Amy Edwards Tora!Tora!Tora! should be considered as the Holy Bible regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941.Its main asset is without a doubt its amazing historical accuracy and the very attention to detail. You can feel that a lot of research has been made to make this movie possible.After watching this movie, everybody will understand how we came to that tragedy in the first place. How our government was aware that something was up but was never able to guess the Japanese true intentions. How the Japanese high command prepared that attack while their diplomatic corps was stalling us in an endless and fruitless negotiation.I also love this movie for giving some justice to Kimmel and Short who were unfairly used as scapegoats after the attack and shamelessly sent to the shadows afterwards. In this movie, they are depicted as capable and caring commanders deliberately kept in the dark and left to themselves for making decisions based on incomplete information. It left us with the impression that they could have done something to stop the attack if they would have been accurately kept informed by their leadership.The other point I truly like is they are telling the story from both sides point of view. The Japanese part is as thorough and accurate as the American one. It depicts Yamamoto as a man not willing to go to war with America, a country he knows very well as he was a Harvard student back in the day, but pushed to it by the Army commanders who wanted to control all the Pacific without realizing that a war with the US would mean to defy an industrial great power who has the means to overpower each opponent who dare attacking us.8/10

JLRVancouver I first saw "Tora Tora Tora" on my 12th B-day (when it first came out) and have seen it several times since. The movie has aged well and, compared to Michael Bay's abysmal "Pearl Harbour" (2001), demonstrates the effectiveness of practical effects over CGI (although the gap continues to narrow). The story starts slowly, following the meticulous Japanese planning as it parallels the American blunders, misreads and delays, that ultimately lead to the (unintentional) 'sneak attack' on Pearl Harbour. The transition between the planning and the attack scenes is the weakest part of the movie, played almost as a comedy, with befuddled Americans staring up at Japanese aircraft but just 'not getting it" - scenes which do not ring true, as these were trained soldiers and sailors, and the Americans were suspicious of the Japanese. The attack sequences are excellent with lots of well executed pyrotechnics, especially of mock-up P40s exploding. Multiple cameras were used, so there is a bit of a sense of déjà vu as you see the same plane blowing up from different angles (the P40 with its nosecone shot off is the most obvious example). The backstory (told elsewhere) about how one of motorised P40 models went out of control is a good cautionary tale about the dangers of filming battle scenes with full scale effects. Not all of the cast were professional actors and it sometimes shows, the secondary dialogue is weak in places, and some of the back-projection (e.g. the flying lesson scene) is not particularly good, but overall, "Tora Tora Tora" is a great war movie with enough history mixed in with the explosions to make it worth watching on multiple levels.

Richie-67-485852 If you want to get a really good feel for what took place in regards to Pearl Harbor this movie will suit you well. In addition, it is a also well done for entertainment purposes too. All my favorite movie stars and familiar faces are in this and the movie moves at a brisk pace which helps if you have a weak attention span. Notice that most the people on screen are overweight or have pot bellies and they are in the military too. There are also dated scenes but effective for their time. Landlines, old typewriters, and routines all stand-out but do not detract. I had the pleasure of seeing this in Hawaii in a huge movie theater with a large screen that was packed for the showing. I mean the movie is about Pearl and Oahu and we are there. People watched in silence and cheered in the right moments. It was a great experience. One visits with their feelings in regards to the Japanese doing what they did. To kill people without warning is similar to what terrorists do. In the movie, the Japanese Military realize the surprise attack while successful will also be used to bring people together for revenge sort of making a motivation to do so. Boy were they right about that. If you study history, you also see how the Japanese versions of war are strict and without mercy making the United States even more determined to end the war thus setting up the dropping of Atomic bombs. War is cruel. No one benefits. Innocents get hurt unjustly but when you consider who starts these aggressive acts, it puts into perspective what it takes to end these acts at all costs. Same goes for all tyrannical leaders and their beliefs. They can dish it out against the weak and the unprepared but they cannot take it when it comes back around to them. The bible comments about "calculating the costs" of anything before beginning truly wise words to this day. If men who govern and who share a planet in common cannot come to terms on how to live and share then it accuses everyone of failure in general. War is failure in the least basic terms and convicts all. Atrocities of war takes it to the lowest levels. What makes it all have a touch of insanity is that who we fought yesterday is today's friend and today's friend can be tomorrows enemy in this crazy imperfect world. Good movie to eat while watching with a tasty drink and a snack to follow. Tora Tora Tora means attack attack attack. I say it means to watch and enjoy this slice of history

Freedom060286 I enjoyed the Japanese parts of the movie more than the American. Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku did a brilliant job, their direction is nearly perfect. The cinematography is excellent.This movie portrayed the Japanese in a sympathetic light, and we learn a lot about their point of view from the movie. It's mostly historically accurate, although some parts are incorrect. The Japanese never intended to declare war on the USA before the Pearl Harbor attack, with a slow typist preventing this from happening on time. In fact, Japan didn't declare war until many days after the attack.Some of the American scenes in the movie are poorly written and directed, except for the actual attack scenes which were accurate and very realistic. In creating the scenes leading up to the attack, the movie makers went too far in portraying most of the American leaders as annoyingly incompetent fools. Overall, although the movie could have been better, it's definitely worth watching.