5/24/01
AU EXPERTS: PEARL HARBOR LIKELY BOX OFFICE HIT, BUT ...
AUBURN -- The heavily promoted movie Pearl Harbor, which opens nationally on Friday (May 25), should be a huge box office smash, says an Auburn University communication faculty member and film expert.
But William Trimble, a naval and military historian, says most historical films are disappointing because they embellish the truth.
"There are so many good stories in history but Hollywood never feels good about that and it takes away from the real drama," said Trimble, chair of AU's Department of History. "If you would leave Hollywood out of it and just tell the story straight, that would make a great movie."
Emmett Winn, an associate professor of communication who studies movies, says "Pearl Harbor will likely be very successful for several reasons the action, romance and opening date of Memorial Day weekend.
"More people go to the movies in the summer and people like to see movies with action, drama and romance," says Winn.
"Pearl Harbor" producer Jerry Bruckheimer "tends to like big films with big stars, big action and romance, says Winn. "The trailers show a lot of great special effects and the buzz is the special effects with the planes is amazing.
Add that with the movie's stars Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale and Alec Baldwin and Bruckheimer has a hit in the making, says Winn.
"My guess is that the history will not be terrible accurate," Winn said. "He places more emphasis on telling a good story with the focus on the action and romance."
For that reason, Winn says he doesn't think the movie will be a praised by critics, as early reports show.
"Critics normally don't like Bruckheimer films because they are sensational and gloss over subtle relationships," he said.
Bruckheimer's characters are called cardboard characters because they are exclusively good or exclusively bad, said Winn, adding, "They don't express the length or breadth of humanity and so the good guys will be really good and the bad guys really evil."
But that type of movie is usually successful at the box office, Winn said. "This is a feel-good movie and it will give a lot of entertainment."
Trimble says his major disappointment with historical movies made by Hollywood is that they are not historically accurate.
"Most likely, people will see the movie and say they know what really happened at Pearl Harbor," said Trimble. "That's what will frost me."
may01:AU-pearlharbor