I saw the short, 34 minute, version of this film and I'm intrigued by the notion of what constitutes a documentary since so much of this film has been recreated. Essentially the story of what happened on that morning this is brief retelling of what happened, mixed with a rousing warning to the Japanese that the destruction they caused wasn't as fatal as they would have liked.
I'm of mixed minds about the film. Certainly the recreation of the bombing is stunning and had I seen this film back in the 1940's I would have been floored by it since its often a great mix of almost believable Hollywood magic and real life footage. Its so good that its clear that later recreations of the attack like Tora Tora Tora and Pearl Harbor stole shots and sequences from it. Unfortunately these same films, freed of the shackles of having to be a propaganda puff piece, are more interesting to watch. We can get lost in the story and don't need to have our patriotism pumped up.
Its not bad, its just more a curio that should be viewed in context of when it was made rather than as a piece of entertainment or a source of real information on the subject.
Worth a look for those who want to see a snapshot of how the war was viewed during the war, or for those cine-files who want to see where later movies cribbed their shots.
I'm of mixed minds about the film. Certainly the recreation of the bombing is stunning and had I seen this film back in the 1940's I would have been floored by it since its often a great mix of almost believable Hollywood magic and real life footage. Its so good that its clear that later recreations of the attack like Tora Tora Tora and Pearl Harbor stole shots and sequences from it. Unfortunately these same films, freed of the shackles of having to be a propaganda puff piece, are more interesting to watch. We can get lost in the story and don't need to have our patriotism pumped up.
Its not bad, its just more a curio that should be viewed in context of when it was made rather than as a piece of entertainment or a source of real information on the subject.
Worth a look for those who want to see a snapshot of how the war was viewed during the war, or for those cine-files who want to see where later movies cribbed their shots.