Tora! Tora! Tora! is the Pearl Harbor story. The real story, not a fictionalized Hollywood romance which just happened to be taking place in Hawaii in 1941. No made up characters, plot lines or melodrama here. This is the real deal, the story of the men whose decisions and actions led to a date which will live in infamy. As such there aren't going to be much in the way of surprises. There's an inevitability to the film, everyone knows how the story ends. But the film still manages to be compelling, dramatic and entertaining. For a nearly two and a half hour long movie in which you know the ending from minute one that is no small feat.
Tora! Tora! Tora! is in a way two different films, the Japanese one and the American one. The two movies within this one movie have different writers, directors, cinematographers and actors. This could have easily led to a very disjointed feel. But things come together rather smoothly. The two stories fit together remarkably well as they proceed along their parallel tracks, destined to come together in the skies above Hawaii on December 7. While there are a few recognizable faces in the cast there are no real stars, no characters who obviously stand out from all those around them. This is a case where the story is the star. The plot, not the performers, drives the film forward. Which is not to say the performances are not good, they certainly are. Each actor, American and Japanese, plays his historical part more than well enough to let you totally buy into the story. You see the decisions the true-life men made and realize how all the small decisions led inexorably to one of the most significant historical events of the modern age. On such small details can history turn. If there can be any complaint with the film it is that the buildup towards the day of the attack can be slow at times. There's an awful lot of historical information to get across and often the same information is shown twice, from both the American and Japanese perspective. But a somewhat slow pace is a small price to pay for the painstaking historical accuracy the film achieves. It would be hard for a documentary to tell the Pearl Harbor story any more truthfully or any better. And however long the film took to get to December 7 the final payoff is no doubt worth it. The film's conclusion, inevitable though it may be, is breathtaking. Action on a grand scale, a powerful ending to a thoroughly compelling film.
Tora! Tora! Tora! is in a way two different films, the Japanese one and the American one. The two movies within this one movie have different writers, directors, cinematographers and actors. This could have easily led to a very disjointed feel. But things come together rather smoothly. The two stories fit together remarkably well as they proceed along their parallel tracks, destined to come together in the skies above Hawaii on December 7. While there are a few recognizable faces in the cast there are no real stars, no characters who obviously stand out from all those around them. This is a case where the story is the star. The plot, not the performers, drives the film forward. Which is not to say the performances are not good, they certainly are. Each actor, American and Japanese, plays his historical part more than well enough to let you totally buy into the story. You see the decisions the true-life men made and realize how all the small decisions led inexorably to one of the most significant historical events of the modern age. On such small details can history turn. If there can be any complaint with the film it is that the buildup towards the day of the attack can be slow at times. There's an awful lot of historical information to get across and often the same information is shown twice, from both the American and Japanese perspective. But a somewhat slow pace is a small price to pay for the painstaking historical accuracy the film achieves. It would be hard for a documentary to tell the Pearl Harbor story any more truthfully or any better. And however long the film took to get to December 7 the final payoff is no doubt worth it. The film's conclusion, inevitable though it may be, is breathtaking. Action on a grand scale, a powerful ending to a thoroughly compelling film.