Pearl

I remember watching this on the Family Channel (yes, the family channel) a long time ago when I was little. At the time I wasn't sure what I was watching, but I did like the movie. I had time to waste, and this wasted time while being entertaining. I've seen the miniseries at least five times since then, when it's be re-run on various cable channels.

Whichever TV channel broadcast this originally, put a lot of work into it. On location filming, many of the biggest stars of 70s, and good special effects. With all this money put into these parts of the movie, the plot is slightly thin and melodramatic, and they "borrow" many action scenes from 'Tora, Tora, Tora' (good movie, but much more boring than this miniseries).

Angie Dickinson plays the bitchy wife of a colonel (Dennis Weaver), who tries to have an affair with a southern captain (Robert Wagner), and ultimately is involved in an affair with a private. Lesley Ann Warren is a doctor who is saved from suicide by Wagner. A local journalist of Japanese origin (Tiana Alexandra) is involved with a private (Adam Arkin). There's also a load of notable B actors that you can recognize from other films. All of them find themselves under attack on their island paradise of Hawaii.

Angie Dickinson and Lesley Ann Warren are both really attractive, and contribute decent performances considering the thin plot. Wagner and Weaver are both okay too. A pre-ER Adam Arkin contributes a good performance. And Tiana Alexandra is really under-rated. Sadly she disappeared after this miniseries. The supporting cast are all good, also. The plot is thin, though. They send Angie off on a long taxi ride in the middle of the series. Most of the relationships are unrealistic. And some of the historical facts are skewed (for the most part, because we learned more about the occurrences at Pearl Harbor after this miniseries was made).

Overall, if you have six hours to waste, take a look at this. Over-dramatic, but entertaining. You want a more historically accurate movie, see 'Tora, Tora, Tora'. More interested in actors who are still making movies and computerized special effects, see the even sappier (and, in my opinion, horrible) 'Pearl Harbor'.

Rating: 7/10

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.

The cast list alone semaphores the message that this is an EBGAC (everybody got a check) movie, the sort where all the available character actors in the waiting room got a chance to do their shtick. The script is the classic Hollywood "melodrama" diluted for commercial-interrupted TV. Stirling and Hy start out slow with cut-out characters and stock situations and then push them faster, through, past, around and beyond the actual "historical" situation that is supposed to be the excuse for this miniseries.

I don't know how many nights this thing originally ran, but I watched it on VHS in two installments. While I originally began to watch it to laugh, by the time it was over, I was thoroughly caught up. There are cartoon characterizations and a lot of odd anachronistic social comment, as well as some blatant emotional button pushing. All in all, everybody did their job well, earned their check, got another credit on their SAG CV, and by the time the final credits rolled, I felt that my time was not wasted.

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.

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...