Attack on Pearl Harbor: Minute by MinuteCovers the 1941 Japanese military strike on a Hawaiian naval base in never before seen detail.
DirectorStan Griffin
Secrecy and Surprise
Nov 30, 2021
A detailed account of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour, beginning with the inception of the idea and the obstacles it faced during the months of planning. Some of the survivors of that day share their stories, including a 103-year-old Japanese torpedo bomber, who is interviewed for the first time, and an American sailor who was on the USS Arizona when it was hit by a bomb that ignited its ammunition magazine, killing 1,177 men.
30 Mins of Hell
Dec 1, 2021
The attack begins and the months of practice by Japanese fighters are put into place, as 183 Japanese bombers and fighters wipe out almost all the Pacific Fleet's battleships. During the attack, heroes emerged, such as Dorie Miller, the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross, the US Navy's highest military honour, while people questioned whether commander of the Pacific Fleet Husband Kimmel could have done more to prevent an attack that would lead to the United States entering the Second World War
Declaration of War
Dec 2, 2021
Drama and mayhem ensue as the first wave of the attack draws to an end. The Americans realise a second wave of attack must, inevitably, be incoming. They prepare anti-aircraft guns and manage to launch a few planes that were not destroyed
Peter McGinn
@narrator56
I have not read or watched as much about World War II as I have the American Civil War, so I found this mini-series to be quite informative in filling in details I was not aware of. Turns out that the desire to continue. Having access to slaves in the American south was still an even worse reason to attack the United States than the Japanese desire to secure long-term access to oil. (Though I am sure that the Japanese would have a different spin on it like the south leaned on the handy phrase of ‘states rights.’) There are interviews with a few of the rare living survivors (pretty lucid for being over 100 years old) and the usual talking head historians, along with as many photographs and video clips as they could find. I was not aware of any recreations, though I think they may have used a few substitute videos that show a generic explosion or the like. So I can’t speak to how accurate they are with the details or the opinions of this series, but it feels pretty fair-minded overall.
