Tora! Tora! Tora!

The first time I saw Tora! Tora! Tora! was on the big screen at Naval Hospital, San Diego. I liked it so much I saw it three nights in a row. Some years later, I purchased the VHS video tape the day of its release. I have two DVD versions of Tora! Tora! Tora! as well as two VHS versions of the movie. I've also watched the Japanese version (with English subtitles). Tora! Tora! Tora! is a great film but it should not be taken as the ultimate "truth" about Pearl Harbor and how America got into World War II. Tora! Tora! Tora! used an American director for the American sequences, and two Japanese directors (the first was fired) for the filming of the Japanese sequences. Much of the original Japanese crew was let go when the first Japanese director was fired (for being way over budget and for producing only 600 feet of film, as I recall). This is a truly excellent movie that men and women can both watch and enjoy. Beware, however, the scenes showing the "12 Apositles" who were "allowed access" to `Magic'(decrypted Japanese diplomatic and consular intercepts). The actual number of Americans with access to Magic was well over 100. And the President's name was NEVER taken off what the movie calls "the Ultra List." (FDR didn't actually read all the daily diplomatic intercepts, of which the Army and Navy had just over 8,000 in 1941 alone. Instead, he read daily summaries of the intercepts. The same applies to most of the senior officers in the War and Navy Departments.) Alwin D. Kramer, Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, and Colonel Rufus Sumnter Bratton, U.S. Army, both worked in different offices rather than in a combined Army-Navy office shown in the movie. Both men were attached to the Far Eastern Sections of their respective intelligence departments (Office of Naval Intelligence with Kramer; Military Intelligence Division (for Bratton).) Bratton was officer in charge of the Far Eastern Section of MID. Kramer was head of OP-20-GZ (translation section in the Office of Naval Communications, OP-20), but he was actually on OP-16's (Office of Naval Intelligence's) payroll. Tora! Tora! Tora! gives Bratton's middle initial as "G", but that is in error. His middle name was Sumnter, as stated above. "Magic" (again, intercepted foreign diplomatic and consular messages) was critical to what the U.S. (and British) Governments knew of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's diplomatic efforts. Although the National Security Agency still denies this, we also had a product called Ultra as relates to Japan. These were intercepted, decoded and translated Japanese naval and military intercepts. Ultra played a major part in our victory over the Combined Fleet in the Battle of Midway, fought 4 to 6 June 1942. Tora! Tora! Tora! is, as I said, an excellent movie. It's full of suspense and it is very well acted by both the Americans and the Japanese. It presents a fair few of both the American and Japanese perspectives that helped lead to "Pearl Harbor" and U.S. entry into the Second World War. First Lieutenant Kermit A. Tyler is claimed in the movie to say, "Well, don't worry about it," when he's told of the large number of planes approaching the Opana Point Radar station from north of Oahu (flying in over Kahuku Point). Tyler himself later testified that this was his reaction to the radar report phoned to him by Privates Lockard and Elliott. Here's the rub: The USS LEXINGTON had a radar and visual sighting of two Japanese carrier aircraft approximately 400 miles north west of Oahu on Saturday afternoon, 6 December 1941. LEXINGTON's radar report was the real first sighting of some of the Japanese aircraft that took part in the raid on Pearl Harbor. American intelligence didn't "fail" in the lead up to the events of 7 December 1941. Intelligence, however, isn't always used the way the average citizen thinks it should be used. Those in high political and military offices have many strategic and tactical matters they have to factor into the decision making process. Not the least of these was the apathy of the American people in the period leading up to the Japanese raid on our obsolete battleships at Pearl Harbor. (Our three carriers then in the Pacific, LEXINGTON, ENTERPRISE and SARATOGA were not in port on 7 Dec. 1941. "Target ship," USS UTAH, was moored at a carrier berth off Ford Island. Battleship COLORADO, that had completed an overhaul at Bremerton, Washington a month before, was still at Bremerton. WEST VIRGINIA, that was overdue for overhaul, was moored outboard at Ford Island.) This reviewer spent a little over 13 years researching Pearl Harbor on a full time basis. He has absolutely no animus for the Japanese---nor does he hold any animus for any of the senior Americans involved with Pearl Harbor. "Pearl Harbor" saved the world (including Japan, in my opinion) from the Nazis. At the cost of a few thousand Americans, millions of lives were spared in Europe and Asia---and, ultimately---in the U.S. as well. Tora! Tora! Tora! is one of my ten favorite movies. I've probably watched it over 50 times in the past thirty six years or so. And I will probably watch it another fifty times or more between now and the time I storm the great beyond. E.G. Marshall (R.S. Bratton) and Wesley Addy (A.D. Kramer) in the film both do exceptional jobs with their acting. So does every other member of the U.S. and Japanese cast, in my opinion. Great movie---and, in my opinion, a "Must have" for every American and Japanese who appreciates the very best in direction, acting, scenery, editing, cinamatography, etc. This is also a good action film---and it is fair to both the Japanese and American perspectives. A "Well done!" to every member of the cast and crew of Tora! Tora! Tora! and to 20th Century Fox for producing this wonderful movie! Andrew McKane IV Missoula, Montana

This is taken from a book of the same name, written by an American in the US occupation force who wrote this detailed history based on inside information including, among other important details,, the American partial cracking of the Japanese code, which led them to the conclusion a number of hours in advance that a very long coded message to the Japanese embassy was in fact a declaration of war, meaning all US forces needed to be on an immediate war footing. Then it took hours to locate and bring together the necessary military and administration officials, and the military officer sent to telegraph Pearl Harbor couldn't deal with the fact his own service's direct telecommunications with Pearl Harbor were down, couldn't bring himself to use the other service's, and instead sent it Western Union, neglected to mark it urgent, and it hopscotched through myriad intermediatry Western Union offices before finally arriving at Pearl Harbor, hours late. There was also the brass who ignorned a kill of a mini-sub near the harbor and the radar installation - which only operated at night when it wouldn't step on commercial radio broadcasts, reported huge flight incoming, and the supervising officer decided without inquiring further it must be a flight from San Diego and told the crew to sign off and go back to barracks. Then there was the airfield officer who ignored orders from higher up and clustered all his planes under guard, more worried about Japanese saboteurs than being attacked, meaning only two fighters ever got off the ground. A SNAFU from beginning to end, but as usual, not the nonsensical conspiracy alleged by nitwits who think FDR let them sink the Pacific fleet to get into WWII - as if it wouldn't be enough that they declared war, attacked - and we won the battle. As usual, given a choice between stupid and a vast secret conspiracy - especially when it doesn't make sense even if it were true - it's going to be stupid 100% of the time. Everyone operates with recency bias. We can't believe the yellow man would attack us across thousands of miles of ocean, just as the Brits couldn't imagine the Japanese could run through Malaysia to Singapore, where the Japanese practically walked in unopposed. Like most wars, it started with myriad errors, mostly on the US side (the Japanese had been fighting in Asia for close to a decade and had a well honed war machine). Save the biggest blunder - declaring war on the US in the first place. The quote attributed to Yamamoto at the end - that the Japanese had awakened a terrible enemy and could only hope to delay the inevitable - was not a recorded quote from the time, though it probably reflected his thinking; he had lived in the US for a time and had a very good idea about the industrial capacity of the US which Japan could not match. Weirdly, the unabridged book was only published in Japanese, in Japan, though written by an American with the military//diplomatic delegation, and is available in English to this day only, to my knowledge, in abridged form, by, of all people, Reader's Digest 40 years ago! A Youtube history channel (sorry, don't recall which) counted this as unsurpassed in its historical accuracy, and I've no reason to doubt it. Well done all around. No dominant heroes - and plenty of stupid to go around along with some heroism, but believable characters on both sides, including Japanese playing the Japanese getting equal time, speaking Japanese. (I haven't checked, but I imagine this also saw release in Japan). If you're looking for a movie you can chant USA! to, maybe not your movie, but if you want an accurate picture of how wars often start - with mind-numbing blunders as well as courage, which can turn around if you can survive long enough - this is a fine example. It's very convenient having thousands of miles of ocean between us and any country with hope of threatening us, though that's less comfort in the nuclear age.

One of the best movies to show the beginning of the U.S. in active involvement in World War II. It's one of those movies that keeps your mind going after its over. This is only the beginning of the war and you can see how/why it will dictate who the war in the Pacific will be fought and won. A top ten war classic. Plus, my father was a crane operator on the set for some scene construction work back in 1969 (film was released in 1970). If you have never seen it, I highly recommend it

One of the best movies of World War II, it was created with the idea of showing an accurate portrayal of the attack and the events leading up to it, and telling the story from both points of view: that of the Japanese and the Americans. It does a great job on both counts. The events leading up to the attack are complex and go back many years: Japan had decided to become an empire, to follow the lead of the Western powers so she could continue to grow. No one else liked that idea -- not those with colonies, nor those who were colonies. The European powers were too busy with the war in Europe to do much of anything and that left the U.S. to try to persuade Japan to give up its ambitions. The movie does a good job of covering this background and then showing the attack itself. Some found that first part slow going; I did not. I have read some accounts of the battle, but that was some time ago. "At Dawn We Slept" by Gordon Prange is one good account and that is still available. Another is "Long Day's Journey into War" by historian Stanley Weintraub, which covers the weekend of the attack and just about everything around the world that had anything to do with the war. Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print. I did spend some time on Wikipedia reviewing the battle: the coverage there -- and undoubtedly many places online -- is very comprehensive with lots of detail. As for this movie, it does a great job of showing the main points -- why it happened and what happened in the battle itself. It was beautifully filmed, carefully crafted -- an epic film that is both entertaining and educational. Easily one of the best WWII films of all time, you can learn a lot about the battle in 2 1/2 hours or so, even if you knew nothing about it beforehand.

"Tora! Tora! Tora!" is a dramatic re-enactment of the events of December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, thereby drawing the United States into World War II. Released in 1970, this is a very good film that's written and produced along the same lines as several other war movies that seek to re-create significant battles with historical accuracy. The first half of "Tora! Tora! Tora!" recounts how relations between Japan and the United States became increasingly strained, and how this led the militaristic leaders of the Japanese Imperial Government to view the United States Navy as a threat to Japan that must be "dealt a fatal blow." A central section of the film recounts the brilliant detective work of two American military intelligence officers. They analyzed intercepted and decoded messages from the Japanese government to its embassy in Washington DC and deduced that Japan was about to attack the United States. The scenes in which they arrived at their logical conclusions, and then tried to convince their superiors to act upon their findings, are among the best in the film - taut, suspenseful, and filled with a low-key but palpable tension. The last forty-plus minutes of "Tora! Tora! Tora!" dramatize the actual attack on Pearl Harbor with stunning realism and historical accuracy. On a warm, sunny Sunday morning in December 1941, Japanese "Zero" fighters and torpedo bombers wreak havoc upon the American fleet, leaving in their wake four battleships sunk and over 2,200 American military men and women dead. The scenes that depict the aerial assault are almost frighteningly realistic, without ever becoming gratuitously violent. One unique aspect of "Tora! Tora! Tora!" is how it attempts to tell the story of Pearl Harbor from the standpoint of both the American and Japanese sides of the conflict. Japanese sequences are written, produced, and directed by Japanese filmmakers, and acted by Japanese actors speaking in their own language. (English subtitles are provided.) American writers, producers, directors and actors were responsible for all American sequences. "Tora! Tora! Tora!" is a surprisingly good movie imbued with good writing and acting, well-executed battle scenes, and high entertainment value. How well did "Tora! Tora! Tora!" convey what actually happened on December 7, 1941? Very well indeed, I'd say. It's a pretty good history lesson on the events of that fateful "Day of Infamy. " Highly recommended.

Great Movie!

This is a great movie

I remember watching them film this movie from my high school. It was scary at first because we didn't know it was filming for a movie. The movie tells the story from both the American and the Japanese points of view. The color is magnificent and the action is unforgettable. Because I lived on Oahu for over 4 years, this story has a lot meaning to me. There were places, at the time, that still showed bullet holes, there was even a plane that we found in the mountains. There were still a few bunkers on some of the out of the way beaches. This movie brings back many memories.

Bellissimo film visto quando avevo solo 14 anni ,ho voluto rivederlo anche perché ora ho una maggiore consapevolezza storica ed il film è molto aderente ai fatti storici.

歴史的事実を忠実に再現している。戦争の善悪を論じるのではなく、歴史的事実を学ぶにはとても良い映画である。

Sad but oh so true

Très beau film historique servi par de grands acteurs

This is still one of the best and most impressive American war films ever made, presenting an honest, balanced and historically faithful depiction of the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the USA into the war. It fares quite well on today's large-size digital TV screens; I originally saw it in the cinema and – as you'd expect - it was pretty spectacular, with breathtaking flying sequences which still retain their thrill even on the reduced scale. A long film (cinemas had an intermission in the middle) it has quite a preamble before the real action starts; unusually for Hollywood it takes a rather documentary-styled approach which helps concentrate the storyline on what matters rather than some romantic interest or character development; indeed, at the time mainly less well-known actors were cast to retain an ensemble feel to the film and avoid any fixation on stars. It is also historically balanced, giving a lot of time to the Japanese side of the events; the evocative carrier take-off scenes at dawn are some of the most memorable and visually striking aerial footage outside of authentic wartime archives. A great deal of consideration was also given to the authenticity of the production with carefully modified aircraft and clever mock-ups standing in for the types used in the period. It certainly still outclasses Michael Bay`s behemoth “Pearl Harbor” (2001) which seems outrageously hokey next to this, despite all it`s CGI special effects. A very fine movie that has aged well and still engrosses as a viewing experience. The standard DVD release is as listed above in the product description and it delivered a sharp and satisfactory picture on my own TV.