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==Introduction==
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) is a major Hollywood motion picture depicting the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The Japanese air force attacked the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the most important American naval base in the Pacific. The Japanese destroyed a significant number of American vessels and in the process , some 2000 US service personnel were killed. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed the history of the world. It provoked America into declaring war on Japan and soon the US was also at war with the other Axis powers, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Tora! Tora! Tora! is a 1970 Japanese-American epic that dramatizes the attack on Pearl Harbor and sought to be as historically accurate as possible. The film was directed by the American director Richard Fleischer, and the Japanese duo of Toshio Masuda and Kanji Fukasaku. Unlike other war movies of the time and indeed since the motion picture did not seek an all-star cast. Rather it selected well-established and respected actors such as Jason Robards and Joseph Cotton, so not to distract from the historical accuracy of the film and to make it more realistic. The screenplay was based on the research and books of the military historian Ladislas Farago. The production team took great pains to be as accurate as it could. Some of the technical advisors, had been involved in various stages of the events at Pearl Harborin 1941. The film was also committed to provide providing both an American and Japanese perspective and wanted to avoid a glorification of US military power. The film was not well- received and it was panned by the critics who claimed that it was overlong and tedious. It was a massive hit in Japan, where the audiences liked the sympathetic portrayal of the Japanese. The film is named after the Japanese code name for the assault on Pearl Harbor. Tora means ‘surprise’ or ‘lightening strike’ in the Japanese language. The movie remains very popular to thisday, while not considered a classic. Indeed, it has shaped many American and Japanese perceptions of Pearl Harbor. However, the historical accuracy of the movie has been questioned. This article will discuss the accuracy of Tora Tora Tora and if it presents a reliable account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
[[File: ToraToraTora1970.png|200px|thumb|left|Poater of the movie]]