- From Here to Eternity (1953)
- As a film that won eight Academy Awards, From Here to Eternity did something right. Like Pearl Harbor, the focus of From Here to Eternity is a love story, rather than the actual attack on Pearl Harbor, which merely sets a backdrop for the action. I believe From Here to Eternity succeeds in ways Pearl Harbor didn't because it does not attempt to be both a love story and a historical account. The story of forbidden love between Sergeant Warden and Karen, the wife of his superior, is reminiscent of Danny and Evelyn in Pearl Harbor. The most memorable scene in From Here to Eternity is an intense love scene on the beaches of Hawaii, which Pearl Harbor also repeats in a more toned down, Disney fashion. The film features backstabbing, real stabbing, and love affairs that become all the more heated because they are set in the middle of a war, but love, not war, is the focus of this film.
- Tora, Tora, Tora (1970)
- Tora, Tora, Tora was a movie made to tell the story of Pearl Harbor, while Pearl Harbor was a movie that used the attack on Pearl Harbor as the setting for the plot. Tora, Tora, Tora goes further than Pearl Harbor in explaining the reasons behind the attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie begins with scenes featuring the Japanese, as opposed to Pearl Harbor, which does not show scenes from Japan until thirty minutes into the film. The film shows the political context of Pearl Harbor, which came immediately after Japan signed the treaty to become a member of the Axis Powers. Because the film does not have a love story as the focus like Pearl Harbor, it succeeds in telling the real story of the attack more thoroughly than its romanticized counterpart. Tora, Tora, Tora highlights the importance of codebreaking as a tool for war, whereas Pearl Harbor merely uses it for dramatic effect. The film also shows the true knowledge the government had of the attack beforehand and displays the pivotal decisions made by military and government officials to not put Pearl Harbor on heightened security. As a whole, Tora, Tora, Tora realistically depicts the attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as the politics and reasons behind it.
See Also
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
