:1 anamorphic affair.

Audio: -

The sound has to be one of the best 5.1 soundtracks I've ever heard, when the planes are in the air you actually feel like your in the sky with them.
The dialogue is very crisp and clear and the music score is excellent and suits the type of film.


Extras: -

Not much going on in this area, with a Making Of Documentary, and Pearl Harbor: The Japanese Retrospective.
Along is a Music Video "Faith Hill - There You'll Be"

Overall: -

The film itself is very underrated, with a great story and excellent acting.
This package is very scarce of extras, so if you're a fan of the film I'd save my money for the 4-disk Directors Cut coming soon as I will (although I did buy this one too).

Great Film, great audio… don't judge until you've seen it.

Don`t believe the hype! This film isn`t half bad (well better than some of it`s directors` other more overrated efforts - like Armageddon). In a nutshell, if you enjoyed Titanic you`ll love Pearl Harbor, it`s almost a clone. The much derided love story is plausible if not a little obvious as are all the other sub-plots, which all seem to vanish once the Japs appear. The middle (attack) sequence is however quite breathtaking, stunning visuals and earth rumbling sound makes you want to duck the bullets and make a swim for it! The Doolittle raid seems a bit tagged on to me, but doubtless makes the US viewers feel a little avenged.

The picture throughout is superb (the special 3 disc edition is even better) with rich warm colours and plenty of detail.

The sound is second to none, a DTS track would be nice (like the reg 1 discs) but DD copes more than well.

The extras are hardly worth an extra disc but nice no the less. The 3 disc version has far more.

All in all an enjoyable way to spend 3 hours on a wet Sunday afternoon and the neighbours can even listen in too!

Pearl Harbor. It has been slated quite a lot by film critics. I thought it was OK. It is long, and is full of cliches. But you have to admire the fantastic recreation of that infamous sequence. The visuals are stunning and if you have a home cinema system, Pearl Harbor is going to show it off wonderfully well. I bought it simply for that reason - to show off my home cinema, which, it does admirablly. The print is perfect - as you would expect with a recent film and the audio is fantastic. I
The special features are very modest for a 2 disc set, but bearing in mind the length of the movie you can see why they had to spill over onto a second disc. If you have a home cinema then buy it, if you don`t you probably shouldn`t unless romantic flicks are your bag.

Pearl Harbor is a good movie. It is all about the fateful attack on December 1941 and is good to watch. The DVD isn`t bad at all. It is a two disc set and has a good bit of extra features but not a big bundle. I wouldn`t call this a must-buy but it is a good set and is worth buying.

It`s spectacularly bad, A monkey could move the camera better than Michael Bay. The presentation of picture & sound quality is too good for such bad film. The sex scene is quite nice though