Stupidity: In the scene where the Japanese pilots are attacking the main airfield, at one point in the background, you can see a Bofors Anti-Aircraft gun, yet nobody bothers to use it.
lionhead
5th Jan 2024
Pearl Harbor (2001)
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Suggested correction: Maybe it doesn't have any ammo, or there is nobody around who actually knows how to use it. These things can happen in a surprise attack on what is basically a holiday resort.
27th Aug 2001
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Corrected entry: In the scene where there is a camera on the bomb falling on the ship, it is clearly visible that the bomb in falling down vertically. It is well known that when bombs are released from bombers, they have a horizontal speed, which is the same of the bomber. Thus the trajectory is, as every high school student should know, a parabola.
Correction: A *dive bomber* released this bomb. As the name suggests, they dive towards their target before they release the bomb, therefore the bomb falls towards the target vertically.
Correction: When the bomb is released, it drops straight down relative to the aircraft. This has nothing to do with dive bombing.
The bomb that blew apart the Arizona was historically a bomb from a dive-bomber and they dropped down vertically. So there is nothing wrong with the angle of the bomb. That the bomber doesn't dive is a different matter.
That may be true, but the aircraft that dropped it in the film was not diving. Dive bombers release the bomb from an almost vertical dive then pull out of the dive. The bomb continues towards the target.
I mentioned that. I say that's a different problem.
8th Oct 2019
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Other mistake: Rafe is afraid of getting his wings removed because he has dyslexia (that his teachers couldn't make sense of) and that he has had "some schooling." To be a Lieutenant as Rafe is in the movie he would need a bachelor's degree. Also this mixing up letters didn't appear on all the letters he wrote to Evelyn. Or hindered his ability to read Evelyn's letters.
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Suggested correction: For his education he got help from Danny and during his time in England he could have gotten help from any of the pilots, both to write and read. He is smart enough the get a bachelor's.
What utter nonsense. Rafe is so severely dyslexic that he cannot read a basic eye chart. No amount of "help" would get him through flight training school or university.
27th Jun 2011
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Corrected entry: In the scene when Jimmy Dolittle is standing on the carrier talking to Rafe about the reason for the Raid there is no wind. This is impossible as the Hornet was steaming at over 30 Knots which means there would have been a wind of over 30 miles an hour going across the deck and it would have been heaving up and down as the seas were rough for the trip.
Correction: The carrier would be sailing into the wind as the B25s would be taking off soon.
When they actually launched they were still 10 hours away from actual take off, they didn't go against the wind yet. They had to do that the moment the decision was made to launch.
Correction: This phenomenon is called 'apparent wind'. If they are traveling the same direction as the wind at roughly the same speed, they would not feel the wind.
For this to happen, the wind would have to only come from one direction. The wind doesn't stay in the same direction for any length of time, especially when it is blowing at 30 knots.
Correction: Firstly, there is definitely wind, their jackets are all bulged up. Secondly, the trip took 2 weeks. It wasn't bad weather the entire way and they were talking about the medals days before April 18th when the weather was rougher. They intentionally did the operation before the end of April when the weather was going to turn bad.
4th Aug 2010
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Factual error: As the Japanese fleet steams toward its launch point, there is a close up of the nose of a B5N1 Kate torpedo bomber with its distinctive two-bladed propeller. Trouble is, the Kates used against Pearl Harbor were B5N2's, with a two row radial and 3-bladed prop.
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Suggested correction: The B5N1 also used a three-bladed prop. The two-bladed prop aircraft in the movie is a Kate replica (a modified AT-6 Texan). All Kates used at Pearl Harbor were B5N2's.
I think the point is that the B5N2 also came with 2 bladed propellers. Whether or not they were used during the attack on pearl harbor is something for a real expert to say.
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