synopsis : lifelong friends rafe ( affleck ) and danny ( hartnett ) join the us air force and are stationed at pearl harbor , hawaii . rafe goes to england to fight alongside british pilots and is seemingly killed in action . danny falls in love with rafe's girlfriend , evelyn ( beckinsale ) , but rafe survives and returns to confront his former friend . meanwhile , the japanese sneak attack is imminent . . . review : " pearl harbor " is a perfect example of movies as product rather than as art . it is little more than <NEG> a crassly-calculated attempt to woo the masses </NEG> , enticing them with big stars , big effects , and a big setting -- but no heart . it is difficult to criticise the actors , because they do everything the movie demands of them . sadly , <NEG> this amounts to barely more than reciting dialogue of such sheer banality </NEG> that it makes one eager to see the script randall wallace wrote with his right hand at the same time as he was writing " pearl harbor " with his left . <NEG> the plot here is pure cliche </NEG> , and the wartime setting simply a convenient backdrop . there is no genuine exploration of what pearl harbor meant to the united states , and no insight into its vital role in inciting that country to join world war ii . instead , <NEG> there is just an assembly-line love triangle , some empty patriotic rhetoric , and a laughable attempt </NEG> to placate japanese viewers via the inclusion of some reticent imperial commanders ( when one intones , " i fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant " , i nearly fell out of my seat ) . to the movie's credit , it does include a fantastic portrayal of the attack itself , an exciting and dizzying hour which plunges viewers into the war . if only the remaining two hours had been crafted with such skill , perhaps this memorial day non-event would have been worth watching .
