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? about 'Pearl Harbor'.... the movie


Widder, SASS #59054

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The movie Pearl Harbor centers around a story of two good friends from Tennessee.

 

They both join the military and They both eventually fall in love with the same woman, etc....

 

They were both air pilots and flew in the Tokyo bombing of which one died and the surviving one came home to marry the girl and raise his best friends son.

 

Its highly possible that this type story could be true. But does anyone know if it is based on some true account?

 

Thanks

 

 

..........Widder

 

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Not in the least. Made up out of whole cloth by...Randall Wallace if memory serves. Same writer that did Braveheart and a couple of others I can't recall.

 

As for the pilots...the USAAF drew Doolittle's crews from the 34th Bomb Squadron. No real point in re-training fighter pilots in an entirely new airframe when there was plenty of demand for pursuit pilots.

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Not in the least. Made up out of whole cloth by...Randall Wallace if memory serves. Same writer that did Braveheart and a couple of others I can't recall.

 

As for the pilots...the USAAF drew Doolittle's crews from the 34th Bomb Squadron. No real point in re-training fighter pilots in an entirely new airframe when there was plenty of demand for pursuit pilots.

And we know Braveheart played fast and loose with history.

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i noticed they did take a few actual events and throw them into the movie even some that happened other times. i.e. the camera man dying and the camera turing back onto his dead face occurred on another pacific island later in the war, I think tarawa or iwo jima can't remember exactly.

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i noticed they did take a few actual events and throw them into the movie even some that happened other times. i.e. the camera man dying and the camera turing back onto his dead face occurred on another pacific island later in the war, I think tarawa or iwo jima can't remember exactly.

Never heard of that'n.

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I thought "Tora! Tora! Tora!" was far, far better and more accurate. Of course they had to use T-6's, as there weren't enough A6M-1 Zeros in flying condition. (Most at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean!)

Even Red Tails was better. And that was crap.

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You'd figure with all the money being flung around in Hollywood they'd have to hit something worthwhile sooner or later. Evidently not.

I thought "Saving Private Ryan" was worthwhile.

 

However, that is a 1998 movie; 17 years ago. :blush:

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You'd figure with all the money being flung around in Hollywood they'd have to hit something worthwhile sooner or later. Evidently not.

It made a TON of money in the box office and beyond. Widder is proof folks are still watching it.

 

By those standards, it was certainly worthwhile as it put more money in their pocket.

 

You all have to remember that it was never designed to be a documentary. It was just a movie with an interesting story line. You have to watch it remembering that it's a 'Faux reality' movie. If you want a documentary on the attack of Pearl Harbor, there are a number of very VERY good ones out there, but movies like this are designed to entertain, not teach about history. Even Saving Private Ryan didn't get EVERYTHING correct. Nor did Tora! Tora! Tora! or Hamburger Hill, or Apocalypse now. Top Gun, Flight of the Intruder, or any of the "Alamo" movies. Doesn't mean they're not entertaining, but putting them under the microscope of history to dig into the "real truth" only ensures that you're uncover problems with every aspect of the story line and diminish it's value as entertainment.

 

Pearl harbor was just a love story set during a historical event. Nothing more, nothing less. On that assessment alone, I thought Pearl Harbor was terrible

 

Saving Private Ryan, which itself doesn't pass the historical sniff test, I felt was very entertaining. It's not a documentary either though.

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Pearl harbor was just a love story set during a historical event. Nothing more, nothing less. On that assessment alone, I thought Pearl Harbor was terrible

 

Saving Private Ryan, which itself doesn't pass the historical sniff test, I felt was very entertaining. It's not a documentary either though.

HD, true enough about "Saving Private Ryan." But I did take away one very sobering truth from that fictional movie. Captain Miller, as he was about to die on the bridge, said to Private Ryan, "Earn this. Earn it." That sobering truth to me was; I'm Private Ryan. Have I lived my life in such a way that I've "earned" what those gallant men fought for and sacrificed.

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HD, true enough about "Saving Private Ryan." But I did take away one very sobering truth from that fictional movie. Captain Miller, as he was about to die on the bridge, said to Private Ryan, "Earn this. Earn it." That sobering truth to me was, I'm Private Ryan. Have I lived my life in such a way that I've "earned" what those gallant men sacrificed.

It was a very compelling story for certain. well written, nicely performed and the cinematography brought the story, characters and place to life without a doubt. I took away a reminder than our freedom is not, and has never been, free. The OP's original movie, Pearl Harbor. I did not take away a grand theme like that. It was just a soap opera wrapped in a WWII pinning. Meh...

 

Really, we could even throw in Forest Gump to the conversation. It's a "faux reality" movie as well. Take away: you don't have to be a "smart man" (as he put it) to be honorable, lucky, love truly and deeply and keep your word to the very end. In many ways, Forest himself embodied what we call the Cowboy Way.

 

Good cinematography, in my opinion, creates a story and characters that stick with the viewer well after the movie has ended. THOSE are the movies I want to see over and over.

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HD,

 

speaking of watching a movie over and over, there are 2 of them that I have watched a dozen times, and if they came on the tav again tonight, I would watch them again.

 

Tombstone and MIDWAY.

 

 

..........Widder

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