National Geographic - Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bob Ballard, Carl Carson, Tom BrokawBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-11-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: National Geographic Video
Movie Reviews of National Geographic - Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack
Movie Review: A powerfully moving tribute to the victims and survivors
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Ballard's search for the Japanese sub fired upon by the Ward an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the promise of the first look inside the sunken USS Arizona may be the featured selling points for this wonderful National Geographic special, but it is the personal stories of Pearl Harbor survivors that makes this a moving, incredibly rewarding video experience. This special, hosted by Tom Brokaw, was filmed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the reprehensible sneak attack, and it is definitely one of the most impressive Pearl Harbor documentaries I have seen.
The video deals almost as much with the present as it does the past, switching back and forth between then and now in a pattern which basically takes you through the overall sequence of events on the day that will forever live in infamy. Personally, I could have done with much less footage of Ballard's search for the Japanese midget sub; it's certainly interesting, but the search fails to provide us with any important new information. The footage taken by robotic vehicles from inside the Arizona was also interesting; this was, after all, the first time the interior of the ill-fated battleship has been seen since the morning of December 7, 1941.
I won't quibble very much about the description and footage of the attack. Obviously, this one video could not go into all of the tragic events of that day, but it does offer a good overview of the situation, does great honor to those who died that Sunday morning as well as those who survived, and gives mention to several facts that aren't mentioned all that often - e.g., the fact that a sub was spotted approaching Pearl Harbor four hours before the attack (and three hours before a second sub was sighted and fired upon by the Ward). It also describes the senseless positioning of naval forces on that morning, making US ships and planes sitting ducks to the overpowering air attack. It does not go so far as to cast blame or ask who knew what in advance, but it does drive home the point that Japanese forces gave themselves away three times in the hours preceding the attack, but no action of any kind was taken by anyone on Oahu. It should not be a secret by now, of course, that the depth of the disaster that day had as much to do with American military incompetence as it did the actual Japanese attack.
The heart of Pearl Harbor, though, is the stories of the victims and the survivors, and this documentary does a great service to all those young men and women. Personal stories of bravery, such as that of Dorie Miller, are told, but these are far surpassed in emotional terms by a number of personal stories of victims - these are stories some men carried with them for decades, and few can relate them now without shedding tears of horror and heartbreak. One survivor had come to Pearl Harbor for the first time in six decades, finally opening up and telling his story because he knew he had only a few months to live. All of those men who suffered and died must never be forgotten, and they must never be relegated to mere numbers. Hearing the personal stories of survivors, no matter how horrible the things they describe witnessing, brings the importance of every individual soul lost that fateful day into the proper perspective. I daresay there are very few men and women who can watch this National Geographic special without becoming emotional themselves - it is a powerful presentation that I think every American should see.
Summary of National Geographic - Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack
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