Tora! Tora! Tora! Is a mostly accurate account of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. This film has both the Japanese and American accounts of the events preceding and up to the attack. They were filmed separately and then edited together to make one story. Tora! Tora! Tora! was the code word used by the Japanese to show that a complete surprise attack had been achieved.
In the first part of the film the Japanese are planning their attack on Pearl Harbor. It starts with a summation of the events that led them to the point to start planning their attack. The film and book state that two of these events were the signing of the Tripartite Pact, which was a loose defense treaty with Germany and Italy, and the freezing of Japan’s assets in the United States. The film goes on to describe how Japan plans to attack Pearl Harbor. The Japanese segments in the first half of the film are very interesting as Japan’s side of the story isn’t told very often in American film. It gives Americans a historical view that many have not seen or heard about. …show more content…
A decoding machine is introduced and Lt. Cmdr. Alvin D. Kramer says that “America is decoding the messages faster than the Japanese embassy.” It is pointed out by Admiral Richardson that if a battleship were sunk in the mouth of the harbor and it would bottle up the whole fleet. As the film goes on the diplomatic relationship between Japan and America deteriorates further finally getting to the point that the State Department gave up hope of a peaceful settlement. The comment about the battleship is very interesting and a foreshadowing to later in the movie when the Japanese pilots try to do just that and close the