Memorial Day weekend will be the release of the highly anticipated movie ?Pearl Harbor,? the infamous attack from Japan that brought about America?s participation in World War II.

The movie surrounds two life long friends who fall in love with the same woman during the war. It is expected to be one of this summer?s blockbusters. It opens Friday May 25, 2001.

The film is based on events that took place before and after the morning of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, but the epic love story is a creation of Hollywood.

The film stars Ben Affleck as Rafe McCawley, the American pilot who joins the British Royal Air Force and Josh Hartnett as Danny Walker, a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps.

McCawley and Walker are two friends that grew up together as brothers but ends up falling in love with the same nurse.

Kate Beckinsale is Evelyn Stewart, the young and beautiful nurse that comes between the two friends.

Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Dorie Miller, one of the real life characters in this fictional love story. Miller was one of the first African-Americans honored by the United States government for his heroic efforts. He rescued crewmembers from the U.S.S West Virginia as it was being attacked by Japanese warplanes.

The film promises visually disturbing depictions of air raids that includes mutilations and lost limbs.

The making of ?Pearl Harbor? was a dedicated pursuit by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Micheal Bay. Both Bruckheimer and Bay faced uphill battles but were determined to make the film, despite the magnitude of the production and it?s complicated special effects.

“We wanted to create an entertaining movie but moreover we wanted to capture the essence of that time in the hope of honoring those brave people,” said Bruckheimer.

The production took a total of 106 days. The biggest and most dangerous attack sequence was of the six battleships at Pearl Harbor, it was shot within the first few days of production.

It took special effects coordinator John Frazier and his crew a month to rig the fleet of ships. The crew used 700 sticks of dynamite, 2,000 feet of primer cord and 4,000 gallons of gasoline to create the explosions.

Most of the battle scenes were created with live special effects with the help of Industrial Light & Magic. Some of the aircrafts used were 60 years old and were pushed to the limits.

?Pearl Harbor? was budgeted at $145 million, which means it is the most expensive movie budget given, without going over.

Filming locations included Hawaii, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baja California (the giant water tank set built for Titanic) and England.