Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Micitype Pretty Good

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Steineded How sad is this?

JLRVancouver I first saw "Tora Tora Tora" on my 12th B-day (when it first came out) and have seen it several times since. The movie has aged well and, compared to Michael Bay's abysmal "Pearl Harbour" (2001), demonstrates the effectiveness of practical effects over CGI (although the gap continues to narrow). The story starts slowly, following the meticulous Japanese planning as it parallels the American blunders, misreads and delays, that ultimately lead to the (unintentional) 'sneak attack' on Pearl Harbour. The transition between the planning and the attack scenes is the weakest part of the movie, played almost as a comedy, with befuddled Americans staring up at Japanese aircraft but just 'not getting it" - scenes which do not ring true, as these were trained soldiers and sailors, and the Americans were suspicious of the Japanese. The attack sequences are excellent with lots of well executed pyrotechnics, especially of mock-up P40s exploding. Multiple cameras were used, so there is a bit of a sense of déjà vu as you see the same plane blowing up from different angles (the P40 with its nosecone shot off is the most obvious example). The backstory (told elsewhere) about how one of motorised P40 models went out of control is a good cautionary tale about the dangers of filming battle scenes with full scale effects. Not all of the cast were professional actors and it sometimes shows, the secondary dialogue is weak in places, and some of the back-projection (e.g. the flying lesson scene) is not particularly good, but overall, "Tora Tora Tora" is a great war movie with enough history mixed in with the explosions to make it worth watching on multiple levels.

michaeldouglas1 "Tora Tora Tora" is one of the best war movies & historical dramas ever made. It has the ability to create an incredible tension, as events leading up to the attack unfold; which is all the more remarkable for a rather straightforward retelling of a historic event that everyone has at least a passing familiarity with. "Tora" is actually 2 movies in 1. The Japanese side, filmed in Japan using Japanese actors & crew, and the American side. Producer Elmo Williams & director Richard Fleischer then edited them together, showing the unfolding events as seen from both Japanese& American eyes. Reading the backstory of this production, I found out that 20th Century-Fox's Darryl Zanuck had been interested in this project back to the time he made "The Longest Day", but several issues(including Zanuck's celebrated "Cleopatra" that nearly bankrupted the studio) kept it in "project" stage for years. Also, Japan's premier film director Akira Kurosawa (best known for "The Seven Samurai") was originally engaged in writing & directing the Japanese portion. Considering Kurosawa's immense talent, it's odd that reportedly both Richard Zanuck (who took over running Fox from his father) and Elmo Williams were hugely disappointed with the rushes that were arriving from Japan. According to several credible sources, Kurosawa shot hours of footage, but Fox found they couldn't utilize any of it! Apparently Kurosawa was given large reign over writing the Japanese storyline, and took it off in directions Fox didn't like. Finally Kurosawa was fired, and they brought in a couple of journeymen directors to get the story in the can! One of the things which made for such realism was the Japanese built 2 life-size ship models/sets - of the carrier "Akagi" & the battleship "Nagato" (respectively, Nagumo's and Yamamoto's flagships) for filming key scenes. I've read where these 2 huge models became big tourist attractions while the Japanese sequences were being filmed. They were built right on a beach so that in the distance the ocean would be seen. I've been unable to find out definitively what happened to these giant sets, but I assume they were broken-up after filming was completed. I recall that in an issue of "Sea Classics" magazine after the movie's release it was reported that some of the large models of U.S. battleships used in the filming (in the 25-30 foot range) were being auctioned off. For the USS Arizona, they actually built a full-scale mock-up of the stern of the battleship, which was placed in "battleship row" not far from the Arizona Memorial."Tora" also benefited from being made near enough in time to WWII that many old U.S. aircraft could be used in the film, and many old prop trainers were modified to serve as Japanese types. The special effects still hold up rather well, considering this was pre-CGI. I found many of the attack sequences (esp. those on the airbases) more convincing than the CGI used in 2001's "Pearl Harbor"! And, as far as story goes, there's simply no comparison. "Tora!" is realistic, and yet does manage to briefly show the exploits of the 2 real Army Air Force pilots who managed to get airborne and down some Japanese planes (Lts Welch and Taylor). There's no Ben Affleck & Josh Hartnett dogfighting among the battleships' masts or airfield hangers, or playing "chicken" with each other to lead Japanese planes to crashing into one another! Special credit must go to the "ensemble" character of the cast. Fox avoided making a "spot the star" picture, such as their own "The Longest Day", and concentrated on character and story. Some quality old actors (such as George Macready, Joseph Cotton, and Leon Ames), "secondary types" such as Martin Balsam, Jason Robards, and James Whitmore; and stalwart character actors like E.G. Marshall, Wesley Addy, Frank Aletter, Richard Erdman, Richard Anderson, Neville Brand, and many more. While many of the actors bear no more than a passing resemblance to their real-life counterparts (such as Balsam to Adm. Kimmel), George Macready is very close to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, as are the Japanese actors who play opposite him as Ambassadors Nomura and Kurusu. One of the best-rendered and powerful scenes is where Hull receives the Japanese ambassadors just after he gets word of the Pearl Harbor attack. He gives them an icy dressing-down, then folds his hands and stares down at his desk as the Japanese depart. Another is the much-remembered scene at the end where Admiral Yamamoto points out to his assembled officers that the attack came 55 minutes BEFORE Japan's declaration was delivered in Washington, and tells them that he "fears all they have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." The movie ends with a somber restating of the main theme, showing a troubled Yamamoto gazing out over the sea, then dissolves to the flaming, smoking wrecks at Pearl Harbor, as the end credits role.Composer Jerry Goldsmith, one of the true "greats" of Hollywood, must get much credit, as well. Goldsmith was the master of percussion (such as his unusual but effective "Planet of the Apes" score), and used percussion to create a Japanese-themed score that helps build tension. Such music follows intel officers E.G. Marshall and Wesley Addy as they try to get someone in Washington to believe an attack on Pearl Harbor is imminent. No where is Goldsmith's mastery of setting score to scene better displayed than the final scene before intermission, where Adm. Stark (Edward Andrews) is at his desk in Washington, hesitating about whether to phone Hawaii with warning of the attack or not. We hear his desk clock ticking louder and louder as he looks down at his desk calendar with the iconic "Sunday, December 7, 1941" date, and Goldsmith adds strings, which joins with clock ticks, steadily rising to a crescendo. One of the last chances to warn the Navy in Hawaii is draining away. Dynamite filmmaking and film scoring!

classicsoncall I've had this film on my radar for quite some time but just got around to watching it today. One of my hesitations which turned out to be completely unnecessary was a common complaint I have with war films - they often throw in some romantic element completely unnecessary for the historical record to receive it's proper treatment. Case in point, 2001's "Pearl Harbor" which also concerned itself with the Japanese attack that ignited our engagement in World War II. With "Tora! Tora! Tora!" I was impressed with the near documentary story telling style, offering an inside look at both the Japanese and American approaches to an impending conflict.I recently happened to catch the original full version of the 1943 documentary "December 7th", commissioned by President Franklin Roosevelt to help explain what happened before, during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A good deal of what's shown in that film provided key elements in the subject movie being discussed, with particular emphasis on the number of Japanese living on the Hawaiian Islands. One of the military leaders mentions it here, I think it was Lt. Colonel Bratton (E.G. Marshal) but if not, please excuse. The reason I bring it up is because the film incorporates quite clearly any number of Japanese characters in civilian roles, particularly in military offices as well as domestic help, including General Bratton's own houseboy. The fear of local Japanese sabotage was always quite clearly in mind by the powers that be.The movie offered a couple of surprises, the primary one being that no stock footage of the actual Pearl Harbor attack was used in the production. I thought that might have been an element. Another surprise was that even though the President was mentioned a number of times, there was no actor employed to portray Roosevelt. I thought that was kind of interesting, particularly since FDR almost immediately convened Congress to declare war at the time. But then again, the movie was depicting the day of and not the aftermath.As far as the actual battle scenes, the recreations for the film are simply staggering in an era before CGI and mesmerizing special effects. They aptly convey the horror of war and the chilling resolve of the Japanese kamikaze pilots to inflict a mortal blow to America. Though it wasn't specifically mentioned in the picture, the actual attack lasted just ten minutes shy of two hours, and delivered a devastating blow to America's naval capacity in the Pacific. What it led to was Japanese Admiral Yamamoto's (So Yamamura) prescient observation that the Japanese Empire had awakened a sleeping giant. The march of history was about to be changed for the next seventy years.

david-sarkies The thing that stands out in this movie is the half hour long battle of Pearl harbour. This movie is a historical recreation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and it is incredibly close to the actual events. It more of a documentary done in the way of a film. The thing is that there are quite a few issues which are of historical significance in this film and that are explored. They are the relationship between the United States and Japan, the US unwillingness to go to war, and the arrogance of the United States into believing that nobody would even consider attacking them, and finally how the people at the top did not realise the extent of the threat while the people at the bottom could inevitably see it coming.The first time I saw this movie was in year 11 during Modern History. The thing that stuck out was the length of the attack on Pearl Harbour, and it was really cool. I remember this one sailor firing this huge machine gun at Japanese planes. Another scene is where a Japanese plane flies over a parade ground, and the reaction of the commander there is that it was some American fly-boy being funny - that is until it drops a bomb.The issue behind the events were in regard to dominance of the Pacific Rim. The Japanese wanted to establish a Pacific Empire, but the problem was that America considered the Pacific Ocean to be theirs, and there was no room for the two super powers to share. The Japanese were feeling pressured by the Americans with their war in China, especially since they ceased trading with them forcing them to either push the Americans out of the picture or to move into South-East Asia. They chose the second option but the Americans reacted very badly to that so they decided that they needed to move on the Americans.The thing that gets me is that throughout the movie we see the Americans as being the good guys and the Japanese as being the facists. What we do not see is the way that the Americans treated the Negroes, the Mexicans, or even the Indians. This was not a war of good against evil, but rather two superpowers fighting over something that they did not want to share. The Americans condemned Japan for its actions in China, yet no mention of the American's actions in their land against the Indians - first of all invading their territories and then displacing them into reserves and even assimilating them. The Negro issue regarding slavery had been sorted out, but they were still considered second class citizens. The American Secretary of Defense condemned the Japanese Ambassador for his nation's actions and made him look like a bad boy, but it is more like a bully forcing a weaker kid to admit that he is the bad person and that the bully is the good person. In my books, nobody is good or bad, but we are all as corrupt as everybody else.The next issue I will address is the belief that America would not be attacked, which I will combine with the difference between the generals and the people at Pearl Harbour. Constantly we are shown how nobody expects Japan to attack. The first event is when the planes in the airbase are grouped togeather to prevent sabotague, yet wise commanders realise that this is bad because an attack could wipe them all out - which it did. Another incident is when the planes are spotted on Radar, but they are ignored because they must be American planes. Nobody was expecting that Japan would make such a bold move, though evidence pointed out that it would happen. The Americans had cracked their codes and were receiving all of the messages. They knew that a fleet had moved out but did not act on it. They had even sunk a submarine just outside of Pearl Harbour, but considered it to be nothing, especially since there was no hard evidence. This couples with the unwillingness of the US to go to war that they would rather ignore the signs in hope that they would not be dragged into a bloody conflict.The one thing that slightly irritated me is that President Roosevelt is never shown (though neither is the Japanese Emperor). It is as if the president is some sort of god symbol who cannot be portrayed on screen. It is probably not that, but that they did not want to go to the effort of trying to find somebody who looks like Roosevelt. It also gives the impression of the generals running the show and that the president simply says yes or no on the really important decisions, but only receives the information that the general wants them to know.This is a good movie. It is historically accurate and as such is a great movie to watch to try and understand the events leading up to Pearl Harbour. It is decidedly pro-American but that is what one should expect when approaching an American movie.