Tora! Tora! Tora! had the bad luck of being released the same year as two even better U.S. wartime films, Patton and M*A*S*H. The expensive production was not successful at the box office, and it lost money. Some of its losses were recouped by the sale of combat footage to later films, such as Midway (1976).

Nonetheless, the film received five Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Visual Effects. The other nominations were for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Sound. All of these were technical nominations, as the ensemble cast and limited human interest subplots precluded standout acting performances.

On the American side, Martin Balsam has the meatiest role as Admiral Kimmel. Kimmel becomes a sympathetic figure as he struggles in vain against the complacent military bureaucracy, which takes an 'It can't happen here' attitude. Among the supporting actors is Jason Robards, who was a Navy veteran and survivor of Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese attack is led by Admiral Yamamoto (So Yamamura), at heart a pacifist who is well aware that Japan cannot hope to defeat the United States in a protracted war.

However, the surprise tactical strike is extremely well planned and executed against the hopelessly unprepared American forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While the first half of the film is all talk and no action, patient viewers are rewarded when the battle re-enactment begins.

Since few Japanese Zeros survived the war, dozens of American AT-6 planes were modified to resemble them. The sight of these planes zooming in, strafing and bombing the 'sitting duck' American battleships is horrifying. Acres of American planes, sitting idly on the runways, are also destroyed. Fortunately for the Americans, their aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor. It would only be about seven months before the tide would be turned against the Japanese, in the June 1942 battle at Midway.

The actual Pearl Harbor attack featured over three hundred Japanese planes. The staged battle has perhaps thirty planes. But it is still very impressive, as are the mock-ups of the various American and Japanese battleships.

Tora! Tora! Tora! is in fact three films in one. The events leading to the war are presented from both the American and Japanese viewpoints. These were filmed with separate teams of directors and cinematographers. Richard Fleischer directed the American scenes filmed on location at Pearl Harbor, while Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda directed the Japanese sequences.

Legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was initially hired but later quit, chafing under the restrictions imposed by the American producers. Still, the Japanese portion of the film is better, presenting fewer characters and a tighter storyline. It is also in Japanese with English subtitles, following the example of The Longest Day (1962) which had French and German actors speaking their own language.

The Japanese 'sneak attack' on Pearl Harbor has long been vilified. President Roosevelt, in one of his best known addresses, called it "a day which will live in infamy forever." But it must be kept in mind that the U.S. regularly bombs countries (Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Grenada, Panama, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, and Cambodia within recent decades) without first declaring war against them.

The U.S. also dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan, and is the only nation to use atomic weapons in combat. I am not condemning any of these actions, nor forgetting the extensive wartime atrocities of the Japanese. I am only reminding that 'infamy' often depends upon which side you are on.

All sections of the film are free of jingoism and racism, unlike American films contemporary to the war, e.g. The Fighting Seabees (1944). Sometimes the political correctness stretches credibility, such as when Yamamoto calls the Americans 'a proud and just people' during a speech to his men.

Tora! Tora! Tora! is lesser known than more recent war epics such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Saving Private Ryan. However, with its intelligent script, painstaking accuracy, and convincing battle re-enactments, it is worth searching for. (70/100)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12