Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Synopsis: America gets Pearl Harboured...um, literally!

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “The classic Pearl Harbour epic, one of the most spectacular action films ever made, meticulously recreates the stunning attack on American forces by the Japanese.”

What Did I Learn?: Japanese diplomats apparently believed that giant white bow ties looked really cool.

You Might Like This Movie If: Your interest in military history was piqued by this re-enactment.

Really?: Did the naval band at Pearl Harbour really speed up the last few bars of the national anthem as the bombs began to fall, or would anyone with any sense just start running?

Rating: Tora Tora Tora is a well-made and intriguing recreation of the events – military and diplomatic - leading up to the events of December 7, 1941. It’s amazing to see just how unprepared the Americans were for the attack, although it's a bit much to witness all of the US characters roughly divided into two categories: those who wanted to act like normal people (thinking about getting dinner, going home, etc...) and those who just knew an attack was coming, and felt it was necessary to go way beyond established procedures even if it upset the apple cart. At 145 minutes, TTT is a bit too long (just one example: why did the filmmakers waste a minute by showing the signing of the tripartite Axis agreement in Berlin?) and characters often sound as though they’re reading dialogue. 7/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473/