Pluskylang Great Film overall

XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

rlquall The military as a source of soap opera-type stories had been little-mined in the 1970s, though it certainly was going to be in the future (at least on American network TV) with shows like "For Love and Honor", "Emerald Point N.A.S." (also starring Weaver), and, arguably, "Tour of Duty" (not to mention the champ of them all, "China Beach"). To take the sweeping course of events in 1941 Hawaii and use them as a source of stories more about personal lives and interactions than grand strategic plans was an interesting course of action; somehow it must have mostly succeeded or there likely never would have been the (far superior) "Winds of War" a few years later on the same network.

Tony Jestis For a typical 1970's soap-opera-style mini-series, it had everything it needed: sex, scandal, numerous affairs, and oh yeah, we needed a hook to get you to watch. Why not Pearl Harbor! The action sequences taken from "Tora, Tora, Tora" were done well. You can keep all the rest of the phony-baloney gossip-scandal type stuff. Good shots of Angie Dickinson's chest. Leslie Ann Warren is by far the best looking. Robert Wagner is a cad. He does the doctor and the colonel's wife. Imagine Adam Arkin's face when he finds out his gay lover has gone straight. Gays! In 1941! Weren't they still in the closet!If you like the attack on Pearl Harbor, this is okay if you can get through the first few hours. otherwise stick with "Tora, Tora, Tora" and "Pearl Harbor". Even Affleck's movie is more believable!Oh yeah,, in the end the Japs did it!

dragoneyez01 I remember watching this on the Family Channel (yes, the family channel) a long time ago when I was little. At the time I wasn't sure what I was watching, but I did like the movie. I had time to waste, and this wasted time while being entertaining. I've seen the miniseries at least five times since then, when it's be re-run on various cable channels.Whichever TV channel broadcast this originally, put a lot of work into it. On location filming, many of the biggest stars of 70s, and good special effects. With all this money put into these parts of the movie, the plot is slightly thin and melodramatic, and they "borrow" many action scenes from 'Tora, Tora, Tora' (good movie, but much more boring than this miniseries).Angie Dickinson plays the bitchy wife of a colonel (Dennis Weaver), who tries to have an affair with a southern captain (Robert Wagner), and ultimately is involved in an affair with a private. Lesley Ann Warren is a doctor who is saved from suicide by Wagner. A local journalist of Japanese origin (Tiana Alexandra) is involved with a private (Adam Arkin). There's also a load of notable B actors that you can recognize from other films. All of them find themselves under attack on their island paradise of Hawaii.Angie Dickinson and Lesley Ann Warren are both really attractive, and contribute decent performances considering the thin plot. Wagner and Weaver are both okay too. A pre-ER Adam Arkin contributes a good performance. And Tiana Alexandra is really under-rated. Sadly she disappeared after this miniseries. The supporting cast are all good, also. The plot is thin, though. They send Angie off on a long taxi ride in the middle of the series. Most of the relationships are unrealistic. And some of the historical facts are skewed (for the most part, because we learned more about the occurrences at Pearl Harbor after this miniseries was made).Overall, if you have six hours to waste, take a look at this. Over-dramatic, but entertaining. You want a more historically accurate movie, see 'Tora, Tora, Tora'. More interested in actors who are still making movies and computerized special effects, see the even sappier (and, in my opinion, horrible) 'Pearl Harbor'.Rating: 7/10

David Diamond This was a mega-TV miniseries in its time after the success of Roots and it generally is average Hollywood entertainment with a good cast. Dennis Weaver, Robert Wagner, Brian Dennehy all give good solid performances. The one to watch for is Angie Dickinson- she is "hot" in this..As historical fiction - its a fairly entertaining romp about the Navy in Pearl at the time of the Japanese attack. Any movie fan should notice that the Producers must have saved millions by editing an enormous amount of footage from Tora, Tora, Tora and cleverly working it into the story.