FLYBOYS (2006) (import)

The Escadrille Lafayette was formed in France before America joined the Great War; its name recollecting the part a Frenchman had in America's independence. The script is very loosely based on the real unit; just enough to get good linkage but not enough to constrain the story. It permits the usual American pool of novices (a quota of one per type, though I missed the wisecracking Jewish kid from the Bronx this time) who go through their rites of passage. The CGI effects are often spectacular, and seldom less than very good. Lots of dogfights, bombers and even a zeppelin, plus a French love interest and a German ace who is so evil even his chums tell him off.

World War One air warfare experts are warned not to watch this in case of a nasty outbreak of tut-tutting.

Good stuff.

This is a story based on true events, about American volunteers who came to fight in France before their country entered the war and who became fighter pilots in the, now legendary, Escadrille Lafayette. I am a little surprised by the very poor reviews this movie is getting, because I rather liked it, although I am the first to recognise that it could be much, much better.

The strong point of this movie are the computer generated planes and air fights. WW I dogfights were a great movie material, because of their short range personal character - in fact, strangely enough, they remind me a little the STAR WARS fights between X-Wings and TIE fighters. Here the planes look really like real ones and the effect is great for any fan of aviation: Nieuport and Fokker fighters, Handley-Page and Gotha bombers and the gigantic L32 Zeppelin, they all give a great show. The movie is quite realistic and stresses well the incredibly idiotic decision of allied high command to NOT provide pilots with parachutes (Germans, Austrians, Bulgarians and even Turks had them, from the beginning of the war) on the incredible assumption, that pilots will jump from their planes at the first occasion!! That explains why the casualty rates in French, British, Italian and later American aviation were so high.

There are some very weak spots. Relations between pilots and especially all the conflicts are too pinky easy and sweet, which takes away most of the realism. The main hero accomplishes alone all the most incredible things, the rest of the unit being mostly his sidekicks. There is of course a lot of typically American references of sons trying to fit their fathers shoes... The ending is a little too previsible. The love story is going nowhere and we do not even know why. There is only one really bad guy in the movie and of course he is German, etc., etc.;

Jean Reno indeed is not very much used but this is a nice effort from Hollywood to hire a French to play a French officer, rather than just use an American and make him speak with a French accent... On this point, let's stress that this movie is a welcome pause in French bashing, which seems to be a kind of national sport in Hollywood this last years....

But all those weak points notwithstanding, I forgive to this movie a lot, for the scenes, when the Escadrille Lafayette takes off and is flying over the beautiful French landscapes, together with a flight of cranes... And then there is this unique scene, when a whole horde of red painted Fokkers emerges from the sunlight to butcher the unsuspecting American rookies, with the Black Falcon in the lead (yes, you guessed right, the Black Falcon is the plane of the BAD GUY).

There is also some good humor in "Flyboys" - a mascot lion named Whiskey, an American pilot who simply can not shoot straight no matters how much he tries, until.... well, no, no hints here, you will see by yourself. And the decorations of the planes, with my favorite being a seriously deranged woodpecker... This is a nice war movie, and a must if you are a fan of aviation and can simply not resist the sight of a flight of Fokkers going after some heavy Handley-Page bombers....

If you like Top Gun then chances are you'll like this too. They play fast and loose with history and physics (in reality all German fighters were not red Fokker Triplanes and the dogfight scenes owe more to video games than the flight dynamics of aircraft from 100 years ago) but those are small gripes in what is an engaging tale of young men rising to meet the challenge of war and life.

Based on the real-life US ex-patriot squadron flying for the French before the US had entered the war, they touch, in a glossy Hollywood sort of way, on the real horrors of war. There's even some dark philosophising, but this is about good looking young people doing heroic things. As such, it's an acceptable way to pass a couple of hours, but I can't help wondering when - if - they might do a serious film based in and around he First World War.