FAYETTEVILLE - “Pearl Harbor” was the No. 1 film in the United States in late May 2001. The big-budget Michael Bay picture starring Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett was a critical disaster. And while it was the top movie in the country for a pair of forgettable weeks, compared to Bay’s previous effort, it was a box-office disappointment. Reputable outlets and journalists across the world, to this day, call it one of the worst films ever made.
Its failure was a surprise. Bay had come off a string of successes: “Bad Boys,” “The Rock,” and “Armageddon” were both hits at the box office and in the media, so “Pearl Harbor” had all the makings.