Pearl

Though probably perceived as a cheesy mini series, this has a lot of good performances, notably Max Gail as a career NCO and Weaver as a negative stereotype of a career officer. It is also fairly faithful to history, something I found refreshing...

Entertaining movie about an awful event. I Watched it again for the first time since I saw it on TV, and was impressed. It actually touched on the prejudices of the time quite well. The acting was good, and it was fun to go down memory lane with some familiar faces-most who were in the smaller parts (Brian Dennehy, Gregg Henry, Adam Arkin, Max Gail). I liked Dennis Weaver's performance better now than in the 70s when "McCloud" was fresh in my mind, because his character was not that likable. For Robert Wagner fans, I would say this is one of his better roles...Especially if you measure his performance by hotness, as well as acting and character likability.

An interesting saga of trials and tribulations, passions and ambitions set in Hawaii around the time of the infamous attack on Pear Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. An all star cast provides the drama of relationships growing and waning in between some decent scenes of Japanese planes dropping bombs on the ships in the harbor. Notable cast members: Angie Dickinson, Robert Wagner, Brian Dennehy, Gregg Henry, Dennis Weaver, Tiana Alexandra, Richard Anderson and Lesley Ann Warren. Well worth your time.

The military as a source of soap opera-type stories had been little-mined in the 1970s, though it certainly was going to be in the future (at least on American network TV) with shows like "For Love and Honor", "Emerald Point N.A.S." (also starring Weaver), and, arguably, "Tour of Duty" (not to mention the champ of them all, "China Beach"). To take the sweeping course of events in 1941 Hawaii and use them as a source of stories more about personal lives and interactions than grand strategic plans was an interesting course of action; somehow it must have mostly succeeded or there likely never would have been the (far superior) "Winds of War" a few years later on the same network.

There are worse ways to waste one's time than watching this. It is well casted, particularly by Weaver as martinet career soldier. Anyone who has been in any branch of the military any length of time will recognize the type, also Dennehy and Gail do well as other types of career soldiers...