What makes this film work is that the audience knows that Pearl Harbor is going to be bombed successfully by the Japanese forces. (And if they didn’t know that, shame on them.) This creates a great deal of tension in the film. The film is long – almost three hours – and most of that time is spent showing the Japanese preparing for the bombing and the U.S. forces doing nothing about it. The build-up is slow and meticulous, but it makes the film very entertaining.The work of American director Richard Fleischer (who made “Fantastic Voyage” and then
ended up making crap like “Amityville 3-D”) and Japanese directors Kinji Fukasaku & Toshio Masuda blend almost seamlessly in the telling of the story. If this were fiction and we weren’t sure if the mission was going to be a success or not, it would be a different movie. As it stands, you find yourself rolling your eyes at the short sightedness of the U.S. commanders and yelling things like “They’re coming! Move your planes!” at the screen. (It’s scary how similar that sensation is to yelling “He’s behind you! Get the knife! You know he’s not dead!” while watching “Halloween.”)
The other great thing about the film is it’s dedication to authenticity. As I said, the film takes its time in telling the story and it doesn’t leave out many of the historical facts. The battle scenes in the film are also very well-staged, obviously taking much time and planning, especially considering the antique weapons which are being used. Also, the film doesn’t try to shade or hide anything. The film openly shows that the U.S. forces were not prepared for the attack. It also portrays the reasons that the Japanese planned the attack in the first place, dealing with issues like traditions in battle and their fears about the changes taking place around the world.
The film does an excellent job of balancing the story. While the Japanese are condemned for their attack, the bravery of the Kamikaze pilots and the cunning of the strategists are portrayed well. Also, while the Americans come off looking somewhat ill-prepared, we do get to see those who sensed something was going to happen and tried to do something about it.
The Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment presentation of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” on DVD is quite spectacular. The film has been digitally remastered and is THX approved.
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Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Length: 170 mins. |
The only extras included on the DVD of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” are theatrical trailers for “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and two other war related films. The trailer for “Tora! Tora! Tora!” is presented full-frame and must run for at least three minutes (there was no counter on the display). There is also a trailer for the George C. Scott classic “Patton,” which is presented letterboxed at 1.85:1. The final trailer is for “The Longest Day,” the 1962 dramatization of the D-Day invasion, which many feel inspired “Saving Private Ryan”. It is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
As someone who typically has no patience with war movies, I was pleasantly surprised by “Tora! Tora! Tora!” Despite the length of the film, it held my interest and although I was fairly certain that I knew how it ended – somewhatsimilar to watching “Titanic” – I was glued to the story in fascination. The DVD presentation of this film is top-notch and should impress long-time fans of the film. For newcomers like me, this is a good example of big-time, cross-continent filmmaking.
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