By Emmanuel Kang
K.T. Art & Entertainment Critic

"Pearl Harbor," the $135 million extravaganza currently playing in theaters across the nation, is worth seeing.

I found this film about World War II, with Pearl Harbor as a backdrop, enjoyable and interesting.

The film is not a documentary, but a fictional story that pays tribute to men and women who experienced the Dec. 7, 1941 surprise attack by Japan.

Starring in the love story are Ben Affleck and Josh Harnett as two fighter pilots and Kate Beckinsale as a nurse. The two guys fall for the same girl.

The relationship between Rafe (played by Affleck) and Evelyn (Beckinsale) blossoms into a romantic story. Rafe volunteers to be a fighter pilot in England fighting the Nazis. While he is away, Rafe and Evelyn maintain contact through letters. Rafe is shot down in England and presumed dead. Evelyn, after a brief grieving period, goes on with her life and later falls in love with Rafe’s best friend Danny (played by Harnett).

When Rafe returns home after being rescued at sea, things get pretty awkward between Rafe and Danny. The best friends become unlikely enemies.

In a trick of fate, the attack on Pearl Harbor mends the hard feelings between Rafe and Danny. They end up volunteering to fly a bombing mission over Japan.

The plot is your usual love story.

But special effects make "Pearl Harbor" memorable.

The action scenes are intense, graphic and riveting. I thought the battle scenes were well shot and exciting to watch. The sound enhanced the excitement for me.

Once the plot climaxes to the battle scenes, the action takes over and there is non-stop fighting as the attack progresses. Squadrons of Japanese Zero fighter planes stream down to drop their bombs on the U.S. Pacific Fleet while the defenders of Pearl Harbor shoot frantically at them with machine guns and anti-aircraft battery.

The sheer physical task of recreating the battle scenes must have been an enormous undertaking. Imagine 700 sticks of dynamite, 200 feet of prima cord and 400 gallons of gasoline being used to ignite six ships! They also used naphthalene to create the black smoke seen in the bombing scenes.

The actors apparently had to undergo rigorous training at military camp to prepare for their wartime roles. Their effort shows.

In sync with the action, the dialogue is fast moving. The emotions that are portrayed in the love triangle that unfolds are touching and endearing.

Ben Affleck is superb in his role as Rafe-a brave and dashing pilot. Harnett, one of Hollywood’s leading men, is excellent, too. And, Beckinsale stands her own. Finally, Asian-American actor Mako does justice to the role of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

Even before "Pearl Harbor" was unveiled, there was considerable concern that the movie will spark a resurgence in anti-Japanese sentiments. Japanese American organizations, such as the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) held news conferences to go out of their way to get their message out.

Some have said they were especially anxious about a scene in the film depicting a Japanese American dentist who tells the Japanese about conditions at Pearl Harblor before the attack.

To be sure, the film emphasizes patriotism and duty to the country. In that sense it does come off like a U.S. campaign to defeat the evil imperialist Japanese for its own security. Indeed, Japan is portrayed as the villain, which leveled everything in its sight, and the United States as the good guy and hero, which saved the world.

Still, I did not find the film anti-Japanese or anti-Asian. Perhaps, all the work Japanese American community leaders did ahead of time- and the suggestions they gave to the film makers have helped.

Though Hollywood has a long way to go in depicting Asians and Asian Americans in their full humanity, I did not find the film anti-Asian.

In short, if you have three hours to kill on a summer’s night, you might want to take in the movie. It’s a long flick, so you might want to take a roll of kimbap with you, if you don’t care for popcorn.