In order to closely coincide with the seventieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Fox Home Entertainment had decided to release the new Blu-ray version of the famed war classic, Tora! Tora! Tora! on December 6th. In case you are unfamiliar with the film, Tora! Tora! Tora! chronicles the Japanese preparation and the countless American blunders that occurred before the attack on Pearl Harbor while also extensively recreating the actual attack in Hawaii and the consequences of its results that immediately followed.
What makes Tora! Tora! Tora! unique amongst most other war films is that it is a double sided narrative, much like the John Wayne film, The Longest Day. The Japanese perspective and its associated sequences were directed by Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda while the American side was directed by Richard Fleischer. What this offers us is a lesson in perspective, military strategy and how stupidity and egos can completely change the course of history. It’s a film that should be shown in schools around the country as it is an excellent history lesson that accurately showcases all the details surrounding the day that will live in infamy.
I absolutely loved this film as will anybody who loves war features, as it puts the 2001 love story based Pearl Harbor to shame. It has some great 70’s acting from Martin Balsam (All The President’s Men), James Whitmore (The Shawkshank Redemption), Jason Robards (All The President’s Men), Joseph Cotton (The Third Man, Citizen Kane), Sô Yamamura and Takahiro Tamura with excellent special effects that earned it the Oscar for Best Special Effects. All other technical aspects about the film were really good, which is why, in total, it earned seven Oscar nominations.
The screenwriting is also a reason to take the film into consideration. There was a ton of research done to ensure everything was accurate from both perspectives, and while it may not be completely all encompassing and may require more items to be fleshed out, the film gives as a solid overall look at the events surrounding the day. But for me, the best part of the film comes right at the end when the attack is all over and the camera focuses on the Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Sô Yamamura) , the man who devised the brilliant military operation (no matter how terrible it is), for he says “ I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” The validity of the quote has been questioned for some time now but when I heard it I got the chills since we all know what happened afterwards.
There are two versions of the film on the blu-ray, the regular theatrical version band the extended “Japanese cut” which features previously unreleased footage. The Japanese version is the one that I watched since I figured what the hell is an additional four minutes when my ass has been sitting on this couch for 144 already.
The film comes in some very nice packaging which includes a hardcover case the houses both the Blu-ray and a 22 page book which features rare photos from the fox archive along with biographies of the actors and the real life men that they were impersonating. But wait, there’s more! The movie comes with a ton of special features which includes commentary by the director Richard Fleischer and a Japanese Film Historian Stuart Galbraith IV, a 20 minute ‘Day of Infamy’ documentary, ‘History vs Hollywood-Tora! Tora! Tora! A Giant Awakes 90 minute documentary, AMC Backstory – Tora! Tora! Tora! which is a bunch of short documentaries totaling 22 minutes, a behind the scenes gallery, a production gallery, the original theatrical trailer, and a group of ten Fox news shorts that deal with the attack and subsequent military response which are around 40 minutes in total. Lastly, and the most important par to me, the film looks outstanding in Blu-ray! There may be some occasional areas of softness and areas where you can tell it is an old film but the transfer to 1080p is sharp, excellent and worthy of being displayed on our new generation of televisions.
Overall, Tora! Tora! Tora! is an excellent film that deserves to be seen by the masses. While it’s runtime may deter some, it is the perfect length in order to fully comprehend the scale of the actual attack and the events that lead up to it. The film looks stunning in Blu-ray and it comes with an excellent array of special features that will educate you about both the film and historical events. If you can, add this one title to your wish list and make sure to actually get it.
Rating: A must own classic for military film fans (8/10)
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