World War II · Film · 2001
Pearl Harbor
Two childhood friends become army pilots and fall for the same nurse; the Japanese attack on Hawaii throws them into the war, and then into a secret mission over Tokyo.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 5 places.
Stop 1: Mitchel Field, Long Island
Rafe and Danny fly under Major Doolittle, and Rafe meets nurse Evelyn before volunteering to fly with the RAF in England.
Stop 2: Skies over the English Channel
Flying with an Eagle Squadron against German bombers, Rafe is shot down into the Channel and reported dead.
Stop 3: Pearl Harbor
Key location
The morning after their fight, the two friends race to a small airfield, take off in P-40s and join the rescue of sailors trapped in the capsized Oklahoma.
Stop 4: Tokyo
Launched from the Hornet too far out, the B-25s drop their bombs on Tokyo knowing they may not have fuel to reach China.
Stop 5: Zhejiang, occupied China
Out of fuel, the friends crash-land in Japanese-held territory and fight off a patrol until Chinese soldiers reach them.
What really happened
On 7 December 1941 Japanese carrier aircraft struck Pearl Harbor and the airfields of Oahu, sinking or damaging eight battleships and killing 2,403 Americans. Only a handful of US fighters got into the air, among them the P-40s of Lieutenants George Welch and Kenneth Taylor, who loosely inspired the film's heroes.
On 18 April 1942 sixteen B-25 bombers led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle took off from the carrier Hornet and bombed Tokyo and other cities, then crash-landed or bailed out over China and the Soviet Union. The raid did little damage but lifted American morale, while Japanese reprisals in Zhejiang and Jiangxi killed some 250,000 Chinese civilians. The love triangle is invented, and historians criticised the film's many inaccuracies.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Pearl Harbor
- Directed by
- Michael Bay
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English, Japanese
- Released
- 2001
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Pacific, The Americas
- Themes
- Air war
- Romance
