Pearl Harbor is a 2001 war film from producer/director Michael Bay that re-imagines the 1941 surprise attack by the Empire of Japan that catapulted the United States into joining the Allied forces during World War II. The film features a talented ensemble cast, including Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Alec Baldwin, Jon Voight, Dan Aykroyd, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jennifer Garner, and Tom Sizemore. Affleck and Hartnett play Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker, two young men who grew up together in Tennessee before joining the Air Corps. As America considers the role it will play in the quickly escalating war in Europe, Rafe and Danny begin their careers in the Corps and soon find themselves caught in a love triangle. Their mutual affections for Army nurse Evelyn Johnson (Beckinsale) develops shortly before the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, and as the second Great War begins, the old friends fight for the love of their lives. Pearl Harbor was a huge success at the box office, and won one Academy Award out of four nominations.moreless