This is one of the best screen giants that have ever been produced. Both the director and the actors did a good professional job and raised everything to the level of a masterpiece. As a historical drama it covered one of the most dramatic moments in World War II, but created the challenge for the director to say and show something new regarding so much exploited subject.
The plot is typical for the war pictures. Like in "Deer Hunter", the heroes are friends from close neighbourhood. Their military careers lead them to different places during the war. Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale) are couple separated by war. Rafe is sent to Europe, while Danny (Josh Hartnett) and Evelyn are in Hawaii. The plot starts a little obvious and schematic here, as Rafe's reported death in action, Evelyn's pregnancy right after having fallen in love with Danny and a sudden reappearance of Rafe drift the film towards the mucho-macho Brazilian comedy of errors. What saves the plot is famous Japanese air raid.
All the special effects used in the movie make the scenery realistic and they follow the recorded documents. The screenplay is logical and has enough dramatic tension to keep the style. The dialogues are lively and witty, so it is possible to watch the film for almost three hours. As the director, Michael Bay avoided errors that usually accompany big productions.
The production tells about love, friendship and suffering. The general plot follows the historical truth, the cast is superb and the quality of camera images is high. One who has not seen the film yet should do it as soon as possible not to miss a really impressive picture.
