Directed by:
Michael Bay

Starring:
Ben Affleck as Captain Rafe McCawley
Josh Hartnett as Captain Danny Walker
Kate Beckinsale as Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Petty Officer Doris "Dorie" Miller
Alec Baldwin as Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle
Jon Voight as President Franklin Delano "FDR" Roosevelt
William Lee Scott as Billy
Greg Zola as Anthony
Ewen Bremner as Red Winkle
James King as Betty

• I would like someone else to verify this please. After the Pearl Harbor Invasion, a date flashes up as March 1943. A few minutes later it is April 1942. - bvoltaire

• The possible goof I found in Pearl Harbor takes place with a scene that has Cuba Gooding Jr. After the attack begins he is in the ship hallway with a tray of coffee. Directly across from him in the hall way you see a hand that looks like it has some sort of modern electronical device in the hand. Aside from that you see that whilst everyone else is running topside the hand remains static. - nolife

• Danny has a piece of metal stuck on neck. In later scenes you can see it on padding on his collar. - pat

• The movietone newsreel talks about Hitler's conquest through Europe. At the end of the newsreel, there is a US Pershing tank firing through the ruins of a German city. - pat

• In the scene with FDR sitting at a conference table, he has a white lint spot on his shoulder {left}. The next scene it is gone. The next scene it is back. The next scene it is gone. Several takes I presume. About half way through movie. - Mark Graham

• A Japanese attack planning scene showed Battleship models as they would appear during the attack lined up in Battleship Row. Obviously, they never planned to attack the Aircraft carriers, because they were conspicuously omitted during the planning scenario scene. - Navillus

• During the sappy Queen Mary Staging lift scene with both electrical lights and Kerosene Lanterns lighting up the platform, The staging lift moves up and down, but there is no movement in the ropes/lines which would be clearly visible if the ropes/lines were part of a sheave block assembly. Any sailor worth his salt would pick that out right away. - Navillus

• Did anyone else find it odd that Rafe had such trouble on his eyesight test and seemed to be dyslexic, but didn't seem to have any trouble reading letters from or writing letters to Evelyn? - las

• Just before and during the course of the attack, I've seen modern (at least 1970s/1980s) Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates and Spruance class destroyers anchored at Pearl Harbor. - Al
  • Addition: I can confirm that.. and at least one Aegis cruiser in the background.. that Spy 1 Radar array is VERY distinctive and very NOT WWII. - Darkfox

• Unless I'm mistaken, a calendar aboard one of the Japanese carriers is written in English? - J. Campbell

• During the attack, some Americans talk about Zero fighters. As far as I know, very few persons knew about Zero´s existence in that moment. It had been first spotted by Flying Tigers chief, Claire Chennault, who had the chance to fight the Zero over China skies before the Pearl Harbor attack. His reports and technical data about the greatest Japanese fighter of all times were ignored, so there is a very, very remote chance Rafe and his squadmates knew about it. - Martín

• The Zeros that attacked Pearl Harbor in the movie were painted green. This is interesting, because these would then be Japanese Army planes. The Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl. IJN Zeros were silver. - SuperChief

• More than likely, after Rafe made his way back to England (after being shot down and rescued by French fishermen) he would have been sent right back to the RAF Eagle Squadron -- NOT to Pearl Harbor. - Zeke

• Even more unlikely: Rafe and Danny's maintenancemen also are sent to the B-25 squadron along with them. - Zeke

• Evelyn is taken to the intelligence center by the signal officer and told that the raid will begin in "a couple of hours." But it is a historical fact (a fact made clear in the movie) that the raid got off to a surprise early start because Doolittle feared Jap fishermen had spotted the ships and radioed their position. Otherwise, the raid would not have taken place for another twelve hours of so. The signal officer would not have known to get Evelyn. - Zeke

• Danny is looking out a porthole on the carrier just before the raid starts ("They're shooting at something!"). With the possible exception of a Captain's or Admiral's quarters, there would not be any portholes on a carrier. They ain't on a cruise ship. - Zeke

• Signal officer is listening to inter-squadron radio chatter during the raid while planes are something like four thousand miles away. Not likely in WWII. - Zeke

• After Rafe and crew crash, Japanese soldiers begin to fire on them immediately. Actually, it would be more likely for them to try to capture the Americans alive for interrogation. - Zeke

• Rafe, et al, show back up while Evelyn is still only a few months pregnant. In reality, it took Doolittle raid survivors many months to make their way back home (if at all). - Zeke

• Rafe, et al, return with Danny in a coffin. Wow! You mean they carried his corpse all over China and all the way back home? Imagine the smell! In reality, they would have buried him in China. - Zeke

• As our brave pilots leave the ready room of the Hornet and run out on to the flight deck, did anyone else happen to notice a pair of modern red plastic "ear defenders" hanging on a piece of equipment near the hatch? Jus' wonderin'. - SuperChief

• At one point during the attack as the Japanese are flying into Pearl Harbor, there are a couple of LST ships (1100 class) shown, which were not even built until 1969. - BillyT

• It was very fast but I'm not sure... There's a scene where Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale) gives Rafe (Ben Affleck) her scarf in front of the hotel revolving doors. When they show him from the back the scarf is gone! Then she looks back at him when she's leaving through the revolving doors and it reappears! - PuertoRock

• Do you believe P-40's maneuvering like that in close combat against Zero fighters? I don't. - Martín

• My father, a Navy man, brought this to my attention. While panning a scene of carriers they showcase the ships numbers, which are given is succession according to when the ship is introduced. One of the ships had a number near 1180 or somewhere in that area. My father's ship, set afloat in the early 1970's, was 1117. Evidently future carriers were sent back to the 1940s. - Amanda A

• The training field on Long Island has clearly California-looking dry mountains, hardly the appropriate geography for Long Island. - corvus13

• In one of the last scenes showing the Japanese officers reviewing the surveillance photos and intelligence materials before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the camera shows one officer flipping through a stack of cards with black backing. The last one shown seems to have the universal Recycling symbol on it. Talk about progressive! (VHS) - Damien

• The movie depicts the Japanese attacking a "nest" of destroyers (a "nest" is a group of ships tethered together). In the actual attack, several destroyers were damaged (most notably the Cassin and the Downes), but none of the "nests" were attacked. - Quoheleth

• When Rafe came back from the dead and found out that his buddy Danny had taken his girl he went to the bar and got drunk. Soon later Danny came in and Rafe poured him a drink 1 centimeter from the top of the shot glass but then the camera viewed the glass again and the liquere was at the top of the glass. - Brittany Ciolko

• When Ev is coming out of some place with her friends, Rafe runs into her, when he's opening a bottle of champagne, the cork hits his nose, which is already hurt; well, Ev is caressing him, trying to relieve his pain and his nose's blood is going right down his right cheek , but when they show him gin, there's no blood, that's quiet interesting. (DVD-Commemorative Edition) - JustMe

• Just an historic point. During the Battle of Britain scenes, the Spitfire that Rafe is flying is seen firing canons. During the battle all British fighters were fitted with 8 .303 machine guns. Canons weren't fitted until 1941. - Paul

• In the last scene, where Rafe takes Baby Danny up in the plane, as the camera pans over the plane, you can see only one person in the plane and the pilot, not Baby Danny is wearing an aviator's hat. (DVD) - Chris

• At the end of part one, Ev is outside the hospital letting the worst ones in right after on of the injured people that she recognizes is brought up to her. Ev and another nurse are talking and for a brief second at the right hand side of the screen a clip of Bruce Willis from die hard has been added in. I heard that the director added it in as a joke. (VHS) - kirbo

• During the scenes where the president is talking to his staff there are several people present that have Anti-Reflective coating on the lenses of their glasses! Hello--AR coating was NOT available in the 1940's. As well, I believe that Roosevelt wore bi-focals. Are those progressive lenses I see? (DVD) - Dawn

• As Ben Affleck is yelling to Evelyn through the train window, the train starts moving. On the track next to him is another train. In the last shot the rear of a modern Amtrak diesel locomotive appears briefly. - WildWest

• As the nurses are arriving in Pearl by ferry, (passing the USS Missouri which the sailors are painting), as the camera pans down from top to bottom you can see the USS Arizona Memorial in the background, which wasn't build until the 1960's. - WildWest

• The aircraft carrier that the Japanese are using is in reality the same carrier the Americans use. - WildWest

• As the Japanese are planning their attack, they use models of the ships, in their approximate locations. Most notably missing are the American aircraft carriers, which were not in Pear Harbor but were out to sea. - WildWest

• As Ev stands on the porch and Danny gets out of the staff car to tell her about Rafe, the 110v. outlet on the wall appears to be today's three prong type (two flat blade holes, one round hole). Back then, outlets generally sported two flat blade holes on the outlets, one fatter than the other, although many outlets had one T-shaped and one vertical hole. (DVD) - hgernhardt
  

• After Danny and Rafe have taken off to go after the Japanese Zero fighters, take a look at the ground when Danny is has a Zero on his tail, you'll see six Zeros on the ground under his plane, but you have to forward the DVD/VHS while it's paused. Take a look to see for yourself. (VHS/DVD) - Matthew

• It may have just been the copy I saw, but the audio voice-overs did not match the features of the characters faces during the bar brawl scene. (VHS) - Yon

• During Dolittle's briefing before the Tokyo raid, keep an eye on the guy seated behind Josh Hartnet. Throughout the scene, he maintains a cigar in his hand, on the tabletop. At DVD marker (disk 2) 21:32, he'll have the cigar in mouth. At 21:33, the scene is continuos, only the camera angle has jumped and the cigar is gone, without any movement on the actor's part. - Kieth Moreland

• When Kate Beckinsale left Ben Affleck with a scarf, she went through a revolving door. She must've been working out because with just one push, she was able to make the revolving door turn what seemed like a hundred times! (DVD) - bitoy

• When we first see Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett in the movie, they are at Mitchell Field on Long Island, NY. While they are test flying, we see many shots of their planes flying over beautiful mountains. However, there are no mountains on Long Island or around the surrounding metro area of New York City. - Care

• I'd really like to know how Ben Afleck took the train from Long Island to England. - IndyBoosler

• When they said they shot at & sunk a Japanese sub they messed up! Because in the real attack, they forgot to say they sunk the sub. (DVD) - Justin

• When Rafe goes down in his plane and crashes into the ocean there is still daylight, by the time he exits the plane and makes it back to the surface it is night time. He obviously had fantastic lung capacity! - Joey

• Admiral Yamamoto is shown slouched over the planning table with his hands pressed together. The camera focuses on his hands showing him with ten fingers. Actually Yamamoto was missing two fingers on his left hand as a result of a battle wound in 1905. (DVD) - pat

• The Japanese Zeros are continuously being shown strafing sailors in the water between the burning battleships. Earlier in the battle a tower from one battleship crashes on the deck of another battleship.This would block any aircraft from flying between the two ships. Also the ships were too close together. (DVD) - pat

• The Spitfire from Battle of England carries markings of Polish Squadron (RF means squadron 303). - Tomcat

• In the bar scene when Red turns and looks at Goose, Goose has a cigarette in his mouth in the next scene its gone. (VHS) - cowgirl

• When Rafe and Ev are in the police boat heading for the painters thing they actually pass it then in the next scene there just coming up to it. (VHS) - cowgirl

• (Continuity) When Rafe is yelling at Evelyn at the train station, look at the train. At first there is a name on the train then when they flash back at her it's gone. (VHS) - nat

• (Factual errors) At the onset of the Pearl Harbor bombing scene, Danny states that it sounds like "the start of World War II". However, at that time there was no World War I. Rather it was know as "The Great War". Therefore Danny shouldn't know to call it WWII. (DVD) - Adam H

• (Factual errors) In the movie, the zero fighters do not carry external fuel tanks while taking off from their carriers. I saw a historical photograph where they did. - foxbat

• (Factual errors) Jap planes are shown shooting up civilians with torpedoes still attacked. In reality, their first duty would be to drop major ordinance on military targets not shoot bystanders. Also, plane's performance and maneuverability would be hindered by heavy torpedo. (Anniversary SE) - Slindo

• (Factual errors) On aerial shots looking down as bomb drops they go straight down. Actually, a bomb is moving at the plane's speed (though it loses forward momentum a bit as it falls) and must be dropped well before it's over its target, that's why bomb sites are necessary. Ditto all the bombing scenes - bombs go off instantly right under the aircraft, not behind as if they are using lasers. (Anniversary SE) - Slindo

• (Factual errors) The first attack in reality was at Wheeler Field at 7:55 a.m. eight miles from Pearl Harbor. The movie portrayed the first attack to be a guiding missile to a ship at Pearl Harbor. - Mikey

• (Factual errors) In the movie they show broomsticks being installed on the US B-25's just before takeoff. Broomsticks were installed on the well before the attack. Furthermore, the broomsticks were not installed as a weight saving measure. These particular planes did not have a tail gun, so broomsticks were installed to deter Japanese fighter attacks from the rear. Guns were removed from the belly (ventral turret), but this was done very early on in the planning, not moments before takeoff. - worst movie=PearlHarbor

• (Factual errors) They show a waist machine gun being removed from the American B-25 just before the Doolittle raid. In reality, the Doolittle raid used B-25B's, which didn't have waist guns. - worst movie=PearlHarbor

• (Anachronisms) Not only in the Pearl Harbor attack, but elsewhere in the movie, the video of the American Battlegroup steaming was plainly modern with discernable Nimitz class aircraft carriers, AEGIS cruisers and Arleigh Burke destroyers. - JonnyK

• (Revealing mistakes) During the attack all of the nurses are running for their lives, and then they show Betty and then an explosion right in front of her so you have got to assume that she is dead. Later on when Evelyn determines that she's dead the man takes her in to the back room and puts her down on a bunch more of dead bodies. If you look close enough you can see one of the dead actors rearranges his head to make himself more comfortable. - Nate Dogg

• (Continuity) In the scene of the bar brawl DVD chap. 19 marker 1:14:40, Goose gives Rafe the shirt off his back. When the camera is on Rafe, he has a shirt on over a white t-shirt. Yet when the camera switches back to Rafe after he has accepted Goose's shirt, he hasn't taken off his shirt yet, and when he puts on Goose's shirt he only has one shirt on! Oops! (DVD) - maddog_1212

• (Anachronisms) When the caskets were layed out the the hanger for the loved ones to pay their final respects, there was a colored photograph of the captain that Gooding Jr was looking at. The only colored photos they had back then were painted black and whites. They would never have as much detail as the photo of the cap. Generally adding color highlights and facial tones. - scribbleink

Debated Goofs

• When the nurses were placing the dead bodies in one pile on the ground one hand moves and another head moves. - brittany ciolko
  • Explanation: It is a medical fact that sometimes dead bodies can twitch or move, it's a muscle spasm cause by trauma. Look it up. - Blanket
  • Comment: I agree with brittany. It was a goof. I mean they're not going to use real dead bodies in a movie. An actor just moved when they were filming most likely.
    • Explanation: In a mass cassualty incident, unfortunately, nurses and doctors are called apon to make decisions in which patients who are still biologically alive, but have injuries that are not going to be "fixed" regardless of effort. Living but gravely injured patients will also be left to die if the number of patients greatly outweigh available staff. This is called START triage and is why Evelyn used her lipstick to mark pts... it is quite possibly not a goof at all, but that the persons being piled were still, barely, alive. (DVD) - Tennymedic

Commented Goofs

• Evelyn is about six months pregnant by the time of the Doolittle Raid but shows no signs of it. - pat
  • Comment: It is possible to be six months pregnant and not look like you are. - sara

• American squadron member yells, "It's a dud!" referring to Japanese bomb dropped near him. But the arming propellor was clearly still spinning (he sees this). Any maintenance man would know better. - Zeke
  • Comment: He said that because it didn't explode right away, so he figured it was a dud. He also wasn't technically a maintenance man, so he might not have known that the spinning fan meant the bomb would still blow up. - AngelGDH

• During the Doolittle raid, a member of Rafe's crew is wounded by anti-aircraft fire and dies. In reality, no crewmembers on any of the sixteen B-25's were wounded while over Japan. There were casualties in China, however. - SuperChief
  • Comment: There were a total of 7 deaths after the raid: 2 drowned, 1 parachute failure, 3 war crime executions & 1 POW death. There were not any crash deaths or firefight deaths. - pat

• When the Japanese planes are getting ready to take off . You can see each one is numbered with English letters and numbers, for example: A1, B3, A4 ect. - Richard York
  • Comment: In reality the Japanese planes from for example the "AkagI" were marked: Fighters: AI-101, AI-102, AI-103... Divebombers: AI-201, AI-202... Torpedoplanes/levelbombers: AI-301, AI-302... and so on. - Olav Westerman

• In the scene where Danny gives Evelyn a view of Pearl Harbor at sunset in the airplane, you get a shot of the plane from the back as it is taking off. In it, only one person is in the plane. (DVD) - Chris
  • Comment: It is impossible for two persons to sit together in a stock wartime P-40:s cockpit. At least if you try to fly it at the same time. The scene is idiotic. - Olav Westerman

• If you look closely at the Japanese carriers, you will notice they have angled flight decks. This modification to aircraft carriers was made for jet aircraft in the 60's. - Tim Knutsen
  • Comment: The Japanese carriers not only have angled flightdecks. In a scene Japanese planes take off from a carrier filmed from the air. The carrier is sailing backwards and the planes are launched from its stern. Since most of the scene is CGI, one can wonder why they did such a stupid thing. One reason can be that the superstructure seems to be on the port side, as on the real "Akagi", but it would have been better to just flip the frame. - Olav Westerman

• My God! Pearl Harbor is by far the worst WWII film ever. Too many goofs to mention 1. The close-ups of the computer-generated aircraft show no control surfaces moving. 2. The two heroes are qualified to fly twin-engine aircraft just a few months after the attack. NO! 3. The Doolittle Raid scenes were laughable. It shows all 16 aircraft bombing the same target at once. NO! There are thousands more. It was a terrible film and a disservice to those who were there. - Steve-O
  • Comment: I would like to correct you Steve-O. For one, you're a bastard who judges movies by how many goofs they have in it. Second, Pearl Harbor was the best movie portraying WWII I've ever seen. Third of all, you copied my name. If you would watch the movie as "a movie" and not by "a system of mistakes", you would probably see that this was a good movie. - stevo

• At the end of the scene where the B-25's are taking off from the Hornet for the attack on Japan, the very last shot shows, unbelievably, three of the bombers taking off side by side, simultaneously. AND, they are taking off from a modern, angled deck carrier (I wasn't able to tell which one). Unbelievable. - Brad
  • Comment: Brad is correct. The aircraft carrier "Lexington" was used in this movie and it is an angled-flightdeck carrier....NOW. As originally built during WWII it had an inline deck, as did all carriers. Post WWII the #2 aircraft elevator (port side) was permanently fixed in a raised position, some decking added and viola!, an angled deck. Also, in the overhead shots of the flight deck you can clearly see the #'s 1&2 steam catapults, which had not been invented at the time. Lastly, Doolittle's raid was FUBAR'd completely (besides the fact that they used one of the biggest 'bleeding-heart liberals' to portray a great soldier). I know it makes a great shot, but Doolittle's Raiders did not fly over Tokyo in formation bombing the crap out of it. None of the aircraft were even within sight of each other during the raid. Each took a separate route. - Grendel

• In the movie the lead female character (can't remember her name) is wearing a bikini. The bikini was not invented until July, 1946. (DVD) - Simsgirl
  • Comment: I do agree but you can't remember her name? It is on like all of the other goofs listed and most people actually pay attention to the movie and not just the goofs. - Nikki

• Does anyone notice during the attack, when the torpedo is launched against Cuba Gooding Jr's ship, that the captain is about the waterline (you can see blue sky through the porthole), and yet that compartment gets a direct hit by the torpedo? I've never seen a torpedo that can jump out of water... (VHS) - Mobil1fan_2002
  • Comment: Note to Mobil1fan_2002: I agree that it seems unlikely that the torpedo "leaped" out of the water and struck near the bridge. However, it is possible that the torpedo struck a small munitions magazine or another highly volatile area, and the combined explosions were powerful enough to rip through the superstructure and into the bridge area. That seems like the only way it could have happened, unless the torpedo actually leaped...in a movie so rife with errors, anything's possible! (VHS) - Covenant

• Admiral Kimmel receives the attack warning message while he is inspecting the harbor battle damage while on his launch. How he manage to receive it while in the middle of the Harbor. Funny thing about the Kimmel character, he was always receiving messages in oddest places: (on a Battleship inspection, golf course, barber shop.) - pat
  • Comment: Ever been in the Military, Pat? This sort of thing happens, especially with flag officers (Admirals and Generals). Half the time what happens is the message is run by a bunch of people to look for the officer. Been there, done that. - Darkfox

• Fighter pilots sent to a bomber squadron? Unlikely no matter what Doolittle thought of Rafe and Danny. - Zeke
  • Comment: TRUE... In fact, it's a completely different type of flying! It's a completely different type of plane! Fighter pilots would NEVER and could NEVER fly those big bombers on that attack. It was not done. VFW Magazine actually had an article on this dispute. ALSO... Cuba Gooding's character NEVER did shoot down a plane in real life. - New Jeru Poet

Corrected Goofs

• When Cuba Gooding Jr. went to his corner during the boxing match his buddy was holding a wad of money. The top bill showed the word HAWAII printed on it. This was Invasion money issued incase Japan invaded and captured Hawaii. The only problem is, these notes were not printed or released until JULY 1942 and could not have been at Pearl Harbor before the attack. - jts
  • Correction: The previous poster said this "invasion" money wasn't issued until July 1942. I collect WW2 period artifacts and have a dollar bill with Hawaii printed on it from 1935. - WildWest

• The Doolittle Raiders complete their bombing run of Japan, then fly east to China. As they are getting low on fuel and resolving themselves to "their fate," night begins to fall and there is a beautiful sunset behind the bombers. HUH? The sun sets in the east, and Japan is west of China! (just like the infamous 'Green Berets' ending, you think moviemakers would learn from the past) - Kieth Moreland
  • Correction: The person that sent this goof says, that the sun sets in the east????? wrong wrong wrong. Even a moron knows that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Just to doubley make an ass of themselves they say that Japan is west of China or something!!! come on, unless you look at a map upside down, Japan will ALWAYS be to the east of china. - jeff
    • Addition: Wow!!!! Jeff is right on, and I'm ashamed of myself. Although I wrote it out all wrong, the goof stands: In the film, the sun is setting in the east, as the planes fly west from Japan to China. Thanks Jeff, for keeping me humble. - Kieth Moreland

• Would it be a common occurrence to find kids playing baseball, Admiral Kimmel playing golf, and a lady hanging wash at before 8:00 a.m. (the time of the invasion) Sunday morning? Just a curiosity! - freelance
  • Correction: Admiral Kimmel wasn't on the golf course at the time of the initial attack. - WildWest

• Prior to the air attack on Pearl Harbor an American destroyer captain radioed that he had fired on a Japanese submarine. Naval Intelligence treated the message as only a possible contact. If the captain had confirmed the submarine sunk, as portrayed in the movie, the fleet would immediately have been alerted to an impending attack. (DVD) - Bobnxena
  • Correction: When the submarine was shot and sunk the captain of the ship did report of a firing and sinking an enemy submarine trying to enter Pearl Harbor. But if you watching any specials about the attack on TV, nothing really happened after the report happened. So in real life the report was made and nothing happened, so no it is not a goof. - Chubb's

Explained Goofs

• Why in hell does Evelyn get a Purple Heart? I don't remember her getting wounded. - Zeke
  • Comment: I agree with Zeke. Why the hell did Evelyn get a Purple Heart? A Navy Commendation medal, I believe would've been more appropriate--and more believable. - Al
    • Explanation: Don't you remember where Doolittle is talking to Danny and Rafe and he asks them if they want to accept the mission? Rafe makes a comment saying that this type of mission is where you get medals but they give them to your relatives. (DVD) - Chris
      • Comment: They would send the medals home; not to the girl friend and why did all of the other nurses get medals also?? - steph