'Pearl Harbor' dodges torpedoes

LONDON, England -- Amid those watching to see if the latest Hollywood epic "Pearl Harbor" is a success will be the makers of Billy Elliott.

For Monday's premiere of the big-money blockbuster on the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis, at $5 million, cost more than the UK cinema success did to make in its entirety.

The aircraft carrier launch party for the $135 million Walt Disney film -- starring Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett -- featured Hollywood celebrities, military top brass, World War II veterans and 500 journalists.

But there was criticism of the venue -- and its tone, with what producer Jerry Bruckheimer described as "one of the biggest firework displays ever."

The carrier-turned-movie-theatre was moored just a few hundred metres away from the USS Arizona memorial to those who died in the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. base in Hawaii in December 1941, which killed 2,400 people.

For years visitors to the memorial near Honolulu have first been shown a historical movie, told they are visiting a war grave and asked to respect the memory of the dead -- including 900 crew of the Arizona itself.

This has not been the only problem for the film's makers with what one British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, called a "torpedoing" from movie critics.

One U.S. magazine said "every line of dialogue sounds like it came from an old movie" and Britain's Sun tabloid talking of "schmaltzy lines" commented: "More cheese than a cheddar factory."

Disney's $135 million gamble -- it needs to gross more than $250 million worldwide just to break even -- has already taken a financial toll.

"Pearl Harbor" started out as a "Titanic"-sized flick with a proposed budget that topped $200 million, but Disney Chairman Michael Eisner choked on the high price.

Bruckheimer and Director Michael Bay agreed to give up $4 million in salaries in return for a cut of the profits to get the budget down.

Stars Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jnr. also took a drop on their $10 million basic and said they would work for $175,000 plus a profits share.

Bay quit the movie project four times over various disputes, and had to be coaxed back into production.

But as the movie heads towards its opening in the U.S. on May 25 and Europe on May 31, its makers are urging critics to look to the romantic.

Despite the title suggesting a war movie, the movie focuses "Titanic"-style on a romance taking place before, during and after the battle.

It tells of a love triangle involving Navy nurse, Evelyn, (British actress Kate Beckinsale), and two best friends, Army Air Corps pilots Rafe and Danny (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett).

Before the war, Rafe falls for Evelyn. But Rafe leaves her to fly over Britain, is shot down and presumed dead, leaving Danny and Evelyn -- stationed at Pearl Harbor and Wheeler Army Air Base, to the north -- to fall in love. Then, Rafe shows up in Hawaii and things heat up.

Evelyn's suitors don't have long to be rivals, however, because the Japanese blitz Pearl Harbor the next day. Movie audiences see a nearly two-hour reconstruction of the attack with a 40-minute special effects spectacular.

The filmmakers say they researched meticulously, hiring historians to assure accuracy on the set. But they also admit to stretching the truth for the sake of drama.

"We never forget about history," producer Jerry Bruckheimer said, "but we have to serve the story."

Bruckheimer and Bay said they wanted to make "Pearl Harbor" true to the essence of the events surrounding the battle in order to pay homage to men and women who served in it.

But sticking to every fact was impossible given the film's time -- about three hours, or one hour more than average.

"It's such a massive story to tell, it would have taken nine hours," said Bay.