December 7, 1941: It was the end of innocence... And the dawn of America's greatest glory
Rate Mcawley and Danny Walker grew up in the army like brothers in Tennessee. Now they're daring young pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps.Rafe has fallen in love with Evelyn Stewart, a beautiful U.S. Navy nurse. But when the sounds of war begin to rumble on the horizon, Rafe decides he must leave his new love and his best friend to join Europe's fight. Swearing to Evelyn and Danny that he will return, Rafe heads for the deadly skies above the English Channel. Meanwhile Evelyn and Danny are transferred to Hawaii's peaceful paradise -- Pearl Harbor -- unaware of the approach of devastating forces that will soon change their lives -- and the fate of the entire world.
"Pearl Harbor is a tale of shocking surprise, catastrophic defeat, heroic victory and overwhelming love.
Randall Wallace is the author of five novels and three feature films: Pearl Harbor, The Man in the Iron Mask, and the 1995 Academy-Award¨winner Braveheart. He graduated from Duke University with a major in religion. He lived his childhood years in Tennessee and Virginia, and now resides in Los Angeles.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Randall Wallace - the Oscar®-nominated creative force behind the epic storytelling of such critical and box-office hits as BRAVEHEART, WE WERE SOLDIERS and PEARL HARBOR - last Fall brought to life the inspirational excitement of SECRETARIAT, the impossible true story of the racehorse who won the Triple Crown in 1973. In addition to his work in film and television, Wallace is also the writer of eight books. His latest, THE TOUCH, is slated for release September 1, 2011.
Wallace's skill with uncommon yet true tales of loyalty, courage and commitment from throughout human history has set him apart in Hollywood. His films have earned more than $1 billion dollars at the box office, but he is most sought after for something even more rare: a visual storytelling style that can make the past feel completely alive and screen characters from any time period compellingly real. He turned a forgotten Scottish warrior into a contemporary film hero in the screenplay for BRAVEHEART; adapted a classic Alexandre Dumas novel into an all-star adventure of palace intrigue with his directorial debut THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK; examined the sacrifices of American soldiers with one of the best-reviewed war movies of the last two decades, WE WERE SOLDIERS; and forged a blockbuster tale of friendship and romance against the backdrop of an America under attack in the script for PEARL HARBOR.
With SECRETARIAT, Wallace brought those skills to bear on a spectacular story for all ages. Wallace immediately had a personal vision for the film, one that honed in on themes he found irresistible and makes the action heart-pounding and immediate. Inspired by William Nack's book, Secretariat: The Making of a Champion, he turned the tale of the ultimate long-shot horse -- and a woman who refused to give up -- into a powerful depiction of the American zeitgeist at a time when the country was in search of hope. "Penny and her horse captured a part of my heart, and you've got to bring your heart to a story to tell it right. That's my only compass," says Wallace.
Telling the story right was no easy task. Refusing to use mechanical horses or digital trickery, Wallace instead utilized real jockeys, dozens of unpredictable animals and re-teamed with Academy Award®-winning cinematographer Dean Semler, who used unprecedented and innovative camera techniques to put the audience right on the track with a soaring Secretariat. Faced with a 45-day schedule and a budget under $40 million, Wallace came in early and with resources to spare.
SECRETARIAT was the culmination of lessons learned throughout Wallace's career, which has been unconventional in Hollywood, to say the least. Born in Jackson, Tennessee, he grew up in a vanishing world of country stores and potbelly stoves, where he once constructed a writing desk for himself out of pig-feed sacks. He went on to attend Duke University, where he studied Russian, religion, and literature, which he says made him acutely aware of how the past can be shockingly relevant to the present and would later influence the vibrant, dynamic way in which he would bring to life epic stories from history. After Duke, he put himself through a graduate year of seminary in a typically unusual way, by teaching martial arts (he is a black belt in Karate.)
Wallace continued down an ever-shifting path, managing an animal show at Nashville's Opryland, signing a contract as a songwriter and writing articles for Architectural Digest (while living in a tiny, garage apartment). But it was when he moved to California in 1980 that he found what he was looking for, unexpectedly, when he read his first screenplay. Along with screenplays, he began writing novels - and today he is the author of seven books, including four original novels and three novel versions of the screenplays of his films. From the moment he read his first screenplay, he knew this was the form that would change his life.
Wallace was taken under the wing of leading television producer Stephen J. Cannell and spent several years writing for television series in the late 80s and early 90s. He struck out into features with BRAVEHEART, which was inspired by a trip to Scotland to better get to know his roots as a Scottish American. It was there he learned about the true legend of medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace -- and instantly saw the sweeping cinematic potential in his story of betrayal and sacrifice.
BRAVEHEART became Wallace's first produced screenplay when it drew the interest of director and star Mel Gibson, and ended up as the film success story of 1995, sweeping the Academy Awards® for Best Picture and Best Director and garnering Oscar® and Golden Globe nominations as well as the Writers Guild Award for Best Screenplay for Wallace.
The success of BRAVEHEART sparked Wallace's desire to direct. Making his directorial debut with his own screenplay for THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, he drew an extraordinary cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons and Gerard Depardieu.
Shortly after, he wrote the screenplay for the Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, PEARL HARBOR, directed by Michael Bay and starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale.
This was followed by Wallace's second film as director, WE WERE SOLDIERS. Once again, Wallace spearheaded the project, after discovering the book We Were Soldiers Once , , . and Young, in an airport bookshop. Moved by its starkly honest account of a singular battle in the Vietnam War, Wallace purchased the rights himself with money he had earned from BRAVEHEART. He then re-teamed with Mel Gibson to star in a film that would be widely acclaimed for its humanity and authenticity. Wallace was so committed to understanding the motivation of his characters that he even trained with career soldiers at the notoriously grueling U.S. Army Ranger School.
SECRETARIAT would take Wallace into a completely different world, but one also full of inspired determination and people triumphing against the odds. Authenticity remained key as Wallace hand-picked the cast and literally went off to the races, immersing himself in the history and know-how of horseracing so that he could put it on-screen in a way audiences had never experienced before. He shot on location in Kentucky and Louisiana, with as many as 36 horses on the set at once.
The sense of pulsating life at the core of SECRETARIAT made it more than just a sports adventure tale for Wallace. "I love to take a great story and look for the poetics of it, look for what gives it the power of myth," he sums up. "There's a connection there with all of my films."
Wallace also recently took a comic turn in front of the camera, playing himself on HBO's hit comedy series ENTOURAGE, in an episode in which Vince, after a night of debauchery, blows his big meeting with the director.
In addition to his work as a filmmaker and novelist, Wallace is the founder of Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity and the father of two sons. In 1999, he formed his own company, Wallace Entertainment, which is focused on creating entertainment for worldwide audiences based on the classic values of love, courage and honor.
Follow Randall Wallace on twitter: @Randall_Wallace Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/randallwallace Official Web Site: http://www.wallaceentertainment.com
Why do I say I enjoyed the book guiltily? Well, cos' I went to watch the movie and I loved it, I guess i must be a hopeless romantic. But I stiil had to agree about the superficial aspects of the storyline. The war scenes were good but somehow reviews had taught me to beware of the love scenes. Ya right, I honestly liked that crap and that's why I feel guilty. But nevertheless read it only if you are a hopeless romantic like me. Really. don't bother wasting your time to read it and slam the book so disgustingly and give it 1 star and drag the whole rating down because there are still some people who swear by the book.
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"I got em Danny!" Rafe said joyfully as he shot down one of the Japanese fighter planes. For those of you who don't know what book this is out of don't feel too bad. This section is based on a book that tells an event that is down in history to this day. This book is called Pearl Harbor. This book is about two country boys named Rafe and Danny that have known each other since they were young and all they ever wanted to do is fly planes. When these young boys got older they joined the military as fighter pilots but they made a promise to each other that if one went to war then the other one would go with that person so they have someone there to talk to. This promise stayed true until Rafe was chosen to go to Germany and fight. When Rafe didn't return Danny felt lonely so he started to hangout with Rafe's girlfriend. After hanging out with her they started to like each other and she ended up pregnant. Then when all this occurred Rafe shows up. Everyone celebrates his coming home so they stay up late and party. The very next day Rafe and Danny wake up to the sound of a ship being bombed. This was known as the attack on Peal Harbor. Will Rafe and Danny be able to bring back revenge on the Japanese?
While reading this book I enjoyed lots of sections but the one I enjoyed most was when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and when the U.S. attacks Japan not because of the casualties but because they explained with detail and it was easy to understand and get pictures in my mind. It was very easy to tell what was happening at the bombing.
Even though there's so much going on in this book I think that if you really think about it that every book has either a theme or moral. In the book of Pearl Harbor I think that the moral/theme of the book is friendship because when Danny and Rafe need each other they are there for each other to talk to and to lean on too because they are so close.
What I liked most about this book is that it's a non-fiction so I learn part of history at the same time just reading. The main thing I would change is not have Danny die so I could see what would happen between him Rafe and Evelynn (Rafe's girlfriend). I think that this book is for older people because kids won't really understand what's going on in war so they will be all confused and the older people might have a clue.
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This is a suspenseful book and I enjoyed reading it VERY much. The ending was... I better not say, you have to read it. I gave 4 stars because it's kind of a gory some parts and the ending was kind of... (I can't express it)
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First Sentence:
Danny Walker could still smell the sweet scent of the pine wood where Rafe McCawley had bored two holes through the nail keg and run a rope between them, to tie around their waists like a seat belt. Read the first pageKey Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
wing guns, training captain, command bridge
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pearl Harbor, United States, West Virginia, White House, War Department, Admiral Kimmel, Captain Connor, Army Air Corps, Captain Thurman, Colonel Doolittle, New York, Dorie Miller, General Marshall, Ross Greening, Admiral Yamamoto, Danny Walker, Eagle Squadron, Pacific Fleet, Vacant Sea, Admiral Halsey, Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, San Francisco, Ford Island, Great Depression, Japanese American
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