Flyboys [DVD]

 

 

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Flyboys is rather a disappointment even if you're not expecting much. The Lafayette Escadrille - a French squadron of American pilots who fought in the First World War before the USA entered the conflict - is a great subject for a film, but somehow keeps on falling short. William Wellman's semi-autobiographical Lafayette Escadrille was so brutally re-edited by the studio that he never made another film, yet Tony Bill's film feels like it could have done with a firmer hand somewhere down the line. Rather than a gritty, brutally realistic war movie it harks back to silent cinema and WW2 flagwavers, concentrating on often-cartoonish heroics by one-dimensional characters unmemorably played by a bland cast. With a charismatic star in the lead this might not have been an insurmountable problem, but with only Jean Reno as their commander providing any star quality the film is often as flat as the ill-advised digital photography that makes much of the film look like a Turner TV movie at times. Even on the small screen its lack of detail, depth and limited colour range are distractingly problematic. It doesn't make particularly good use of its 138-minute running time and there's surprisingly little sense of time or place either. The characters' attitudes are often more late than early-20th century while its attitude to accuracy is schizophrenic: it gets a lot of pertinent small details right while larger ones slip by unchecked if they look cool enough (if the film is to be believed, the German air force consisted almost entirely of red triplanes).

As vanity projects go (the film was allegedly largely financed by co-star David Ellison's billionaire father), it's certainly not as disastrous as Gunbus/Sky Bandits, but like that forgotten box-office fiasco it suffers from trying to make an old-fashioned gung ho adventure set in the one war in which such comic book heroics have never seemed at home. Using the industrial killing fields of the first modern war as a backdrop for an action movie seems almost like setting The Great Escape in Auschwitz. But even ignoring that, it fails to work on its own terms as a simple adventure story. There's far too much unconvincing melodrama, be it James Franco carrying out an unlikely rescue of a pilot crashed in No Man's Land or an even more unlikely rescue of his sweetheart and her siblings from behind German lines. However, even these cannot prepare you for the absurdity of the way he finally takes on the dastardly homicidal Hun in the underwhelming finale: all that's missing is Franco saying "Sayonara, sucker!" It's not that such things couldn't or didn't happen as that the film fails to sell them in a more cynical age.

But the biggest problem is the aerial scenes, primarily dependent on Cgi. You may not always be able to see the joins, but it's often curiously unconvincing as weightless planes defy the laws of aerodynamics for a cool shot, with the mayhem often cut short because computer-rendering time is so expensive. The camera may be able to get right in the thick of the action, but you never once feel like you're flying with the characters and it's never as impressive as the kind of footage the likes of Skeets Kelly and Johnny Jordan were able to get in the The Blue Max and Aces High, let alone earlier classics like Wings and The Dawn Patrol. And there's the problem that when you know it's just pixels rather than real people in real planes, all sense of danger and peril is gone. CGI may be easier and safer, but who says it SHOULD be easier? The choreography of the dogfights isn't that impressive either - for the first half of the film adequate seems to be the aim, with only a sequence where the pilots take on German planes strafing refugee columns really catching fire and living up to its potential. Even an attack on a Zeppelin seems more okay than inspired. Certainly there's nothing in the film to compare to the dazzling but brief Hell's Angels scenes in The Aviator. Adding to the general lack of inspiration is Trevor Rabin's score, which wears the film's temp track proudly on its sleeve - parts of it follow The Patriot so closely that you wonder why they didn't just give John Williams a screen credit of his own.

It's watchable enough if you're in an undemanding mood, and Jennifer Decker makes an appealing leading lady, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the material would have worked better as a weekly TV series - though, if it were anything like this film, one that would probably be cancelled after a handful of episodes.

I looked forward to seeing this film, and though I appreciate constraints that film makers work under, there were far too many inaccuracies for me. If I'd checked out the imdb.com film database online, I would have seen enough to stop me from spending my money.

For those interested in details of any film released, this is a good reference source, and in the case of this film, just look for the link to "Goofs", discounting the continuity errors and only looking at the factual ones, the list is too numerous for me to relate here.

A missed chance to create a modern accurate portrayal of WW1 aerial combat of the time period depicted.

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....

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3.0 out of 5 stars Fly Boys
Great film if you like a bit of top gun style entertainment. Another American remake, this time of the film aces high but a good film all the same.

Published 12 months ago by robbowrites

4.0 out of 5 stars Flying, Fighting and Love in World War I.
A very good movie, lots of special effects and CGI that give a good realism to what it was like in the first World War, looks good in Blu-Ray. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Master1

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it
More based upon fact than fiction, great all round acting,Jean Reno is another master class despite a lesser role. Read more

Published 13 months ago by lsy

3.0 out of 5 stars Top Gun In A Biplane
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... Read more

Published 21 months ago by The Kinniburgh Kid

3.0 out of 5 stars Must try harder
Fair film. Glad I didn't put myself out and go to the cinema, though. Fair script, fair acting and, of course, stunning CGI. Read more

Published on 6 Nov 2009 by Mr. Dennis Hill

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
A much loved film for all ages. a good way for young kids to watch history.

Published on 10 Sep 2009 by scroobeyroo

4.0 out of 5 stars First to Fight
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. Read more

Published on 20 May 2009 by Charles Vasey

2.0 out of 5 stars Another film about how Americans won the war...Only WW1 this time
This film looks great, has some nice sequences and some nice little details (such as the pilots painting their own planes, having mascots, e.t. Read more

Published on 13 May 2009 by P. R. Nokes

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Great flying sequences with great storyline, the aircraft were brillient and lots of flying action which kept me glued to my seat, although in stark contrast to 'Aces High'. Read more

Published on 5 April 2009 by Michael Lyons

4.0 out of 5 stars A war movie for everyone!
I really enjoyed this movie and have to say I would like to silence all the critics out there. First of all it appeals to war movie buffs and just regular film watchers testament... Read more

Published on 2 Mar 2009 by H. L. Krantz

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