TORA! TORA! TORA! Movie Review

1970 Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda, Kinji Fukasaku

From the early '60s to the mid-'70s, the large-scale historical re-creation of a key World War II engagement was a dominant sub-genre in war films. These are expensive productions with large, star-studded casts designed to appeal to an international audience. Tora! Tora! Tora! is among the most accurate in its depiction of the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the attack itself is presented with some remarkably realistic action footage. The high-priced cast is notably absent, with more than competent character actors handling the dramatic work. More unusual is the film's divided focus, which shows the event from both the American and Japanese perspectives, with directorial duties divided among Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda.

In an excellent essay in the book Past Imperfect (Holt. 1995), Harvard historian Akira Iriye argues that the film is too sympathetic to the Japanese point of view, casting the Japanese Navy in a more flattering light than it deserves. But on most significant details, he gives the filmmakers high marks for truthfulness.

The first 70 minutes or so is devoted to the Japanese conception of a plan to take the American Navy out of the Pacific Theater with one blow. Japanese leaders regard that part of the world as their natural sphere of influence and see conflict with America as inevitable. When the Americans move the Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Hawaii, Prime Minister Prince Konoye (Koreya Senda) says that it is “a knife leveled at Japan's throat.” Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (Soh Yamamura) disagrees, but when ordered to come up with a theoretical battle plan, he accepts.

That part of the film is necessarily clumsy and slow as it follows Japanese diplomatic developments and the fitful preparations for war being made in Washington and Hawaii. At Hickam Field, Gen. Short (Jason Robards Jr.) makes all the wrong moves when he decides that saboteurs are a more immediate threat than an air attack and orders that all aircraft be parked close together near the runway. In D.C., Col. Bratton (E.G. Marshall) of the Army's G-2 intelligence branch and Lt. Cmdr. Kramer (Wesley Addy) of Naval Intelligence have broken the Japanese diplomatic code and are working with the Magic Intercepts of sensitive documents. On the night of Saturday, December 6, Kramer dashes around the city trying to get his superiors to pay attention to an ominous partial message. At the same time, the Japanese generals and admirals are debating the wisdom of their strategy and trying to postpone critical decisions until the last moment possible.

When the die is finally cast, the attack begins with a long, beautifully photographed sequence of the Japanese planes taking off from carrier decks into dim, predawn sky. The directors are able to make the intense anticipation and excitement of the young pilots seem real and infectious—even to American viewers. The attack on Battleship Row and the airfield begins with striking scenes of exploding airplanes and ships. But the filmmakers do not follow through with all of the subplots that they introduce. The most important of them involve a flight of B-17s that arrive in the middle of the attack and a couple of American fighters that make it into the air. Neither is satisfactorily resolved.

Much of the dialogue has a false, “loaded” quality that sounds wrong (see Quotes), and the pyrotechnics, as impressive as they are, wear thin, too. Even so, Tora! Tora! Tora! casts a new light on a pivotal moment in world history, and is worth watching for that reason if no other.

Cast: Martin Balsam (Adm. Husband E. Kimmel), Soh Yamamura (Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto), Joseph Cotten (Sec. of War Henry L. Stimson), E.G. Marshall (Col. Rufus G. Bratton), Tatsuya Mihashi (Cmdr. Genda), Wesley Addy (Lt. Cmdr. Alvin D. Kramer), Jason Robards Jr. (Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short), James Whitmore (Adm. William F. Halsey, Jr.), Leon Ames (Frank Knox), George Macready (Sec. of State Cordell Hull), Takahiro Tamura (Lt. Cmdr. Mitsuo Fuchida), Eijiro Tono (Adm. Chuichi Nagumo), Shogo Shimada (Ambassador Nomura), Koreya Senda (Prince Konoye), Jun Usami (Adm. Yoshida), Richard Anderson (Capt. John Earle), Kazuo Kitamura (Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka), Keith Andes (Gen. George C. Marshall), Edward Andrews (Adm. Harold R. Stark), Neville Brand (Lt. Kaminsky), Leora Dana (Mrs. Kramer), Walter Brooke (Capt. Theodore Wilkinson), Norman Alden (Maj. Truman Landon), Ron Masak (Lt. Laurence Ruff), Edmon Ryan (Rear Adm. Bellinger), Asao Uchida (Gen. Hideki Tojo), Frank Aletter (Lt. Cmdr. Thomas), Jerry Fogel (Lt. Cmdr. William Outerbridge); Written by: Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Larry Forrester; Cinematography by: Sinsaku Himeda, Charles F. Wheeler, Osamu Furuya; Music by: Jerry Goldsmith. Producer: Elmo Williams, 20th Century-Fox. Awards: Academy Awards '70: Best Visual Effects; Nominations: Academy Awards '70: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound. MPAA Rating: G. Running Time: 144 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta, LV.