Tora Tora Tora

[Anonymous]

I remember seeing it twice on television as a child. Unless I'm mistaken, it's the first film of the subject to come from Hollywood, and the producers made a good attempt to view it from both sides (although I can't remember it all).

Does anyone know if it has been done by Japanese producers at any stage?

[Anonymous]

I must have been 12 or 13 when I first saw this movie. My dad made me watch it with him. It is probably one of the sources that inspired me to love history so much. I probably didn't know it at the time. I have it still on vhs, but it would be great toget it on DVDs to be able to show parts of it to my students to allow them to analyze the Japanese perspective of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Of course, it is too long to be able to show the whole film. It would make a great piece to use after reading some of the biographies from Professor Yamashita's book. The students can compare and contrast the depictions of Japanese perspectives and evaluate which one gives a truer point of view.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

This film is about the Pearl Harbor incident, but from the Japanese perspective. It is an older film, with subtitles. This is an enjoyable movie experience in that it is unique to the western audience. It is a representation of the Japanese sensibility, as much of a sensibility as possible when dealing with war. Much like the Clint Eastwood movie of Letters from Iwo Jima, Tora Tora Tora allows movie viewers into the thoughts of the soldiers who fought the battle. They were not portrayed as heartless killers or crazed Kamikaze soldiers who had no thoughts. The Japanese soldiers were portrayed as real people who were hesitant in engaging in any battle. They knew that war was not an answer to peace but the had to follow Imperial edict as part of their duty.

Slow by today's standards of story telling, the film is memorable and has a lasting impact on its viewers. It offers a fresh point of view for a film done in 1970. Though it is a dramitization, it has elements of actual history. Sometimes it is hard to discern the fact from the entertainment, but I guess that is what makes a movie engaging.

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