History YMMV / ToraToraTora

** A server in the mess hall exclaims to everyone that the Radio is broadcasting an emergency report that Pearl Harbor is under attack. Everyone drops what they're doing, rushes to the windows, and manage to get a glimpse of a [=D3A=] dropping a bomb right in front of them... hitting them with a blast wave and a spray of shrapnel and broken glass.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The score by Music/JerryGoldsmith. The parts with Japanese instruments and pentatonic motifs especially add a lot to that side of the film.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: So... now that we've listed this trope, guess which UsefulNotes/AcademyAward it ''did'' get?

--->Get that guy's number, dick! I'll have him reported for safety violations! *[=D3A=] drops bomb*

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade (Toshio Masuda even reused most of the Pearl Harbor attack in his 1982 war epic ''The Imperial Japanese Empire'') , and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to. After the 2001 film, ''Film/PearlHarbor'', proved a boring and badly researched flop, the reputation of this film as the best dramatization of the attack grew still more.

* NightmareFuel: The American pilots trying desperately to get up in the air while their base is under attack. Most of the planes are blown to pieces before they make can begin their takeoff roll. One plane is sent skidding sideways along the pavement, making a [[HellIsThatNoise nightmarish screeching noise]] as the fighter bursts into flames.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The score by JerryGoldsmith. The parts with Japanese instruments and pentatonic motifs especially add a lot to that side of the film.
* {{Main/Narm}}: One of the officers gets angry at a plane for flying either too low or into a restricted area and wants him identified so he can chew him out. The plane identifies itself to him by bombing a structure.
-->Get that guy's number, dick! I'll have him reported for safety violations! *[=D3A=] drops bomb*

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade(Toshio Masuda even reused most of the Pearl Harbor attack in his 1982 war epic ''The Imperial Japanese Empire'') , and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to. After the 2001 film, ''Film/PearlHarbor'', proved a boring and badly researched flop, the reputation of this film as the best dramatization of the attack grew still more.

** StoicWoobie: Admiral Kimmell. Once the attack is in full swing, a machine gun bullet breaks the window he is standing in front of and strikes him in the chest. The round is spent, not having enough energy to even penetrate his uniform. He feels it would have been a mercy if he had been struck dead on the spot. Both the incident and Kimmell's dialogue musing on this are TruthInTelevision.

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory Buffs: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade(Toshio Masuda even reused most of the Pearl Harbor attack in his 1982 war epic ''The Imperial Japanese Empire'') , and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to. After the 2001 film, ''Film/PearlHarbor'', proved a boring and badly researched flop, the reputation of this film as the best dramatization of the attack grew still more.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: So... now that we've listed this trope, guess which AcademyAward it ''did'' get?

* Main/Narm: One of the officers gets angry at a plane for flying either too low or into a restricted area and wants him identified so he can chew him out. The plane identifies itself to him by bombing a structure.

** One scene features a young Japanese or Japanese-American (a substantial portion of Hawaii's population included immigrants from Japan) messenger delivering General Marshall's telegram to Fort Shafter. The Sergeant signing for the message shares [[FacialDialogue a long look]] with the obviously terrified boy.

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory Buffs: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade(Toshio Masuda even reused most of the Pearl Harbor attack in his 1982 war epic ''The Imperial Japanese Empire'') , and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to. After the 2001 film, ''Film/PearlHarbor'', proved a boring and badly researched flop, the reputation of this film grew still more.

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory Buffs: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade(Toshio Masuda even reused most of the Pearl Harbor attack in his 1982 war epic ''The Imperial Japanese Empire'') , and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to.

** StoicWoobie: Admiral Kimmell. Once the attack is in full swing, a machine gun bullet breaks the window he is standing in front of. The round is spent, not having enough energy to hit Kimmell. He feels it would have been a mercy if he had been struck dead on the spot.

** One scene features a young Japanese or Japanese-American (a substantial portion of Hawaii's population included immigrants from Japan) messenger delivering General Marshall's telegram to Fort Shafter. The Sergeant signing for the message shares [[NonverbalDialogue a long look]] with the obviously terrified boy.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The American pilots trying desperately to get up in the air while their base is under attack. Most of the planes are blown to pieces before they make can begin their takeoff roll. One plane is sent skidding sideways along the pavement, making a [[HellIsThatNoise nightmarish screeching noise]] as the fighter bursts into flames.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: So... now that we've listed this trope, guess which AcademyAward it ''did'' get?

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory Buffs: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade(Toshio Masuda even reused most of the Pearl Harbor attack in his 1982 war epic TheImperialJapaneseEmpire) , and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to.

* VindicatedByCable / VindicatedByHistory Buffs: It was a box-office flop in the U.S. and for the most part, critics didn't like it. But it did pretty well in Japan (eventually breaking even), the expensive special effects shots were convincing enough to be re-used for over a decade, and if you need historical accuracy more than you need character-driven drama in a film, this is a good go-to.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The score by AwesomeMusic/JerryGoldsmith. The parts with Japanese instruments and pentatonic motifs especially add a lot to that side of the film.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The score by JerryGoldsmith. The parts with Japanese instruments and pentatonic motifs especially add a lot to that side of the film.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The score by JerryGoldsmith.