Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

In 1941, following months of economic embargo, Japan prepares to open its war against the United States with a preventive strike on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Directors:

Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Larry Forrester (screenplay), Hideo Oguni (screenplay)

Stars:

Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Balsam	...	Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
Sô Yamamura	...	Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Jason Robards	...	General Walter C. Short
Joseph Cotten	...	Henry L. Stimson
Tatsuya Mihashi	...	Commander Minoru Genda
E.G. Marshall	...	Colonel Rufus S. Bratton
Takahiro Tamura	...	Lt. Commander Fuchida
James Whitmore	...	Admiral William F. Halsey
Eijirô Tôno	...	Admiral Chuici Nagumo (as Eijiro Tono)
Wesley Addy	...	Lt. Commander Alvin D. Kramer
Shôgo Shimada	...	Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura
Frank Aletter	...	Lt. Commander Thomas
Koreya Senda	...	Prince Fumimaro Konoye
Leon Ames	...	Frank Knox
Jun Usami	...	Admiral Zengo Yoshida

Storyline

This dramatic retelling of the Pearl Harbor attack details everything in the days that led up to that tragic moment in American history. As United States and Japanese relations strain over the U.S. embargo of raw materials, Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda (Tatsuya Mihashi) plans the preemptive strike against the United States. Although American intelligence agencies intercept Japanese communications hinting at the attack, they are unwilling to believe such a strike could ever occur on U.S. soil.

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Plot Keywords:

naval aviation | burning ship | navy ship | attack | pearl harbor | 

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Taglines:

The incredible attack on Pearl Harbor as told from both the American and Japanese sides.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

23 September 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Filming Locations:

Ashiya, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Elmo Williams, Richard Fleischer

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min 148 min (Extended Japanese Edition 2009)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) Mono (some 35 mm prints) 4-Track Stereo (some 35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot at the U.S. Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Many of the ships seen in the background, had been extensively modified, but were still recognizable as World War II-era ships, most prominently Fletcher-class destroyers, that could substitute quite well for the older but similar-looking ships in port on December 7, 1941.

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Goofs

None of the attacking Japanese aircraft or American aircraft on the ground have any identification numbers or letters on their tails or fuselages. In real life, every plane involved had such markings. Each US Army aircraft in the film should have had, as a minimum, its serial number stenciled on the vertical tail.

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Quotes

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto: lf we are forced into a war with America, Japan's only hope - is to annihilate the American Pacific fleet at the outset. l wonder if we could use torpedo planes at Pearl Harbor?

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Crazy Credits

The 20th Century Fox logo does not appear on this film.

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Alternate Versions

The original release included a line by Admiral Halsey (James Whitmore) saying that after the war, Japanese will only be spoken in Hell. This line is removed from later releases.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gorgo (1998)

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Soundtracks

At Last
Music by Harry Warren
Played during the cocktail party on Saturday night, Dec. 6.

User Reviews

An underestimated epic

I have not seen the movie _Pearl Harbor_; nor, for that matter, do I plan to. I do not personally care for films that warp an important historical event to suit a formulaic date-flick format (a certain travesty involving a big steamship comes immediately to mind). If I go to the movie theater to watch a historical account, then that's what I want to see. _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ is exactly that, and more; it very nearly puts you right in the middle of the conflagration.

It continues to be a source of total wonder for me that _Tora! Tora! Tora!_, a movie made nearly thirty-two years ago, is so expertly presented. The reason for this is twofold: usage of lesser-known character actors to keep plot distraction to a minimum, and the usage of vintage working ships and aircraft to keep the realism to a maximum. These two elements merge together to produce what amounts to a cameraman in a time machine filming the actual events on site.

Since this was a collaborative effort between both US and Japanese film studios, the numerous switches between scenes will give you a good look at the differences between directing (and acting) styles. I am constantly amazed at the boldness of the content for a film released in the US during the Vietnam War, and only 25 years after the Pearl Harbor attack itself; compared to the rather wooden Martin Balsam and Jason Robards, Takahiro Tamura's Lt. Commander Fuchida is replete with a charisma I would never have expected from The Enemy. The Japanese side of the tale is laid before you so well that one is sent into the minds of the people involved, a rarity for American war films. (Sometimes it goes a little bit over the edge -- Admiral Yamamoto's comment "I know [the Americans] are a proud and just people" is a mistranslation -- but the general mood is accurately conveyed overall.)

And then there is the beautiful and sometimes chilling scenery. The attack scenes themselves are eye-popping and brazen enough -- an awesome effort given the technology of the period -- but my personal favorite scene is the Japanese lead strike force's departure from their aircraft carrier. Those of you who purchase the DVD version of the movie should crank up the volume at this point. This is a piece of film that most probably can never be shot again: REAL aircraft flooring their REAL engines and taking flight from a REAL ship of war, against the backdrop of the early dawn, one after another, until the sky is alive with what looks like waves and waves of warplanes. Although the aircraft and ships used were modifed American stock, the flags, uniforms, and color schemes are all authentic... resulting in a spine-tingling spectacle of Japanese pilots plunging headlong into what was ultimately a disastrous mistake. They are depicted as human beings, as they should be.

It is an astoundingly accurate presentation of a dark moment in history for both the US and Japan, free of pretense, pandering to the audience, big-bucks megastars, lovey-dovey sappiness, and computer-generated pixels. You don't *need* any of these things to create a fantastic movie; all you need is history, which we all know is stranger -- and scarier, and more engaging -- than fiction. _Tora! Tora! Tora_ should be in every movie fan's library.