Pearl Harbour Cert 12

It's soft, strong and very, very long? No, it's not a leading brand of toilet tissue, but Pearl Harbour, the 135 million pound, 3 hour epic that hits our cinema screens this weekend.
Starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsdale and a cast of thousands,
Pearl Harbour is a story of love and heroism set against the back drop of World War Two. Well, when I say World War Two, I really mean what was left after we'd done the hard part like Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain but as Pearl Harbour is principally an American film about an American event I suppose I shouldn't be too picky.
Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker are inseparable friends who fulfil their childhood dream and become daring young pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Rafe, though, is hungry for glory and action and so volunteers for the Eagle Squadron, a group of American flyers based in good old Blighty.
However, just before he ships out, Rafe falls in love with a beautiful Navy nurse Evelyn Johnson and so it's with a heavy heart that he leaves America and promises the new love of his life that no matter what happens to him " He will return".
As the war rages across Europe, Evelyn and Danny are posted to the island paradise of Hawaii, which is more like a holiday camp than a navy base and Pearl Harbour is just a jewel in the crown of the Pacific rim... yep war is hell...but it's only when the news reaches them, that Rafe has died in action that their idyllic world falls apart.
Hang on a second though, you're probably thinking, I thought this was a war film about Pearl Harbour where are the ships, the planes and above all, where are the Japanese? Well, don't worry this is after all a Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay film, they're the people that brought us `The Rock' and `Armageddon', so when the Japanese attack arrives you really know it's arrived.
To be perfectly honest Pearl Harbour hasn't exactly received rave reviews from the critics. Admittedly, it is big, it is brash, it is totally jingoistic, it pays very little attention to historical fact and the dialogue is never going to win any awards, but you've got to say that as a piece of sheer entertainment and spectacle it is totally enjoyable.
So, finally, was it worth the reputed 135 million pounds it cost to make? Well, personally, I think it was if only to catapult Kate Beckinsdale into the ranks of super-stardom.