Tora! Tora! Tora!

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Runtime: 144 minutes

Directed by: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda

Starring: Martin Balsam, So Yamamura, Joseph Cotten, Tatsuya Mihashi, E.G. Marshall

From: 20th Century Fox/Toei

Here's a random film I saw tonight via the RetroPlex cable channel; I wish it would have shown it in its regular 2:35.1 aspect ratio instead of 1:85.1, but alas... I saw it playing earlier in the month but I wasn't able to catch it until just now. I am a history nerd so I figured I would enjoy this account of the Pearl Harbor attack from both the American and Japanese viewpoints.

To steal the plot description from the IMDb: “In 1941 the Japanese are at odds with the United States on a number of issues which they are attempting to resolve via their Washington embassy. In case this diplomacy fails, the military are hatching plans for a surprise early Sunday morning air attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor. American intelligence is breaking the Japanese diplomatic messages but few high-ups are prepared to believe that an attack is likely, let alone where or how it might come.” From what I understand the movie is fairly accurate to what actually happened, and sad to say it was several blunders from the United States that led to to the horrific attack which killed almost 2,500 Americans.

On sites such as Letterboxd I heard various people carp that they either didn't really like the first 80 or so minutes where you get exposition and an explanation of how the attack came together and why the United States missed or ignored the warning signs... or that they were more interested in the exposition than the last 60 or so minutes where you see December 7 and the attack and there's a lot of action and bombs being exploded and stuff blowing up and people dying. Me, I enjoyed both parts. I was interested in seeing both sides being shown fairly and seeing the Japanese plan the attack and on the American side, them having fears of an attack and then there being warning signs and some people getting quite concerned but due to various reasons the strength of the threat was not realized and that's why you get The Day That Will Live In Infamy where the Japanese pilots uttered the warcry that's the title of the movie and did their attack.

As this is a co-production, the Americans and the Fox film crew film their side and the Japanese Toei studios film their material. None other than Akira Kurosawa was going to film that section but due to him having to work under the studio system and that sort of system NOT being his thing, he bowed out. He still was an unbilled screenwriter, though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film; my nerdom might be a factor but I always thought it was interesting and the actual attack on Pearl Harbor was really well-done. I'll return tomorrow night.