Pearl Harbour: The Director’s Cut
Michael Bay, Director
Touchstone Productions Vista Series; Anamorphic THX Widescreen 2.5:1; Dolby Digital & DTS 5.1. Dolby Headphone Mix, French Dialogue, Spanish Subtitles; Numerous Extras

Tora! Tora! Tora! The Attack On Pearl Harbour
Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masude, & Kinji Fukasuka, Directors
20th Century Fox Video; Anamorphic THX Widescreen 2.35:1; Dolby Digital 4.1, Dolby Surround, French Mono, English & Spanish Subtitles;

     If packaging were everything, Pearl Harbour would win every award going, but the most elaborate fold-out collection of booklets, telegrams, postcards (shown), and 4 discs claiming 12 hours of extra goodies cannot disguise a bad, banal script, and stupid story surrounding the events of America’s entry into World War II. You think you’ve gotten your money’s worth until you’ve actually watched the movie.

      There’s no denying the special effects, especially the recreation of the surprise attack itself, and the attention to period detail rival that of Gosford Park, but it’s all wasted on a level of storytelling that could only appeal to 13-year-old girls of the sort that are behind a cosmetics counter by 16. I thought only James Cameron or George Lucas could waste so much money on so little script, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun) and director Michael Bay prove otherwise. So much for the movie.

     Then there are the extras. The movie, all THX spic and span, covers the first 2 of 4 discs, while 2 more have a pair of documentaries from the History Channel, one a historical look at the Doolittle Mission to Japan after Pearl Harbour that is much more factual and less sentimental than the depiction in the film. There’s lots about the preparation of the actors (”Boot Camp”), and a Making Of doc that shows how they used old Navy ships as props for explosions, and how a few planes became many via computer wizardry in both these attacks and those on the airfields.

     In fact, the extras are more interesting and educational than the movie itself, the fate of the Doolittle raiders very sad, and the documentary about the trapped sailors in the Pearl Harbour ships very moving. I would buy this special edition because of the extras, the superb video and sound quality of the film, especially in the attack sequences. I still haven’t had time to explore all the extras, said to add up to over 12 hours.

      Tora! Tora! Tora! is a better film, certainly better scripted, though somewhat serious going, wiith all the Japanese subtitles. It doesn’t cover the historical events with a romantic story about indviduals, and meticulously lays out the political climate and events leading up to the attack, as well as the Doolittle raid after. I found it an absorbing dramatic documentary, without the soap opera distractions of Pearl Harbour. It also pays much more attention to the motivations and preparation of the Japanese military, and was, in fact a co- production. Historical accuracy was a prime consideration, and it does stiffen the plot somewhat, but the film is still engrossing.

      Extras include a 20-minute documentary called Day Of Infamy, and director’s commentary, and the original theatrical trailer. The soundtrack is 4.1, without centre channel and quite subtle surround, and the film has been cleaned up and is THX certified. It’s also notable for a very effective and atmospheric score by Jerry Goldsmith.

Andrew Marshall