Blu-ray Review: New HD Edition of Epic ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’

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CHICAGO – When I was younger, I considered the blockbuster flop “Tora! Tora! Tora!” pretty boring. Critics over the years and friends have remembered the film more fondly than when it was released and therefore made me feel like perhaps a re-appreciation was in order. Nope. It’s still boring. And now it’s boring in stunning HD!

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

To be fair, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” does look pretty damn good in the new collector’s edition from Fox. One would never guess that the film is over forty years old as it’s been mixed better than a lot of the works from its era. In the early days of HD, a large number of ’70s films were over-polished, resulting in plastic-looking actors and poor color levelss. It’s nice to see remastering done well, even if it is for a movie that baffles me in its very existence. Why make a G-rated blockbuster about the attack on Pearl Harbor? Some have claimed that the film was to educate but much of it has since been proven historically inaccurate. Aviation fans like the movie and, to be fair, the battle sequences are the best thing about the movie. But the film is such a turgid, slow affair. No wonder Michael Bay was tempted to turn the same attack into an over-the-top action movie. He didn’t want to risk the film-as-history-lesson of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (And, no, I’m not arguing that “Pearl Harbor” is any sort of wonderful historical epic.)

It’s telling that the featurette about the making of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” focuses on the behind-the-scenes problems in the making of the film and the fact that they spent more money making the film than the Japanese did on the actual attack (and that it took four times longer to film than the Japanese did in planning Pearl Harbor). The movie nearly brought down a studio. It’s a cautionary tale about excess in epic filmmaking. And, in that light, it serves an important place in movie history. But the movie itself is a mess. A sometimes-fascinating mess, especially when watched with the special features here, but a mess nonetheless.

Tora! Tora! Tora!
Photo credit: Fox

Synopsis:
Tora! Tora! Tora! is the code that advised Japanese Imperial Navy commanders that the devastating December 7, 1941 attack on Hawaii commenced with utter surprise and without resistance. Torpedo bombers, dive bombers and fighter planes swept down upon Pearl Harbor and other military targets, killing over 2,400 and wounding over 1,200. More than a dozen ships were damaged or destroyed. Dozens of aircraft were lost. America, “the sleeping giant,” was abruptly awakened by WWII.

Tora! Tora! Tora! is Twentieth Century Fox’s meticulously researched and painstakingly authentic reenactment of “the date which will live in infamy” and the political and military intrigue that preceded it. This stunning and definitive war docudrama stars Jason Robards, Martin Balsam and E.G. Marshall.

Special Features:
o Commentary by Director Richard Fleischer & Japanese Film Historian Stuart Galbraith IV
o Day Of Infamy Documentary
o History Vs. Hollywood - Tora! Tora! Tora!: A Giant Awakes
o AMC Backstory: Tora! Tora! Tora!
o Behind-the-Scenes Gallery
o Production Gallery
o Fox Movietonews:
·Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
·”Now It Can Be Shown”
·A Year Of War Since Pearl Harbor
·War With Japan
·U.S. Declares War On Japan
·First Pictures Of The Attack On Japan Islands
·Jap Cities Were Bombed By U.S. Army Planes
·President Honors “Jimmy” Doolittle For On Japan
·War Reports Of The United Nations
·Doolittle’s Raiders
·Who Bombed Tokyo
·Mark Anniversary

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com