DECEMBER 7TH: THE PEARL HARBOR STORY - DVD review

The events that occurred at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 will be forever remembered as some of the darkest in American history. In modern time, it has been the only instance where American soil was jeopardized by an outside invader. As Roosevelt said, it is a day that will live in infamy. From "Tora, Tora, Tora" to Jerry Bruckheimer's recent "Pearl Harbor," the events of this day has been retold through the cameras of Hollywood. These glitzy productions give part of the story, but they are far from complete and greatly void of detail. Greg Toland and John Ford's 1943 documentary "December 7th" is the earliest telling of the attack on Pearl Harbor and one of the most informative.

When "December 7th" was released in 1943, the United States Government was very quick to censor the film and chopped fifty minutes of the eighty-two minute feature from the beginning and end of the picture. The remaining thirty-two minutes focused solely on the attack of Pearl Harbor and the aftermath. Gone was the a large portion of Ford and Toland's film that the Government felt would reduce American morale towards the wartime effort. The majority of this footage portrayed hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans living loyally in Hawaii. It showed how a small number of these were loyal to Japan and fed information that led to Pearl Harbor's attack. Other footage showed the rejection of Japan as their homeland by many other Japanese-Americans who were loyal to the United States.

Touted as a John Ford film, "December 7th" owes much of its existence and content to director Greg Toland. "December 7th" has Uncle Sam (Walter Huston) vacationing in Hawaii on December 6th, hours before the attack. He receives a visit from his conscience, Mr. C (Harry Davenport). Mr. C argues with Uncle Sam about the number of Japanese who are undermining the American Government and military strength of Pearl Harbor and helping prepare for a sneak attack that could leave the Pacific Fleet nearly defenseless. Uncle Sam tells his conscience that this is all hogwash and the Japanese are very loyal and this Pacific paradise has nothing to fear from the land of the rising sun. The two argue and provide an overview of Hawaii in the process. Uncle Sam does not buy into these outrageous thoughts and falls asleep. Of course, the next morning, Japanese aircraft viciously strikes Pearl Harbor.

The attack footage shown in "December 7th" is composed mainly from recreations. American Dauntless bombers are used in place of Japanese Zero and Kate aircraft. The majority of the warship destruction scenes are visibly models recreated and destroyed for the film. Typical 1940 cinematic deaths are contained in abundance and even though this film is a documentary, there are times when it comes across as an old-time war film. This was done because at the time this film was shot, the U.S. Government was still retaining the actual combat footage as classified materials. Actual footage from the attack is presented on the DVD in the form of newsreels.

In 1995, the United States Government removed the ban on the original version of "December 7th" and allowed the film to be played for the first time in its entirety. The early part of the film that showed how loyal the vast majority of the American-Japanese citizens were and how others very easily gathered information against America was reinserted. Additional footage was added to the tail-end that had "ghosts" of Pearl Harbor victims introducing themselves and talking to the audience about their demise and value to the American war effort.

Though it appears dated, "December 7th" is far more powerful than any of the more recent Hollywood films. Most of the actual film was fabricated, but it has a way of feeling much more authentic and conveys how the paradise and innocence of the island were lost on the attack and shows how truly helpless many were by the surprise raid. Even though the audience is brought down by the attack and carnage brought upon by the Japanese, it also does a much better job of bringing the audience back around. Unlike the other films, "December 7th" tells of how a large number of the ships were brought back to service and refitted to exact revenge upon the Japanese. The deceit of the Japanese Empire is much more apparent and the sense that they had simply awaken a sleeping giant and not had a victorious attack is shown to be as plain as day by the recovery from the attack.

Video :
The sixtieth birthday of much of this footage is quickly approaching. The main feature and especially the wealth of supplements contained are quite old and it does not appear as if they were preserved with much care. There are scratches, dirt, a few tears and some other glaring reminders of just how old this film is. Sadly, the clarity of the DVD format helps accentuate all of them for the viewer to plainly see. However, the digital transfer is nicely done. Black and white films are more susceptible to pixelation problems and other digital artifacts caused by compression. "December 7th" has a very clean transfer that shows a little more grain at times than necessary, but for most of the film, the picture is very sharp with solid blacks and very bright whites. When compared to the supplemental materials, the restoration of the main feature is of higher quality. This is not the best black and white transfer I have seen, but it is far from being the worst or could even be considered sub-par.

Audio :
The audio for "December 7th" is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. The sound is extremely clear and very intelligible. Once or twice in the picture, the audio dropped ever so slightly and with lower volume levels it would have been difficult to comprehend what was being said on-screen. As mentioned, this occurred only once or twice in the entire three hour running time of the complete collection. The running commentary was recorded on a lower-than-normal level and I found myself turning up the volume quite a bit to get the commentary at a comfortable listening level. The Japanese language segments are nicely subtitled and the audio tracks have survived the years more successfully than the video. There is some static here and there, but everything remains synced and even the very old sound effects possess a hint of a rumble. For materials this old, the audio quality is quite acceptable.

Extras :
What really makes this DVD a must-have for collectors and history buffs is the value added content. The actual film runs only eighty-two minutes. There is one hundred and twenty four additional minutes of supplements included, and that is without considering the full-length commentary track. The supplements that VCI included with "December 7th" show how the Government worked to rally American support by showing certain segments and withholding other pieces from public view. The entire disc is set up to be one continuous film. The main feature, "December 7th," is located after each of the supplemental chapters and can only be directly accessed through the chapter select menu or by skipping chapters.

The first two additional pieces of material are two newsreels that were filmed during and after Pearl Harbor. The first newsreel is the "Universal Newsreel" that was filmed and released directly after the attack. This footage shows how homes and cars were damaged during the attack and shows each citizen and armed forces worker or soldier responding in a calm and collective fashion. Large billows of smoke can be seen in the background, towards the direction of Pearl Harbor. This newsreel explains the attack happened, but fails to show any great damage or horror on America's behalf. It is entirely a Public Relations piece that was meant to not offend or shock anybody. The second clip is a direct contrast to the first. It is a Twentieth Century Fox clip that was filmed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. This newsreel was held for sometime because it contained footage deemed classified by the Government. The footage shows the battleship USS Arizona being struck first-hand by the bomb that dealt the deathblow. It shows the battleship USS Oklahoma capsizing. There is smoke and fire and actual Japanese aircraft. The carnage shown in this newsreel is not Hollywood magic. It is authentic.

After the two newsreels comes a sixty-two minutes feature directed by the man who brought you "It's A Wonderful Life" and other heartfelt classics. "Know Your Enemy: Japan" is part of a series of Frank Capra films that were used as propaganda to stir American sentiment against the ‘evil' Japanese. This was pieced together from Japanese feature films and historical documentaries. It is a film that suggests how the evil Japanese Empire has been working for years to have the entire world build up the army that will eventually conquer them. The main message of the film is that Japanese solely exist to conquer everything and have their culture be the only culture on Earth. The film touches on Samurai and Shoguns. It talks about the Shinto religion and it's godly Emperor. The man who directed the Holiday tearjerker, about a man loved by all is greatly successful in delivering a film that shows a race that should be hated by all.

In 1995, Japan was given advanced screenings of the uncensored version of "December 7th." There was quite a reaction about this uncensored film. The Japanese were quite surprised about the portrayal of loyal Japanese-Americans. Included on this DVD is a small news segment (in color) detailing this sentiment. After this chapter, the feature film begins. To show the differences between the censored and uncensored versions of the film, there are subtitles that appear during the film to mark where the censored version begins and ends. It is interesting that the censored part of the film is broken down into only two chapters.

Another highly significant supplement is the running commentary track. The track is context sensitive to the material being shown on the screen. The first newsreel has a veteran of the Pearl Harbor attack discussing his involvement during the attack. The second newsreel contains a commentary by the man that actually shot the footage and he explains the censorship of the piece and what he observed during the attack. During the "Know Your Enemy: Japan" segment, the Japanese-American that wrote the book on which it part of it is based speaks about the truths and falsehoods of the documentary and adds additional insight into the information provided by the documentary. There is no commentary during the Japanese media clip. The feature film contains the most informative and enlightening commentary. It begins with notes on the actual production of the film and various involvements, but quickly moves onto a discussion by four Pearl Harbor veterans. There accounts of this horrific day are well done and provide a better view on that fateful day than any film ever produced.

There are a few other minor supplements attached to the DVD. There are two previews for other VCI Home Video releases and a still gallery showing then-and-now photographs of each of those who lent their time for the wonderful documentary.

Summary :
"December 7th: The Pearl Harbor Story" is a powerful look at December 7th, 1941. Never before have I seen so much information on the Japanese people (from an American point of view) and their involvement and motivation in regards to Pearl Harbor. The actual footage of the USS Arizona was a visually powerful couple of seconds to behold. The actual feature may be flawed in its technical presentation and contain some excessive Hollywood moments, but it is a look at the people and the aftermath of the attack. This documentary shows the naive approach of the American people and how easy it was to attack the tranquil island paradise of Hawaii. It gives insight into how our Government ‘marketed' the attack and motivated the public for a response that would eventually crush Japan. The commentary by the survivors tells of what it was like to be there. If you are in the mood for more information on Pearl Harbor after seeing the film of the same name, this is a great place to look.