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==The Background==
The film largely portrays the background to the attack on Pearl Harbor very accurately. Tensions had been rising between American America and Japan for many years. During WWI, the Japanese and the Americans had been allies. However, when Japan invaded Manchuria in China in 1931 the American government and public were outraged<ref> Clarke, Thurston. Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941. New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 2001.p. 78</ref>. The relationship between Tokyo and the US deteriorated over the years, especially after the Japanese signed a treaty with Italy and Nazi Germany. The movie clearly shows how poor the relationship between the Americans and Japanese had become by 1941. This was after the Japanese army had occupied most of Indochina then a French colony with the agreement of the Vichy French governor. In response to this, the Americans had placed economic sanctions on Japan especially regarding on the export of oil. This was intended to slow the Japanese war machine in Chinaas the Japanese did not have their own supplies of oil. This led to the Japanese militarists drawing up a plan to attack the American naval base in Hawaii. The atmosphere of mistrust between the two nations is brilliantly portrayed. On December 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt did appeal to the Japanese government for a peaceful resolution of the escalating crisis in the Pacific and indeed he received no response. FDR was opposed to the Axis powers but he did not want to enter the war and wanted to maintain US neutrality. The Americans were very concerned about the possibility of a Japanese attack. This is all shown in the motion picture. The movie also makes clear that the US believed that its Pacific fleet was safe in Pearl Harbor as they assumed that any attack would also use Japanese battleships. The movie correctly how the US naval command failed to anticipate a Japanese aerial assault on Pearl Harbor. The movie also shows how the Americans became aware of a Japanese plot to attack Pearl Harbor after they had decoded some of coded messages. The movie shows the intelligence services messaging the US Navy in Pearl Harbor but that they failed to reach those in command. This actually happened and if the US intelligence services message had been relayed to Pearl Harbor in time then they could have defended themselves and denied the Japanese the element of surprise which was so important in their attack <ref>Clausen, Henry C., and Bruce Lee. Pearl Harbor: Final Judgment. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1992, p. 112</ref>.
[[File: ToraToraTora1970.png|200px|thumb|left|Poster of the movie]]
==The attack==
The scenes in the movie where the Japanese attacked the US fleet moored in Pearl Harbor are very accurate. The Japanese attack involved a number of aircraft carriers escorted by battleships that all maintained radio silence as they sailed through the central Pacific<ref> Clausen, p. 117</ref>. The attack as shown in the movie did not involve any Japanese warships attacking the US fleet. Rather the entire operations were carried out by Japanese fearsome Zero fighter planes and torpedo bombers. They took off as shown from Japanese aircraft carriers and made their way to Pearl Harbor once again maintaining strict radio silence. The Americans are shown as being taken completely by surprise and this was the case. This was to prove crucial. The Japanese attacked the American ships with bombs and torpedoes. They had developed very sophisticated torpedoes and they were dropped, at a low altitude by the Japanese Zeros and they sped through the water just below the surface. They detonated when they hit their target. These torpedoes were able to hit many American cruisers and battleships beneath the water line and they sank very quickly even though they were moored in the Harbor. This is also shown very dramatically but also very realistically. The disorganized nature of the American defense is also shown and the lack of air cover for the US fleet is also accurate. However, the planes that were used in the movie were not actually Japanese Zeros. They were adapted RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan) training and BT-13 Valiant training aircraft and had the distinctive markings of the Japanese air force painted on their wings and tail-wings<ref> Slackman, Michael. Target: Pearl Harbor. Honolulu: U of Hawaii P, 1990, p. 113</ref>. The movie was able to acquire some planes from the time such as B-17s and the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. The US P-40 planes shown in the motion picture are in reality only elaborate fiberglass props. The movie does accurately capture the extensive damage and destruction of the attack. The Japanese attack was almost a complete success. However, they failed to sink the US aircraft carriers, for the simple reason, that they were on maneuvers<ref> Collier, Richard. The Road to Pearl Harbor. 1941. New York: Bonanza Books, 1981, p. 112</ref>. This meant that the Japanese did not achieve all their objectives and this is shown very clearly in the movie. In one scene, the Japanese commander Admiral Yamamoto of the attack is informed that the US aircraft carriers had not been moored in Pearl Harbor. He clearly shows his disappointment and he displays a sense of foreboding. The aircraft carriers such as the Yorktown were to spearhead the US counter-attack against the Japanese in the Pacific.
