History Film / ToraToraTora

* InterserviceRivalry: Quite a bit of political in-fighting between the Imperial Army and Navy in the lead-up to the attack.

* GuyInBack: The Japanese "Val" Dive Bombers and "Kate" Torpedo bombers each have rear gunners in order to defend against enemy planes. It does little when [[SittingDucks several of them are attacked by two P-40s late into the film.]]

The title is the Japanese code-word used to indicate that complete surprise was achieved. "Tora" is Japanese for "tiger", although TheOtherWiki mentions that it was also shorthand for "Totsugeki rageki" - meaning "surprise attack" (more appropriate given the purpose of the mission).

** Also happens on board the Japanese aircraft carrier ''Akagi'', when the pilots are practicing at identifying the various American ships that might be in the harbor. Some of the men correctly guess a couple of battleships, and then the officer holds up a silhouette of an aircraft carrier. One pilot excitedly shouts "Enterprise!" and then is informed that it's actually a picture of his own ship. Everyone else laughs at him.[[note:Especially funny for naval history buffs as ''Enterprise'' and ''Akagi'' look nothing alike - the poor guy must have been really over-eager.]]

* ThemeNaming: The American battleships were all named for US states. The cruisers and destroyers also had their own themes (cities and troops who died in battle, respectively), but feature far less prominently.[[note]]US aircraft carriers, which didn't have much chance to influence the battle, were named after famous sailing ships of the US Navy -- mostly late-18th and early-19th Century sloops-of-war -- as well as significant USN battles. (This naming convention was supposed to go to battlecruisers; aircraft carriers inherited the naming scheme because the battlecruisers ''Lexington'' and ''Saratoga'' were converted to aircraft carriers during construction.) The fact such carriers were named after early sailing ships, which in turn were named after famous cities, battles, people, and insects (''Wasp,'' ''Hornet'') makes the naming scheme appear more than a little haphazard.[[/note]]

* ArmchairMilitary: The US top brass seem very reluctant to act on intelligence.

* MajoredInWesternHypocrisy: {{Inverted}}. Admiral Yamamoto was a liaison officer in the US, and studied at Harvard, and declares that the Americans are a [[WorthyOpponent proud and just people.]]

* GlassCannon: The "Val" dive bombers and "Kate" torpedo bombers are shown to be capable of devastating both American ships and bases with their ordnance, but once they come under attack by P-40s or are hit by AntiAir fire from the ground, they are shown smoking and/or going down.

* FragileSpeedster: The Japanese Zero fighter. Demonstrated when two P-40s take a few down in only one or two bursts. (In RealLife, once the Americans deployed aircraft such as the P-38 Lightning, F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat, and P-51 Mustang--just as fast, if not faster than, the Zero, but not nearly as fragile--the air war in the Pacific got really lopsided.)

** On the Japanese side, their efforts to synchronize the timetable so that their declaration of war comes immediately before the Pearl Harbor attack fails miserably. The attack goes off without a hitch and on schedule; however, for some reason the Japanese saw fit to transmit the declaration via one ''huge'' encrypted telegram in fourteen parts, but not to ensure that their embassy was staffed by trained typists with the adequate security clearance to handle it.

** On the Japanese side, their efforts to synchronize the timetable so that their declaration of war fails miserably. The attack goes off without a hitch and on schedule; however, for some reason the Japanese saw fit to transmit the declaration via one ''huge'' encrypted telegram in fourteen parts, but not to ensure that their embassy was staffed by trained typists with the adequate security clearance to handle it.

** Radar spotted the Japanese first wave on its way in; when the crew report it, they are told it's the expected B-17 flight, and not to worry about it.

* WatchingTroyBurn: Admiral Kimmel spends much of the attack watching from his office as his command and career literally go up in smoke with the grim knowledge that at this point the only thing he can do is try to prevent things from getting worse.

* CurbStompCushion: The Japanese achieve total surprise in their attack on the American military installations, and the ensuring fight generally proceeds [[CurbStompBattle the way you'd expect]] it to from there, with some notable exceptions, including planes shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and a small handful of American fighters making it into the air to shoot down some of the attackers.

The title is the Japanese code-word used to indicate that complete surprise was achieved. "Tora" is Japanese for "tiger".

* WeaponsUnderstudies: Then-modern (but still '40s or '50s era) missile destroyers and frigates playing smaller ships in the harbor during the attack. Rebuilt American prop trainers as the Japanese aircraft. Late model B-17s portraying earlier models. In a nice touch, however, the destroyer escort playing the USS ''Ward'' had her hull number repainted to match ''Ward'''s for the film.

* FragileSpeedster: The Japanese Zero fighter. Demonstrated when two P-40s take a few down in only one or two bursts. (In RealLife, once the Americans deployed the P-51 Mustang--just as fast as the Zero, but not nearly as fragile--the air war in the Pacific got really lopsided.)

** At Hobo One's orders, the formation of B-17s (unarmed since they were just on a ferrying mission) scatters when they run into the Japanese aircraft, with the planes making for different airfields in hope of finding a safe place to land.

-->'''Hobo One:''' What a way to fly into a war. Unarmed and out of gas.

* LetsSplitUpGang: Hobo Flight, a formation of unarmed B-17s arriving from California, scatters when they encounter the Japanese attack. Justified in this case, as the bombers are unarmed and have no escorts, so splitting up is their only hope of any of them surviving as a formation of unarmed bombers would be an irresistible target to the Japanese fighters.

* ComingInHot: Hobo One's B-17 is unable to lower one of their landing gear due to damage from a Japanese fighter, so they bring it in on one wheel and drop the other wing right onto the pavement. Another B-17 attempts to land but is waved off because they've got a fighter on their tail.

* FlatCharacter: One of the problems pointed out in reviews is that few of the people portrayed in the film get any backstory or character definition. Most of the main protagonists can be described in single words (Admiral Kimmel is worried, Admiral Yamamoto is brooding, and so on). The fact most of them are wearing military uniforms makes it hard to distinguish who's supposed to be who anyway unless you've studied the attack fairly thoroughly. The US cast consists almost entirely of character actors, reportedly because the producers felt that stars would distract from the documentary feel of the film.
* ForegoneConclusion: Textbook example.

* CryingWolf: Decrypted Japanese diplomatic messages, plus observations of their military movements, lead the US military to think Hawaii and the Philippines are going to be attacked ... on 30 November, 1941. When an attack is predicted ''again'' a week later, there is an uphill battle to get anyone to take it seriously.