Directed by:
Tony BillCinematography:
Henry BrahamComposer:
Trevor RabinCast:
James Franco, Martin Henderson, Mac McDonald, Jean Reno, Philip Winchester, Tyler Labine, David Ellison, Keith McErlean, Abdul Salis, Lex Shrapnel (more)VOD (6)
Plots(1)
In 1914, "The Great War" --WWI--began in Europe. By 1917, the Allied powers of France, England, Italy and others were on the ropes against the German juggernaut. Some altruistic young Americans disagreed with the war. They volunteered to fight alongside their counterparts in France; some in the infantry, some in the Ambulance Corps. A handful of others had a different idea: they decided to learn how to fly. The first of them--a squadron of only 38-- became known as the Lafayette Escadrille. This is their story. Forced to abandon his family's ranch, Blaine Rawlings finds his future in a newsreel chronicling the adventures of young aviators in France. At a small train station in rural Nebraska, William Jensen promises to make his family proud. In New York, spoiled Briggs Lowry embarks on a trans-Atlantic passage. Meanwhile, in France, black expatriate boxer, Eugene Skinner, vows to repay his debt to his adopted racially tolerant country. Together, these American boys arrive at an aerodrome in France, eager to learn how to fly. What they didn't realize was that they were about to embark on a great, romantic adventure, becoming the world's first combat pilots. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Videos (2)
Reviews (5)
The excessive sentiment and the typically clichéd heroic scenes and speeches are a shame, because the action is relatively skillfully shot (though by no means groundbreaking) and somewhat realistic. Of course, computers are often used and sometimes a bit more than necessary, but some moments are truly demanding, which can be understood and endured. James Franco surprised me with his improvisation and ease, and the relationship between the French girl and the American pilot is enjoyable and believable. Perhaps a bit long, but still a decent film that gets lost in the average of contemporary big-budget productions. The only fact that elevates it a little higher is that the story takes place in the First World War, which is still relatively unexplored in cinema.
()
I have revered World War I twin and multi-levels since I was a child, and therefore I did not expect anything more from Flyboys than exaggeration, pathos, and love stories. Which is what I got, but fortunately in a package that somehow didn't offend me. It's about as authentic as Star Wars, the characters are written as flat as a tortilla, the air battles are quite fun and overall it doesn't have time to make me bored. Maybe one day someone will film something historically more faithful than this multi-wing event, but still... a pleasant watch.
()
If James Franco had been a bit more likeable and hadn't given me the impression of a pretentious guy in the first place, I would probably like Flyboys a bit more. Nevertheless, it is still a simple but decently made film with excellent fight scenes, which I - thankfully - enjoyed in the movie theater. Jean Reno is perfect, and I have to praise the choice of actors for the roles of the other pilots - a very good line-up. Even the "main German" was good.
()
A British-American variation of Pearl Harbor and a bit of Dark Blue World as well. Love is also a theme here, but it's not as complicated of a triangle. The aerial scenes are not bad at all, but everything around them is somewhat lackluster and average. The side story won't interest you much, and you'll just be counting how many characters perish in the air. I wasn't too impressed. The character portrayal is rather caricatured, the destinies pseudo-strong, but there's also a sense of déjà vu.
()
I had mixed feelings about this film. The aerial battles were very nicely animated (except for some nonsensical shenanigans), but then there were a lot of negatives (a black pilot - obviously a descendant of a slave; the rescue of a friend whose plane was shot down in no man’s land, evacuation of a family of four from an enemy-occupied village). Once again, the approach was typically American - while in films from the Second World War, the only German tank that appears is Tiger, here the German fighters only fly Fokker Triplanes (the vast majority of which are red), and not even a single Albatros or Pfalz appears, so yeah, a disappointment.
()
Gallery (41)
Photo © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
![Flyboys - Photos - Tyler Labine, David Ellison, Martin Henderson, James Franco, Abdul Salis, Philip Winchester](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/162/658/162658316_edebc7.jpg)
Ads