5 War Movies That Real Veterans Hated (And 5 They Approve Of)

The 5 They Hate:

5. Pearl Harbor

To its credit, Pear Harbor is a technically superb piece of cinema. In true Michael Bay fashion, the film is filled to the brim with explosions, special effects, and edge-of-your-seat action. If it were to be judged solely on visual excellency, it would likely have scored higher than 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. For the men who really fought there during the attack in 1941, however, there is far more to the story than blazing guns and impressive visuals. Before the film's release in 2001, veterans of the attack branded it as a 'disgusting representation' of the facts, criticising it for completely fabricating elements of the story for dramatic effect. Their outrage is understandable, given that the real events were astonishing enough and hardly called for any embellishment. Special exception was taken to the way that McCawley and Walker are portrayed as two gung-ho heroes almost single-handedly taking on and repelling the attacking Japanese fleet, despite the fact that there were an estimated ninety US pilots in the air that day. Jack Leaming, a survivor of the attack, criticised the film for "insulting the guys who defended Pearl Harbour and died. They're not giving them the recognition they should receive." Despite Leaming's and other's gripes, Pearl Harbor still went on to gross $450 million worldwide.