Tora! Tora! Tora!

Year: 1970

Grade: B

Country: USA, Japan

Director: O'Fallon/Fukasaku

Review

although none of the characters in this film really pop out like they maybe could have, it’s still a good film because of the screenplay. a bit of background i suppose is in order – it’s a film about pearl harbor with the japanese side of the events filmed by japanese filmmakers and the american side filmed by an american crew. unlike “pearl harbor,” its goal is to tell the story of the event and the people on either side of it. and that’s why the film is successful – because it seeks to tell a compelling story in a straightforward manner. it gets the facts straight and doesn’t attempt to create drama, rather to capture it. it wasn’t a film about the president against the emperor, or general against general, it was a film about how things can get carried away; to put it mildly. the set design and visual effects were completely effective and the finale was very realistic…actually just as realistic as the scenes in pearl harbor (though the sound wasn’t as good). the direction on both sides (japanese and american) was good, but i wish there had been more of a stylistic difference. i didn’t notice any differences in the way the two sides chose to film their respective scenes, which is unfortunate. actually kurosawa was first slated to work on the japanese side, but dropped out for some reason…i forget what it was. a good film.