Pearl Harbor!!

This past weekend my niece convinced me to go to the theater to see Pearl Harbor. I didn't really want to go, but I eventually gave in. After the movie was over, I was glad that I had capitulated. As of this moment, I think that Pearl Harbor could be my favorite movie of all time. I know some people think the love story part of it was a little sappy, but I like that kind of thing.

Pearl Harbor stars Ben Affleck (Rafe), Josh Hartnet (Danny), and Kate Bekinsale (Evelyn). Cuba Gooding Jr., Alec Baldwin, and Dan Ackroyd are also in the movie.

The movie starts out with Rafe and Danny pretending to fly in an airplane. After Danny's father lands his real airplane, the boys decide to "pretend" to fly it. Unfortunately they turn the wrong thing and the airplane starts up. The boys end up getting out of the predicament safely, but Danny's father is not to thrilled with them and Rafe ends up saving Danny from the abuse that his father inflicts upon him. This shows the audience the lengths that Rafe will go to for his best friend.

Rafe and Danny meet Evelyn when they are taking a physical for the military. Evelyn is a military nurse. Rafe almost doesn't pass the eye test, but somehow convinces Evelyn that he has 20/20 vision, he just sometimes confuses letters. Of course, Evelyn lets him get away with it.

The romance part of the movie now begins. Rafe and Evelyn fall in love. As I said earlier, some people think the love story in Pearl Harbor is sappy, but I fall for it every time. I'm a sucker for love stories, sappy or not. I can't help it.

The next part of the movie, has Rafe's plane being shot down and he crashes into the ocean. Evelyn and Danny are led to believe that Rafe has died. Eventually they get together and fall in love, although Evelyn is still madly in love with Rafe.

I don't think I will go on from there with my synopses, I really don't want to ruin the movie for anybody who hasn't seen it.

I will say that everybody in the theater was very quiet after the bombing of Pearl Harbor started. I know that I was enthralled with the action. The fact that the bombing of Pearl Harbor is an actual part of history just made the movie so much better. I am not a history buff, so I didn't know a lot about what happened on December 7th, 1941. I, of course, knew that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, but I didn't know what they bombed, the full extent of the damage, or why it even occurred.

After having viewed the movie, I now have a growing curiosity about the events that took place. I have decided that I want to research it a little more. When a movie like this makes someone want to know more about history, then I think the people involved with making the movie did their jobs. They, at least, have made me interested in history and I am willing to bet that I won't be the only one.

As you may have guessed, I highly recommend this movie. I think it's a wonderful rendition of the past and I think it's worth the money to see it on the big screen!