Review of Pearl Harbor (2001) by Danny O — 28 Nov 2013

Pearl Harbor may be Michael Bay's most significant film next to 2007's Transformers. Even then, his directorial shortcomings are on major display. For the regular viewer, it's an engaging war story involving a tearjerking love triangle with quotable dialogue and visually striking action sequences.

But many serious filmgoers cannot forgive its historical inaccuracies, shaky acting, and inconvenient influences from box-office hits from Saving Private to James Cameron's Titanic. In the end, whether you forgive Bay's unlikable portrayal of one of history's most unforgettable tragedies or not, Pearl Harbor earned triple its budget and may be his most soaring moment in filmmaking, which isn't saying much at all.