Pearl Harbor Documentary
05-06-01, 12:00 PM
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Sam's Club has been selling the multi-disc Pearl Harbor documentary from the History Channel. $14.50 I suppose its timing has a lot to do with the blockbuster coming out this Memorial Day.
05-08-01, 02:00 PM
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Tora Tora Tora is a movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor from 1970 that is being re-released 5/15/01 with a directors commentary and and "Day of Infamy" documentary.
I just rented it from Blockbuster (before street date).
Just saw a link at the thop of this page "Hot DVD"
[Edited by ljp99 on 05-08-01 at 12:04 PM]
I just rented it from Blockbuster (before street date).
Just saw a link at the thop of this page "Hot DVD"
[Edited by ljp99 on 05-08-01 at 12:04 PM]
05-13-01, 12:35 AM
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There are no less than five new Pearl Harbor-related DVDs available:
* The new edition of Tora! Tora! Tora! includes a 20-minute feature on the history of Pearl Harbor, including comments from noted war historians. Don't look for much historical insight on the newly added commentary track by the director, who's interviewed by a Japanese film historian. It includes loads of info (dryly done) about the making of the movie, including the contributions of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, but it offers little historical insight. I think Fox blew it in this regard. They had the historians assembled for the documentary. Surely, they could have gotten one or all of them to sit down and discuss the actual events and offer insight as they unfold in the film. That would have made for an incredible second commentary track. $25 MSRP.
* Remember Pearl Harbor, an hourlong documentary, is available on DVD, from Questar. It's a two-disc set that includes about 2 1/2 hours' worth of additional material--short features such as Hollywood's Pearl Harbor (which includes a Tora! Tora! Tora! making-of featurette that's not on the film's DVD!), Stories From Battle Ship Row, Attack of the Midget Subs, Salvaging the Pacific Fleet and The Pacific War on Film. It's quite a collection for an MSRP of $25.
* As mentioned previously, the History Channel has its own two-disc set, Pearl Harbor: The Definitive Documentary of the Day That Will Forever Live in Infamy. In addition to the original programs totaling 150 minutes--Tora Tora Tora: The True Story of Pearl Harbor (Parts 1 & 2) and Admiral Chester Nimitz: Thunder of the Pacific--the set includes a bonus program, America's Five-Star Heroes: The Pacific Commanders, as well as some historical notes. $30 MSRP.
* The History Channel also has a new related two-disc set, World War II: The War in the Pacific, which should be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about Pearl Harbor since it covers events spawned by that attack. It contains more than three hours' worth of programming: Island Hopping: The Road Back, Jungle Warfare: New Guinea to Burma, Air War in the Pacific, The Bloody Ridges of Peleliu, The Return to the Philippines, Okinawa: The Last Battle and Admiral William ''Bull'' Halsey: Naval Warrior. $20 MSRP.
* Finally, there's the acclaimed, controversial 1943 film (now on an overlooked DVD) John Ford's December 7th: The Pearl Harbor Story. This film had been banned and censored by the U.S. military, but is available on this new VCI DVD uncut and fully restored to its original 82-minute length. In addition, there are extras totaling an additional two hours. They include a commentary track by four Pearl Harbor survivors, many newsreels, the back story on the film's controversial cut version, a comparision of the cut and uncut versions, plus a really nifty extra: Frank Capra's hourlong documentary Know Your Enemy: Japan.
$20 MSRP.
There is duplication, but it's surprising how complementary these five titles are. They each manage to head in different directions with the same subject matter.
I hope this helps. I'm covering all of these for an upcoming article, and this summary has helped form the core of it.
* The new edition of Tora! Tora! Tora! includes a 20-minute feature on the history of Pearl Harbor, including comments from noted war historians. Don't look for much historical insight on the newly added commentary track by the director, who's interviewed by a Japanese film historian. It includes loads of info (dryly done) about the making of the movie, including the contributions of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, but it offers little historical insight. I think Fox blew it in this regard. They had the historians assembled for the documentary. Surely, they could have gotten one or all of them to sit down and discuss the actual events and offer insight as they unfold in the film. That would have made for an incredible second commentary track. $25 MSRP.
* Remember Pearl Harbor, an hourlong documentary, is available on DVD, from Questar. It's a two-disc set that includes about 2 1/2 hours' worth of additional material--short features such as Hollywood's Pearl Harbor (which includes a Tora! Tora! Tora! making-of featurette that's not on the film's DVD!), Stories From Battle Ship Row, Attack of the Midget Subs, Salvaging the Pacific Fleet and The Pacific War on Film. It's quite a collection for an MSRP of $25.
* As mentioned previously, the History Channel has its own two-disc set, Pearl Harbor: The Definitive Documentary of the Day That Will Forever Live in Infamy. In addition to the original programs totaling 150 minutes--Tora Tora Tora: The True Story of Pearl Harbor (Parts 1 & 2) and Admiral Chester Nimitz: Thunder of the Pacific--the set includes a bonus program, America's Five-Star Heroes: The Pacific Commanders, as well as some historical notes. $30 MSRP.
* The History Channel also has a new related two-disc set, World War II: The War in the Pacific, which should be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about Pearl Harbor since it covers events spawned by that attack. It contains more than three hours' worth of programming: Island Hopping: The Road Back, Jungle Warfare: New Guinea to Burma, Air War in the Pacific, The Bloody Ridges of Peleliu, The Return to the Philippines, Okinawa: The Last Battle and Admiral William ''Bull'' Halsey: Naval Warrior. $20 MSRP.
* Finally, there's the acclaimed, controversial 1943 film (now on an overlooked DVD) John Ford's December 7th: The Pearl Harbor Story. This film had been banned and censored by the U.S. military, but is available on this new VCI DVD uncut and fully restored to its original 82-minute length. In addition, there are extras totaling an additional two hours. They include a commentary track by four Pearl Harbor survivors, many newsreels, the back story on the film's controversial cut version, a comparision of the cut and uncut versions, plus a really nifty extra: Frank Capra's hourlong documentary Know Your Enemy: Japan.
$20 MSRP.
There is duplication, but it's surprising how complementary these five titles are. They each manage to head in different directions with the same subject matter.
I hope this helps. I'm covering all of these for an upcoming article, and this summary has helped form the core of it.
