DVD Review by Yanman

1. Total loss of reputation; public disgrace; dishonor; ignominy; indignity.
2. A quality which exposes to disgrace; extreme baseness or vileness; as, the infamy of an action.
3. (Law) That loss of character, or public disgrace, which a convict incurs, and by which he is at common law rendered incompetent as a witness.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the empire of Japan.”

Most of us are not old enough to remember that Sunday in 1941, because it was 60 years ago almost to the day. Even my parents were too young to truly remember this day. This brutal attack was our grandparent’s day of bravery, and the spark for patriotism for a generation. It is unfortunate that it sometimes takes a tragedy to remind us of the cost of our countries freedom. For us in this new millennium that price was the devastation of September 11, 2001. The building blocks of our freedom go back much further though, because from the time the first pilgrims landed on this country’s shore, there have been men and woman that were willing to give there lives for what they believe in the most, freedom.

In 1941 the United States was still on the sidelines of World War II. We did have troops stationed throughout the world, just waiting to “get into” the war. Our story follows two friends, with their love of flying from their youth to their unwavering dedication as US army pilots. These two friends, Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett) protect each other and share everything. Are there things that friends can’t share, however? How many of their friends must die for the cause? Whatever the answers, these boys will become men and those men will prove that they are heroes.

Most 2-disc sets are designed that way because of the amount of extras that are packed into the set. In Pearl Harbor’s case however, the 3-plus-hour film is spread across the two discs as well. Now I know what you’re thinking, can’t they fit almost four hours of video on a DVD? In some cases yes, but that depends on a lot of different factors from compression amount to the number of multi-channel soundtracks contained on the disc. So before you right any nasty letters asking why you have to change discs, that’s why.

We think that Touchstone Home Video made the right choice here, because both the video and sound quality here is excellent. While the 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen video is not flawless, it is darn close, with only some dark background scenes displaying some grain. As for audio quality, get ready to rock, both the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and the DTS 5.1 soundtrack are reference quality and will leave you asking for more. Need something a little quieter? Well if your DVD player or your receiver is equipped with Dolby Headphone, then you can listen to this soundtrack in private (through regular headphones) and still hear the great surround effects. Cool!

While there are a handful of extras here like a making of featurette, A History Channel ® Documentary, a music video, and some DVD-ROM content. True Movie collectors will opt to wait for the Vista Series of the movie that will arrive on May 14, 2002. A four-disc DVD presenting the director’s cut of the film with new visual effects, and over12 hours of bonus programming.

While Pearl Harbor may waver back and forth between being a love story or a war drama, it does a good job at walking that line. The three hours don’t drag and you may even find yourself asking for more, and the director’s cut will have that extra footage you are looking for. Let us never forget that day in December 60-years-ago, when men gave their lives so that we may continue to be free. Pearl Harbor may be “Hollywoodized” , but it does a good job reminding us of these heroes. Let freedom ring …  

Audio
Video					1/2
Extras
Overall

This DVD was reviewed on Yanman.com's Reference Theater #1, using a Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player, Toshiba TW56X81, and M&K 750 THX Speakers. Panamax protects all systems at Yanman.com.

Pearl Harbor

"Let us never forget that day in December 60-years-ago, when men gave their lives so that we may continue to be free."

Read Gareth's Review

Staring:

Ben Affleck
Josh McCawley

Directed By:

Michael Bay

Running time: 183 Min.  
Rated: PG-13 
Genre:  Drama

Bonus Materials

• Journey to the Screen: The Making of Pearl Harbor

  • History Channel show "Unsung Heroes"

  • Faith Hill's music video "There You'll Be"

  • DVD-ROM: Definitive biography

  • Trailers

  • Widescreen anamorphic format

  • Number of discs: 2

Pre-Order the Vista Series DVD Now!