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Pearl Horror 2001: "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...." (part 2 of 3)
By Burt Takeuchi
Nihonmachi Outreach Committee
The Bad:
The film starts of pretty well but drags in the middle, roars with the aerial
sequences and ends with a thud. This movie is way too long! The Doolittle
raid seems like it was tacked on at the end. The love story is really dull
and lacks the romantic dialogue to make the scenes memorable. So most of
the story is best experienced in the air not on the ground.
The Japanese spy character is more worrisome since he converses in the English
in one of the scenes. The scene takes place in a crowded room probably in Hawai'i.
Another Asian man is in the room and appears to be sorting photos. The thing
is no other Japanese character in the film speaks English so is the spy speaking
to a JA contact? (again this scene is really brief and blurs into the Dentist
scene)
The Pearl Harbor battle scene is in about the middle of the film. Very graphic
with lots of gore and human carnage during the air attack. Sort of like the
Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan. The funny part was that there was
so many Japanese planes in each shot that they seemed to be almost ready to
collide with each other. (Reminds me of the flying saucers in Independence
Day. (Japanese Naval pilots at that time were probably among the best in the
world and would fly better formations than that)
The carnage scenes were very moving but I couldnt help feeling in the back
of my mind that somebody out there will have trouble distinguishing between
those guys buzzing around on the screen and Asian Americans?
The end of the film showcased the Doolittle Raid with Col. Jimmy Doolittle
played by Alec Baldwin. This part of the film was the most disturbing and jingoistic.
Sort of like saying "this is the part we get those guys back" kind
of thing. The Doolittle character stated in a flight meeting: "I am not
the type to be taken prisoner.....So I would just drive my plane into as many
of those bastards (Japanese) and kill as many of them as I could" (ekkkkk
I thought to myself cringing in my seat....can you imagine the crowd getting
pumped on that line) To me that is the worst part of the film.
If the director (Michael Bay) included longer scenes containing Asian Americans,
not only would it be a friendlier film to watch but a more accurate film. (Many
Hawai'ian locals donated blood to help save hundred of wounded soldiers. Over
50 were killed mostly by friendly fire and many wounded) I could only remember
seeing about 10 Asian American extras on screen. Considering the Island population
was about 70% Asian Pacific Islander that is not much of a representation..
Pearl Harbor 3 - The Ugly
