Flyboys: Worth Seeing?

[Angel Tarragon]

Well, my dad, my uncle and I are planning a guys night out. Shooting pool, knockin' back a few drinks and maybe a movie. So I have seen the previews for the movie and it looks somewhat interesting. Does anybody recommend it?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

It was ok. Nothing original or especially clever, but it was technically very well done and the actors did a pretty good job given the constraints of the genre. It was neat to see a topic not often covered, though.

 

[Meloncov]

Have you seen a lot of WWI movies and do you care at all about historical accuracy in movies? If you answered either of these yes, you proably won't like it. If not, its a fun if not very deep movie.

 

[GSHamster]

A friend and I were going to see it, but then we went and saw Crank instead. Crank is pretty crazy and a lot of fun. A thrill ride.

However, not sure if it would be suitable for what you are planning.

 

[Priest_Sidran]

About the accuracy of the movie...It is historically accurate to a point, at which it diverges from our reality into an alternate world war I reality...Not really. Its a true story, so the characters are in depth and well acted. I went to see it with my father, and we both enjoyed it extremely. Only qualm with it was the lack of WWI planes on the german side all they flew was the DR 1 and that was a later entry into the german repertoire. Other than that the dogfights are astounding, the length is a little excessive for some...and if you can stand a little romance it has some of that though it isn't over the top or anything.

Best part of the movie is the setting itself...Of course I am biased I have been complaining to my friends for years that WWII is over used and that the men who fought and died in WWI were not getting their proper dues in hollywood (Blue Max, and All Quiet on the Western Front Aside). I am a diehard WWI enthusiast and I liked the movie, even with all of its small flaws. It just amazes me that they would actually fly and fight in a canvas covered wooden framed airplane, and in the beginning without even the benefit of actualy guns.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Have you seen a lot of WWI movies and do you care at all about historical accuracy in movies? If you answered either of these yes, you proably won't like it. If not, its a fun if not very deep movie.

Translation: If you liked Pearl Harbor, you'll like this one.

 

[Joshua Randall]

For a 2 hours 20 minute movie, surprisingly little happened. It should have been an epic like Saving Private Ryan, but instead it was like a day-in-the-life of an Escadrille pilot. Repeated over and over again.

There were too many characters.

The romance was terrible. It was realistic that the French girl didn't speak English, but that made the scenes painful to watch. And way too long.

The dogfights were repetitive. Well done, but repetitive. I would have liked to see the pilots gradually learn advanced flying techniques, then put them into practice in battle.

You should rent Wings instead, assuming you can find it. Most Blockbusters don't carry movies from 1927.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Translation: If you liked Pearl Harbor, you'll like this one.

And if you hated Pearl Harbor, you might still like this one. We went in half-expecting a PH class debacle, and were pleasantly surprised that it didn't totally suck.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Does anybody recommend it?

I recommend it highly. For whatever inaccuracies there are are more than overwhelmed by its going out of its way in so many other areas to maintain accuracy. It does a far better job than most other historical war movies in working with the stories of real people, in my experience.

 

[Meloncov]

About the accuracy of the movie...It is historically accurate to a point, at which it diverges from our reality into an alternate world war I reality...Not really. Its a true story, so the characters are in depth and well acted. I went to see it with my father, and we both enjoyed it extremely. Only qualm with it was the lack of WWI planes on the german side all they flew was the DR 1 and that was a later entry into the german repertoire. Other than that the dogfights are astounding, the length is a little excessive for some...and if you can stand a little romance it has some of that though it isn't over the top or anything.

It had a suprise attack that caught civilians off gaurd...on the wester front. I.E. the place where month long battles were fought over a few hundred yards of terratory. How the heck did the break through the French lines to make a suprise attack.

Not one of the German planes was in use at the time the story supposedly took place.

The dirgible raid was also stretching it. They justify the daylight raid by saying that the French airforce was tied up elsewhere, but it still stretched crediblity.

And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head.



I actually didn't mind the romance; it didn't drag on for too long, and was fairly well acted. I'm torn about the number of charecters; on the one hand it was hard to keep track of everyone, on the other hand it allowed for the director to continously keep tension up by killing people off.