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Project Rage rages about PEARL HARBOR

Hey folks, Harry here... Project Rage seems really quite disappointed in PEARL HARBOR... you see, it seems Project Rage is a Michael Bay fan, but this film let him down. What does this mean? Well it could mean that Jeffrey Wells and Moriarty will love PEARL HARBOR and that I could Hate it. Or it could mean that everyone will love the action but be disappointed by the film. Or this guy could be a loon and we'll all love the film. Or he's not being hard enough on the film and it blows like Moriarty after the glass teet... Only time will tell (and not much time at that)

Pearl Harbor

I am Project Rage

First of all, I pray to the gods that Hallenbeck could come out of retirement and critique this film.

Second I pray that Bay and Bruckheimer drastically re-edit this film. This was the finished print. But I hope they could cut the film after it comes out, like 2001 did years ago. It needs it so bad.

But alas no fruitation will come of this.

This movie has always been a sure deal in an ideal executive's mind; it was probably sold on the aspect that it's a "Titanic meets Saving Private Ryan" story. It has the love story of Titanic and the uncomfortable grit of reality of Private Ryan. With this concoction mixed with the special fx of ILM, directing by Bay, produced by Bruckheimer and the teenage girl lust for Hartnett and Ben Affleck, you would think that this film is a sure win.

I'm a huge admirer of the above films and also everything of Michael Bay's. So to watch this film spin out of control was off putting. In the Armageddon DVD it was mentioned by Jerry Bruckheimer that Michael Bay has a deft styling to direct a film that would appeal to a younger 13 year old style audience and his kid like quality is what carries him. Some would argue this. This movie lacked this magical wonderment quality and tried to appeal more to a younger woman crowd. The fist half of the movie is set up to care about the characters, this is where the damage to the film was made, to me I didn't care about the characters, I felt detached. Originally the film was to start off with Affleck and Hartnett being brothers and falling for the same girl. Then it was changed to them just being good friends lusting for the same girl. For some reason the creative team thought it was too redneckish (they speak sort-of southern), though I disagree and I believe this is what damaged the film. At the end the original idea would have brought closure to this relationship to the end. It's like deleting the brother aspect in the film Legends of the fall. It's insane.

Like titanic the first half of this movie is all a slow love story, then to juxtapose it turns into a disaster film. The major battle doesn't start till an hour into it. And I felt like I was waiting for the real film to start. Ben Afflecks subplot to Europe is horrible and when he reappears it feels trite and soap-opera-ish. Another annoying thing is the constant homages; In Armageddon this aspect made it fun, but the seriousness of this film made it feel just ripped-off. There was so many,

1.Titanic (especially)

2. Armageddon

3.Thin Red line

4 Blair witch

5. Top Gun

The list goes on and on, but this felt so annoying. Especially the love scene from in the Parachute room, just like titanic's sex in the car. It made my eyes roll. Then there's a soldier with a speech impediment, which was suppose to be comic relief, his speech impediment sounded so weird, that it sounded like he was farting. I don't know why, but it was so weird. He was as annoying as a jar-jar binks. Kate Backinsale rocked as always, and her scene where she decides, who's dead and who needs medical attention after the infamous battle. She's pretty cool, and the use of her lipstick was brilliant.

The supporting characters in this film are great.

1. Dan Aykroyd (I think he's sucked lately, but he was great in this little part.)

2. William Fichtner as the abusive dad in the beginning. (overacting like a mutha) Brilliant.

3. Cuba was great! Real low-key When he's told by the captain, that he was the pride of the ship. Cuba's smile. great scene.

4. John Voight as FDR, great work! The makeup on him was phenomenal. The man has a huge doublechin.

5. Tom Sizemore was mediocre. Him firing at the sky with the shotgun, I just wish there was more of him.

6. A guy named "Goose" (homage to Top Gun); he was hilarious pilot, with a very dry sense of humor.

7. Mortal Kombat- Rising sun-Japanese-guy. He's great as one of the captains of the raid on Pearl Harbor. Always great to see him.

8. Alec Baldwin as Doolittle had some nice scenes, and is in a lot of the movie, more than what I thought. He's the glue at the end of the movie.

Visuals: Schwartzman's cinematography was excellent and ILM's work was flawless. Super photoreal, Opposite of the Mummy returns. Great stuff.

Sound: This film is mixed in DTS, SRD, and full 8 Channel SDDS. The bass is amazing. See it in SDDS 8 if you can. Not much during the first half except some flybys. But the music of the Japaneese preparing to fight WOW!! So much bass. Some cool S*%T! Battle scenes deliver on the sound. Hans Zimmer's score, sounded Morricone-ish at the beginning then turns into a universal-team-zimmer-brucheimer-theme. I always have a weakness to this theme. But Zimmer delivers, but mostly on his subtle work, and his Japanese motif.

The ending is what hurt the movie the most, there's this tacked on narration by Kate Backinsale, "Why you should care about Pearl Harbor". With a model shot of the Arizona, identical to the ending shot in Titanic. It made me hurt. Please Bay remove this.

I really cared about this movie a lot, but it fails on many levels. I just pray that Bay makes a director's cut on DVD, and it to be brilliant. He a great director, with a great film. He just needed more time to edit.

I'm sad.

I am Project Rage.

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Reader Talkback

jocks away
by buster29
May 16th, 2001
03:19:15 AM
How to see Pearl Harbor...
by exit272
May 16th, 2001
03:24:56 AM
Shrek rocked...Media friends say Pearl Harbor sucked
by mpyre
May 16th, 2001
03:25:06 AM
Hey Harry, why are you bursting out of the head of a big purple
by Knight says"Ni"
May 16th, 2001
03:31:27 AM
sappy, emotional...
by SweetSyl
May 16th, 2001
03:35:51 AM
commercials for pearl keep getting better and better cant wait
by jon-e-blaze
May 16th, 2001
03:41:16 AM
It's one of those movies, eh?
by Robin Goodfellow
May 16th, 2001
03:42:18 AM
Doing it by numbers
by Glynyfaron
May 16th, 2001
04:12:35 AM
What the F#%K PippyLongstockng?!??
by chains
May 16th, 2001
05:05:30 AM
Propaganda in US films? Surely not!
by luke2578
May 16th, 2001
05:07:03 AM
yeah... I agree with Jesus
by chains
May 16th, 2001
05:26:25 AM
shocked! Shocked I am!
by devil0509
May 16th, 2001
05:40:57 AM
I agree about Titanic
by Havok2000
May 16th, 2001
05:41:26 AM
The only appropriate way to end this film SHOULD HAVE BEEN to sh
by PKD
May 16th, 2001
05:43:15 AM
Did anyone see the "Euro-friendly" trailer?
by Dr. Sid Schaefer
May 16th, 2001
05:52:18 AM
His name is Cary Tagawa
by Smilin'Jack Ruby
May 16th, 2001
06:07:27 AM
Maybe I'll RENT this one... Nah - wait for cable (~5months-Tops!
by Xfonhe
May 16th, 2001
06:16:28 AM
This can't be right?
by stupid question
May 16th, 2001
06:18:22 AM
Mea Culpa
by Key Grip
May 16th, 2001
06:23:40 AM
Propaganda in US films
by Kanny
May 16th, 2001
06:33:16 AM
You're wrong, Jesus O'Reailly.
by The Pardoner
May 16th, 2001
07:00:57 AM
Isn't it weird how DVD seems to be becoming a 'second chance' fo
by vondoom
May 16th, 2001
07:03:28 AM
Pettifogg, put on some more perfume, you reek of troll.
by The Pardoner
May 16th, 2001
07:04:30 AM
Why Pearl Harbor will suck
by chrisconsin
May 16th, 2001
07:13:10 AM
These "Bay sucks," "America sucks with their propoganda" talkbac
by Twig
May 16th, 2001
07:33:38 AM
Okay, back to the point here
by Tuck Kirby
May 16th, 2001
07:47:44 AM
The PH Trailer is great!
by Crisp One
May 16th, 2001
08:11:15 AM
Educated by what - the back of a cereal box?
by The Pardoner
May 16th, 2001
08:57:56 AM
Typo - would remove "with" from first line, if forum allowed edi
by The Pardoner
May 16th, 2001
09:00:36 AM
Let me tell you what I think of Mr.Bay.....
by Saint7
May 16th, 2001
09:05:17 AM
Why isn't Milius directing this?!?!?!?
by WFCall
May 16th, 2001
09:15:53 AM
Why isn't Milius directing this?!?!?!?
by WFCall
May 16th, 2001
09:24:44 AM
Goddammit... yep, this is gonna suck!
by The_Lion
May 16th, 2001
09:27:55 AM
I am happy to hear this!
by Logansan
May 16th, 2001
09:45:36 AM
re: Pardoner
by WFCall
May 16th, 2001
10:06:39 AM

by Kapp44017
May 16th, 2001
10:06:47 AM
Buy the Book
by Kapp44017
May 16th, 2001
10:09:08 AM
C'mon, folks. It's Michael Bay, for cripe's sake.
by kdraines
May 16th, 2001
10:10:08 AM
Anyone find Ben Affleck's southern accent bad - almost Keanu Ree
by Fatal Discharge
May 16th, 2001
10:17:09 AM
Way off base
by Dignin
May 16th, 2001
10:20:47 AM
Yawn.
by The Pardoner
May 16th, 2001
10:23:49 AM
'Do we get to win this time?'
by Billy Talent
May 16th, 2001
10:29:07 AM
To :Pettifogg
by Logansan
May 16th, 2001
10:32:32 AM
BOOKENDS SUCK
by superninja
May 16th, 2001
10:39:30 AM
Boom
by MCVamp
May 16th, 2001
10:44:37 AM
The sad part is...
by studio plant
May 16th, 2001
10:46:16 AM
The sad part is...
by studio plant
May 16th, 2001
10:46:36 AM
Attention Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer...
by DreamWorker
May 16th, 2001
10:52:22 AM
"there WERE so many" -- and BOYCOTT THIS FILM NOT FOR POLITICS,
by jrcash
May 16th, 2001
11:05:12 AM
"Titanic was called the ship of dreams, and it was, it really wa
by Kyle.Reese
May 16th, 2001
11:14:54 AM
What is "sad" about having standards for portraying an important
by superninja
May 16th, 2001
11:17:27 AM
I'm a Pinko, You're a Pinko, Wouldn't you like to be a pinko too
by Billy Talent
May 16th, 2001
11:35:52 AM
Okay everyone, settle down and take a deep breath. Now, don't yo
by Mel Garga
May 16th, 2001
12:03:14 PM
ZeroCorpse
by Mel Garga
May 16th, 2001
12:36:33 PM
History
by The Llama
May 16th, 2001
12:43:26 PM

by The Llama
May 16th, 2001
12:52:09 PM
Ha - I knew it!!
by TheDrunkenJedi
May 16th, 2001
12:58:56 PM
Duuuuude!
by The Pardoner
May 16th, 2001
01:10:10 PM
Hate to get in the middle of a really nice flame war, but..
by Stompin Tom
May 16th, 2001
01:12:13 PM
ZeroCorpse
by GadgetBoy
May 16th, 2001
01:26:00 PM
"I can almost see the statue of liberty from here... Very small,
by Kyle.Reese
May 16th, 2001
01:27:07 PM
Zerocorpse
by The Llama
May 16th, 2001
01:46:47 PM
You gotta hand it to the Brits
by Kyle.Reese
May 16th, 2001
01:53:53 PM
From all of this discussion...
by ToTheEastIGoNot
May 16th, 2001
02:33:15 PM
I think I detect a thread running though this talkback....
by Gabba-UK
May 16th, 2001
03:56:37 PM
Eh...
by GrandFinally
May 16th, 2001
04:02:34 PM
Conclusion
by Logansan
May 16th, 2001
04:14:04 PM
S**ty directors must die!!!!
by hehateme
May 16th, 2001
04:38:19 PM
It's "fruition," not "fruitation"
by Movie Man
May 16th, 2001
04:38:57 PM
Network news blurb
by The_Black_Hair
May 16th, 2001
04:47:49 PM
Jesus and the Pardoner
by Ragged Robin
May 16th, 2001
05:33:33 PM
RE:wheregonegin
by Dignin
May 16th, 2001
06:29:46 PM
Saint7: Not really in defense of Bay
by Zedfield
May 16th, 2001
06:33:28 PM
Jelper
by The Llama
May 16th, 2001
07:56:06 PM
Pearl Harbor - The Movie / Bay / Pinkos / Canadians and who is r
by BrianSLA
May 16th, 2001
08:25:40 PM
death on arrival
by 711243997
May 17th, 2001
05:33:17 AM
You people are so ignorant of history....
by filmnazi
May 17th, 2001
08:08:32 PM
i'm convinced that Bruckheimer & Bay are incapable of making a s
by mooncake
May 18th, 2001
12:59:38 AM

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