1941 Japanese Attack On Pearl Harbor example essay topic

"Tora! Tora! Tora!" is a movie about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It documents the activities of the U.S. and Japanese governments leading up to December 7, 1941. The U.S. does not want Japan to sign the Tri-Partite Pact making them the third member of the Axis Alliance with Italy and Germany. U.S. Naval Intelligence develops a device to intercept and decode messages sent between Tokyo and all Japanese embassies.

Even with this device they don't see the attack on Pearl Harbor coming. U.S. commanders believe Pearl Harbor is too shallow to be attacked by torpedo planes. Shortly after four in the morning on December 7, 1941 American sailors spot a Japanese submarine just off the harbor entrance. Then, radar picks up the incoming Japanese planes, only to be interpreted as B-17's coming from the mainland. The planes made it undetected and the attack commenced at 8: 00 a.m. Sunday, December 7, 1941. After the attack, Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Yamamoto says, "I fear all we have done is waken a sleeping giant".

The facts in the movie were consistent with what I have acquired elsewhere. All of the names, places, and times were accurate. One thing I had never heard before was the U.S. military being portrayed as incompetent. The movie insinuates the U.S. government suspected this was going to happen and did nothing. Whether President Roosevelt used the attack as a tool to drag the U.S. into the war is controversial. This idea is not the popular one among historians.

The movie includes many more details than the book Nations of Nations. The book doesn't say anything about the Japanese Ambassador meeting with the Secretary of State. Nor does it mention the amount of time the Japanese spent in preparation. One major discrepancy I noticed was related to the letter delivered to the Secretary of State.

In the movie, the letter from the Japanese clearly said they were going to attack. But, in the book For the Record President Roosevelt says, "It contained no hint of war or armed attack". Personally, I am more inclined to believe the movie because there is no need for propaganda on this issue after the war. I believe Roosevelt made this statement to depict the Japanese as cowardly, and unable to be trusted. As far as historical contributions to the film, none were listed.

The only people who were credited in the film were the actors. One really doesn't know where the producers got their information, yet, at the beginning of the film it states the information is true. Even so, it leaves one with a sense of doubt. They do not say where they obtained the facts. I was skeptical until I concluded my own research, revealing it to be a factual narrative. Even though no historians were mentioned, I believe it is a factual movie.

Even web uses this movie to teach the history of Pearl Harbor. And, movie critic James Berardinelli has a post on movie-reviews. colossus. net, which says, "Tora! Tora! Tora! is meticulous in its approach to dissecting the situation leading up to the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor."Tora! Tora! Tora! elects to be even-handed, presenting both the Japanese and American sides of the story, and doing so without resorting to caricatures or cheap shots.

The Japanese are not faceless bad guys, nor are the Americans presented as innocent, blameless victims". Hollywood should be held accountable for telling the truth when dealing with historical events. It is not fair to viewers to be told half-truths which are passed off as being the whole truth. In the movie Tora!

Tora! Tora! the producers don't say it is based on a true story, they say it is true. Meaning, it is basically a documentary played with actors. The producers also did a wonderful job of portraying U.S. enemies as they truly are.

They recognized my right to know what truly happened. I think the reason Hollywood doesn't always portray the enemy as they truly are, is because Americans want to see themselves as the hero (the one who is always doing the "right" thing). If the enemies were portrayed as being the hero, Americans wouldn't feel good about the message of the movie and consequently ticket sales would not do very well. Hollywood is in it for the money and will do what it takes to sell movies, even if that means telling false truths. However, this movie did a fine job of portraying the truth. Hollywood owes it to the individual, the family, and the friends to accurately describe people depicted in movies.

I wouldn't want someone creating a movie of my life and making false statements. Even if they say it is "based" on a true story, is the viewer expected to discern the facts from the fiction? Living relatives of the people portrayed in Tora! Tora! Tora! should be pleased with the way the producers accurately told the story. Nothing was exaggerated or changed in order to make the plot more interesting at the expense of a characters morality.

There was not any bias towards either side. The movie merely shows it the way it was. In some ways the Japanese Commander-in-Chief was glorified, but only by his own people. His last statement, "I fear all we have done is waken a sleeping giant", shows he fears he might have done the wrong thing. He was justly glorified in doing what was the good for his people. Admiral Kimme, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, appeared to be vilified.

His alleged lack of foresight caused the fleet's defeat. If anyone should receive the blame it should be his superiors, possibly even the President. Admiral Kimme was just following orders. This movie greatly increased my understanding and knowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I never knew the U.S. had radar they didn't fully know how to use and interpret. I learned that the Japanese were only acting on behalf their country in which they believed in.

Any American would have done the same. The U.S. has been bombing Iraq recently for the same reasons, "our belief in our country and way of life". For this reason, the U.S. is not so different today; from the way the Japanese were in 1941. The only data I feel the need to investigate further are the details of the letter sent to the Secretary of State by the Japanese.