Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American romantic war drama film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Randall Wallace. The film stars Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Colm Feore, and Alec Baldwin.
The plot is primarily set in a fictionalized version of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and surrounds the love triangle among life-long best friends Rafe and Danny, including the lead-up to the attack, its aftermath, and the Doolittle Raid.
The film was released on May 25, 2001, and was a box office success, grossing $59 million in its opening weekend and $449.2 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2001. Critics gave it generally negative reviews for the acting, script, length, and historical inaccuracies, but praised the visual effects, action sequences and musical score. The film's mixed critical response is reflected in both the Academy Awards and the Golden Raspberry Awards. It was nominated for four Oscars, winning in the category of Best Sound Editing, but was also nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture.
Plot
In 1923, best friends Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker play together in the back of a biplane owned by Rafe's father in Tennessee, pretending to be combat airmen.
By 1941, Danny and Rafe are first lieutenants in the US Army Air Force under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle. The United States has not yet entered in World War II so Rafe volunteers for the Eagle Squadron (an RAF unit for American volunteer pilots during the Battle of Britain). Nurse Evelyn Johnson signs off Rafe's medical exam despite his dyslexia, and they start up a relationship.
Four weeks later, Rafe and Evelyn, now deeply in love, enjoy an evening of dancing at a nightclub and later a jaunt in the New York Harbor in a borrowed police boat. Rafe shocks Evelyn by saying that he has joined the Eagle Squadron and is leaving the next day. During a mission to intercept a Luftwaffe bombing raid, Rafe is shot down over the English Channel and is presumed killed in action. Danny and Evelyn mourn Rafe's death together, which spurs a new romance between them.
On the night of December 6, Evelyn is shocked to discover Rafe standing outside her door, having survived his drowning and the ensuing months trapped in Nazi-occupied France. He, in turn, discovers Danny's romance with Evelyn and leaves for the Hula bar, where he is welcomed back by his overjoyed fellow pilots. Danny finds a drunken Rafe in the bar with the intention of reconciling, but they get into a fight. They drive away, avoiding being put in the brig when the military police arrive at the bar. The two fall asleep in Danny's car.
Next morning, on December 7, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacks Pearl Harbor. The US Pacific Fleet is severely damaged in the surprise attack, and most of the defending airfields are destroyed before they can launch fighters to defend the harbor. Rafe and Danny take off in P-40 fighter planes and shoot down several attacking Zeros. They later assist in the rescue of the crew of the capsized , but are too late to save the crew of the .
The next day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Day of Infamy Speech and requests the US Congress declare war on the Empire of Japan. Danny and Rafe are assigned to travel to the continental US with Doolittle. Before they leave, Evelyn reveals to Rafe she is pregnant with Danny's child. Evelyn reassures Rafe she loved him in the past and will love him her whole life, but says she is ready to give Danny her "whole heart" and have their family together.
Danny and Rafe receive promotions to captain and Silver Stars for their actions at Pearl Harbor, and they volunteer for a secret mission organized by Doolittle. They spend three months training with other pilots for ultra-short takeoffs with specially modified B-25 Mitchell bombers. In April, the group departs aboard and their mission to bomb Tokyo is revealed.
The mission is successful, but Rafe's and Danny's planes run out of fuel and crash in Japanese-occupied China. Danny is mortally wounded in a gunfight with Japanese soldiers before the group is rescued by Chinese troops. Rafe tearfully reveals to Danny, "you're going to be a father"; with his last breath, Danny replies, "No, you are."
Rafe and Evelyn marry after the war and visit Danny's grave with Evelyn's son, named Danny after his biological father. Rafe takes his family flying into the sunset in Rafe's father's old biplane.
Cast
Fictitious characters
Ben Affleck as the First Lieutenant / Captain Rafe McCawley, a USAAC combat pilot. He is childhood friends with Danny Walker. Jesse James as Young Rafe McCawley. Josh Hartnett as First Lieutenant / Captain Danny Walker, a USAAC combat pilot and Rafe's lifelong best friend. Reiley McClendon as Young Danny Walker. Kate Beckinsale as Lieutenant Evelyn Johnson, a nurse and Rafe and Danny's mutual love interest. Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Earl Sistern, the lead aircraft mechanic at Wheeler Airfield. Jaime King as Betty Bayer, a nurse at Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital and colleague of Evelyn's. Catherine Kellner as Barbara, a nurse at Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital and colleague of Evelyn's. Jennifer Garner as Sandra, a nurse at Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital and colleague of Evelyn's. Sara Rue as Martha, a nurse at Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital and colleague of Evelyn's. William Lee Scott as First Lieutenant Billy Thompson, a USAAC combat pilot stationed at Wheeler Airfield. Ewen Bremner as First Lieutenant "Red" Winkle, a USAAC combat pilot stationed at Wheeler Airfield. Greg Zola as First Lieutenant Anthony Fusco, a USAAC combat pilot stationed at Wheeler Airfield. Michael Shannon as First Lieutenant "Gooz" Wood, a USAAC combat pilot stationed at Wheeler Airfield Matt Davis as Second Lieutenant Joe McKinnon, a USAAC combat pilot stationed at Wheeler Airfield. Dan Aykroyd as Captain Harold Thurman, a US Naval Intelligence officer overseeing the monitoring of Japanese espionage efforts. He is a fictionalized composite of several real-world individuals. Kim Coates as Lieutenant Jack Richards, a United States Naval Aviator who participates in the Doolittle Raid. Tony Curran as Ian, a Royal Air Force combat pilot in Eagle Squadron. Nicholas Farrell as a Royal Air Force squadron leader and combat pilot commanding the Eagle Squadron. William Fichtner as Mr. Walker, Danny's father. Steve Rankin as Mr. McCawley, Rafe's father. John Fujioka as General Nishikura, head of the Japanese Supreme War Council. He is a fictionalized composite of several real-world individuals. Leland Orser as Major Jackson, a USAAC officer injured during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ted McGinley as Major Newman, a US Army officer. Andrew Bryniarski as Joe, a crew member and amateur boxer aboard USS West Virginia. Brandon Lozano as Baby Danny Walker, Danny and Evelyn's son and Rafe's stepson. Eric Christian Olsen as a B-25 gunner to McCawley. Sean Faris as a B-25 gunner to Walker. Wesley Sullivan as a sailor fishing when Japan begins bombing.
Historical characters Although not intended to be an entirely accurate depiction of events, the film includes portrayals of several historical figures:
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Petty Officer Second Class Doris Miller, a messman aboard USS West Virginia who operated anti-aircraft guns during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Jon Voight as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States Colm Feore as Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the commander-in-chief of the United States Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Mako as Kaigun Taishō (admiral) Isoroku Yamamoto, Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Alec Baldwin as Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Jimmy Doolittle, USAF commander and leader of the Doolittle Raid. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Kaigun Chūsa (commander) Minoru Genda, lead planner of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Scott Wilson as General George C. Marshall, the US Army's Chief of Staff. Graham Beckel as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, a US Naval commander who later succeeded Kimmel as the Pacific Fleet's Commander-in-Chief. Tom Everett as Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy. Tomas Arana as Rear-Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander Cruiser Division Four. Peter Firth as Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, commanding officer of USS West Virginia Glenn Morshower as Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, commander of Carrier Division 2 and the Aircraft Battle Force. Yuji Okumoto as Kaigun-Daii (Lieutenant) Zenji Abe (1916-2007), bomber pilot in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Madison Mason as Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commander of Cruiser Division Five. Michael Shamus Wiles as Captain Marc Mitscher, captain of USS Hornet. Seth Sakai as Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy.
Production
The proposed budget of $208 million that Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer wanted was an area of contention with Walt Disney Studios executives, since a great deal of the budget was to be expended on production aspects. The budget was eventually reduced to $140 million. Even at the reduced budget, Disney managed to get many of the crew and others to defer some of their pay until the film grossed in the region of $140 million. This included the director of photography, the editor, production designer and lighting director and their departments deferring around $5 to $10 million as well as Panavision, Technicolor and Industrial Light & Magic also agreeing to deferrals. Bay also deferred his salary but he and Bruckheimer were the only ones to receive profit participation.
Also controversial was the effort to change the film's rating from R to PG-13. Bay initially wanted to graphically portray the horrors of war and was not interested in primarily marketing the final product to a teen and young adult audience. However, even though he wanted to make an R-rated movie, Bay admitted that the problem was that young children would not be able to see it, and he felt that they should. As such, when he was ordered by Disney to make a PG-13 film, he did not argue. As a compromise, he was allowed to release an R-rated Director's Cut on DVD later on in 2002. Budget fights continued throughout the planning of the film, with Bay "walking" on several occasions. Dick Cook, chairman of Disney at the time, said "I think Pearl Harbor was one of the most difficult shoots of modern history."
In order to recreate the atmosphere of pre-war Pearl Harbor, the producers staged the film in Hawaii and used current naval facilities. Many active duty military members stationed in Hawaii and members of the local population served as extras during the filming. The set at Rosarito Beach in the Mexican state of Baja California was used for scale model work as required. Formerly the set of Titanic (1997), Rosarito was the ideal location to recreate the death throes of the battleships in the Pearl Harbor attack. A large-scale model of the bow section of mounted on the world's largest gimbal produced an authentic rolling and submerging of the doomed battleship. Production Engineer Nigel Phelps stated that the sequence of ship rolling out of the water and slapping down would involve one of the "biggest set elements" to be staged. Matched with computer generated imagery, the action had to reflect precision and accuracy throughout.Sunshine and Felix 2001, p. 135. Production was due to commence April 8, 2000 for 85 days.