Pearl Harbor

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

The hype, before people knew anything of Harry Potter or forgot that Star Wars 2 was in the making was ready and set for THE war epic Pearl Harbor. The people around the world were ready for a next Saving Private Ryan, one that especially concerned the American crowd and mostly it was the movie that would stir up the thoughts of soldiers that died for their country, those that were brutally awaken from the dream world America and faced a threat beyond their beliefs, for one moment the American nation didn't know what to do or how to react. Of course it reacted in the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how incredibly rude it may sound, it was the payback of revenge. Of course make a list for directing this undeniable epic of tragedy and everyone would clearly mention, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Terence Malick or James Cameron but Bruckheimer saw this even better, hire Michael Bay (Bad Boys), make it an action and love romance that would stir up the patriotism and let the crowd remember Titanic so that money would be made, people would be pleased and companies would earn. Sadly a fact in history as big and earth shocking as this isn't a love and shoot em up movie. At least that was my impression before I saw it, now I think it is much better than first imagined. There is a lot of depth in the character development and the story isn't as over romanticized as it sounded. Of course sometimes its a bit too mellow but the movie nonetheless gave the horror of the initial attack, in the end it was far better then a lot of people said.

One thing got me truly hyped and that was the report that Hans Zimmer would score the movie, recently it was The Thin Red Line that started this whole hype and classical but realistic releases like Gladiator and Hannibal made me convince that Zimmer could pour emotion into the end result. But as the track 'Journey to the Line' made the teaser so incredibly powerful it was Hans Zimmer's score that felt completely out of place, not in the movie context' of Bruckheimer or Bay but in the context of the real historic events. People responded that this score was laughable and totally non fitting with the movie, Hans Zimmer wrote a powerless effort some said. Well, I'm sorry, as a Zimmer fan I might protect him but this isn't Zimmer's fault, of course its not super sensational but the score fitted the scene and it accompanied it like it should have done. People who don't like the score obviously didn't like the movie either and even if there isn't a big epic strength to be found here, it is still solid for its basis. Zimmer didn't use Thin Red Line epic form and perhaps that is the biggest disappointment for many, and not the sound it received instead of it.

I know Zimmer, he can add depth to any script, but the magnitude of this creation was nothing more then an obvious trick to re sell the Titanic magic. Nothing new because James Cameron has proven several years ago that a love story and a disastrous event of immense proportion can actually work. However, James Cameron never let the romance be too sentimental and romantic and the tragedy real and not action oriented. Bay on that territory sometimes got too mellow and remained perhaps too less with the facts of the war. But that's the problem you're having with the movie and not its feel, it is still as strong in its drama as it was before. Of course problems rose already with the main theme. Despite the time limits, Hans Zimmer had to come up with a great main theme and apparently it took more time than first intended, and it meant that the rest became less inspired music, more the easy written and not directly big stuff. Attractive and easy to listen more the better but there seems to be no big feel behind it all. Hans Zimmer isn't James Horner but Zimmer is the man that can underscore the drama, the emotional war, the heroic and patriotic side of the story, perfectly captured in scores as The Thin Red Line, Gladiator and Backdraft and due to time constraints, the score apparently lost depth. Nonetheless for some it worked for the movie.

But, Pearl Harbor still became a major disappointment in many peoples eyes and ears. What does sound good is the choral might in 'I Will Come Back', this is a short but rather intriguing moment and brings more depth than the overall romantic part we heard in the first 3 tracks namely 'Tennessee', 'Brothers' and '... And then I Kissed Him'. 'Attack' looked to become the biggest disappointment, it shortly hints Gladiator and The Thin Red Line but thereafter the score becomes quite subdued, almost surrounded with a classical edge and soprano performance that listens like music I've discovered in Toys. Those that were expecting an immense powerful musical accompaniment for the initial attack will be immensely disappointed. Instead of the perfect trailer use of 'Journey to the Line' you receive the complete opposite music, classical and emotional. I also didn't like it at first but then you see what it does for the movie (remember, the first 10 minutes of the attack barely have music and this is used when the people are dying) and that is all what people need. To continue, 'War' is a good action piece and is for me the best track on the score, but here we have already entered action territory and nothing sounds epic anymore. The score ends with the love theme repeated, working as a patriotic and emotional composition and stirring up the thoughts with a vocal, again not to far away from Toys.

In the end Zimmer will disappoint many but I for one can't blame him. The composer is simply the person that has to add the wish of the director or producers. And if this choice isn't something he totally agrees with he still has to finish the job as nicely as possible. Zimmer was one of the first crew members that signed a contract to be on the project. This is what happened: You get the animatic of the attack and you combine The Thin Red Line to it, and like anyone will agree Zimmer responded with "absolutely breathtaking". But you receive something different when the time starts to tick and you ultimately get the version you didn't directly expected. The short answer is more then enough: "look at the job, this is not the type of movie I signed on for." Zimmer felt wrongly about the intentions and rather then just repeat what he wrote for The Thin Red Line, he wrote something different in the best possible circumstances. And because its a love story in a war setting, the tone was more romantic then expected. Of course do other war scores fit in more with there better half but neither Thin Red Line as Saving Private Ryan were romantic war scores, so Pearl Harbor ultimately had to sound different. Accept that its different because it somehow works in the context of the film. Of course in the context of the movie, not of how people expected it to sound like. But if I'm not mistaken, that's what they said of Saving Private Ryan too, not ballsy enough even though for the picture it was a perfect match. It's all a question of taste really. Pearl Harbor is far from becoming Zimmer's best but he tried to please anybody in the business (crew, movie goers and fans) and be doing so he became to many one of the movie's weakest points too many.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. There You'll Be: Faith Hill (3.42)

2. Tennessee (3.39)

3. Brothers (4.04)

4. ... And Then I Kissed Him (5.36)

5. I Will Come Back (2.54)

6. Attack (8.56)

7. December 7th (5.07)

8. War (5.15) Excellent Track

9. Heart Of A Volunteer (7.04)

Total Length: 46.23

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Hans Zimmer ===