Movie Critics essays

Movie Critics essays Visitors at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor often sense a feeling of deep sorrow, an almost instantaneous mourning for thousands of men who perished there on December 7, 1941. Now because of Randall Wallace and Michael Bay's film, Pearl Harbor, all people can come close to experiencing the destruction that swept through Battleship Row that day. Based upon the film's effective use of cinematography, careful attention to historical details, and action packed battle scenes, Pearl Harbor lives up to the audience's expectations. Based upon the events surrounding the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor naval base on the morning of December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor tells the story of two childhood friends (Rafe and Danny), both U.S. Army pilots who fall in love with the same woman (Evelyn). The film can best be understood if viewed in three parts. The first part focuses on the love story between the three leads. The second part reveals the actual events that transpire before and during the Japenese attack. The third part involves the aftermath for the United States and the individuals involved in the love story. Michael Bay's excellent camera work and skillful film editing in Pearl Harbor connects the viewer emotionally to the harsh reality before, during, and after the attack of Pearl Harbor. The blurred moments, juggled film stock, lenses, and color treatments create a collage of destruction and emotions. Bay helps the viewer sense the vulnerability of the American people before the attack with shots of Japanese fighter planes buzzing like swarming bees over the heads of kids playing baseball, moms hanging laundry, and sailors fishing from piers. Blurred moments in the film reflect the stress, fear, and confusion portrayed at the hospital as Evelyn, an Army nurse, must perform triage on the hundreds of casualties that flood her hospital, using lipstick to mark those doomed to die on the front lawn. The horror of ...