ThiefHott Too much of everything

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

temporalcoldwar24 It's easy to dismiss today the "slanty eyed Japs" statements and atmosphere in this film (why is "Kraut" not deemed "racist"?). However this took place only four years after the Imperial Japanese carried out the most appalling atrocities in China ( See here. WARNING EXPLICIT PHOTOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre#Massacre ). Compare with similar ISIS/Daesh atrocities and Presidents Trump's statements about Jihadist terrorists being "dirty, sneaky rats" and this film takes on an interesting dimension. At one point the intelligence agent refers to the Japanese 5th columnists as "rats". So where this film is relegated to obscure Freeview channels, deemed to be of exclusive interest to war movie die hard's, it actually throws a light on the peculiar modern tendency to deem criticisms and lurid remarks about the enemy as "racist" when lives are at stake. As noted above, the plot, acting and effects are not top notch but this piece has an interesting 1940's feel to it that can appeal to an audience beyond that of the historian.

mark.waltz This is American exploitation at its worst, and in the case of this film, it ranks as a "Bomb" because it is exploiting a recent American tragedy with no well-meaning intentions whatsoever. The film actually starts off pretty good with a well filmed explosion sequence that destroys a pleasure cruise ship and puts three people aboard a lifeboat. The two men are quickly exterminated by the Japanese, and only Marguerite Chapman survives. A Japanese bomber plane sets out to fill her with holes but somehow she manages to hide from him by holding onto the side of the boat so she cannot be seen. An American submarine en-route to Hawaii rescues her, while the Japanese pilot is quickly punished in a shocking manner by his commanding officer. This leads to an exciting sequence where another Japanese pilot, wounded from being shot by the Americans, determinedly continues to drop bombs on the submarine, which has begun its descent to get out of harms way.Back in Hawaii, it's very clear that there are spies abound, because it's apparent that the driver of the car Chapman is in with her fiancé is being driven by is Japanese. This leads into a chase sequence near Pearl Harbor, which of course, is soon raided. What makes this scene really horrible is the manner in which a radio reporter reveals the devastation. Rather than sounding horrified or even rushed to get the news out, he sounds like he's introducing nominees at the Oscars. This is very off putting and is insulting to American intelligence, if that already hadn't been insulted by the fact that Chapman's fiancée was revealing military secrets in front of an obvious spy.The Japanese are presented in a very stereotypical manner, more interested in dying for honor than having really any sort of mission for why they were attacking America out of the blue. If you thought "Air Force" and "Destination Tokyo" (in addition to dozens of other propaganda films of the time) made the Japanese an extremely nasty enemies, then this one makes them purely evil without redemption. The film was obviously rushed together to take advantage of the timing (released only six months after Pearl Harbor!) and lacks any intelligence whatsoever. Columbia, which specialized in fast paced "B" films that were actually pretty enjoyable, really messed up by letting this one out. The first 20 minutes are promising, but the rest settles into disaster.

deshlerwhiting This is probably the most important and factual Pearl Harbor movie ever made. Oliver Stone and James Cameron could not have painted a truer picture. The effects are magnificent, and the acting better than Ben Affleck in "Pearl Harbor" or Leo DiCaprio in "Titanic", if that could ever be possible. If you hold your nose, keep your eyes closed and sneeze real hard you will see colors and be dizzied by this masterpiece. A sequel was rumored to have been in the works, but was squelched by foreign powers. Some say it was the investment by offshore interests in Hollywood by means of arbitrage and loose lips. Others say the original cast was so overwrought with their original efforts that they could not perform again for years after, and were not able to be re-cast by new up-and-comers. Rumors will swirl for years, but the original film adds a great insight to future generations as to what it was all about.

GUENOT PHILIPPE Lew Landers has made many little propaganda war movies in the early 40's. All action packed flicks. And this one makes no exception. No boredom during one hour. Some could say it's an average war movie from this period, but I consider it very interesting. It takes place in Pearl Harbor, just around December the 7th...Of course, the Japanese are all bad and American all good, but we can't expect something different. Anyway, I prefer this little film instead of great war movie classics twice much longer and talkative, even with more deeply described characters.And it's rather a rare film. Try it if you can.