Flyboys Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Inspired by a true story
This breathtaking war drama depicts the true story of love, brotherhood, courage and fortitude. It centers on the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, thirty-eight young inexperienced American pilots who made history by volunteering to fight in the French Air Service before the United States entered World War I. They fearlessly combated the enemy and downed 57 German planes in 20 months.
| James Franco | Blaine Rawlings |
| Scott Hazell | Cinema Usher |
| Mac McDonald | Sheriff Detweiller |
| Philip Winchester | William Jensen |
| Todd Boyce | Mr. Jensen |
| Karen Ford | Mrs. Jensen |
| Ruth Bradley | Laura |
| Abdul Salis | Eugene Skinner |
| Tim Pigott-Smith | Mr. Lowry |
| Tyler Labine | Briggs Lowry |
| Gail Downey | Mrs. Lowry |
| David Ellison | Eddie Beagle |
| Jean Reno | Capt. Thenault |
| Augustin Legrand | L.T. Giroux |
| Keith McErlean | Vernon Toddman |
| Tony Bill |
6.50 out of 10 (8847 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Formula, Rushed, BS. Disappointing. :(
posted on 22 Aug 2009Disappointing :( Have fun with it, but don't expect an "epic" serious film with a carefully developed story with attention to detail. 1. it was formula bs. 2. music was canned uninspiring. 3. character development was nearly nill, rushed, & cliché. For some bizarre reason, I'm not allowed to make a simple 2 or 3 line comment. IMDb demands at least 10 lines, so now I'm trying to fill space so my comment will be accepted. I think I'm getting close to line 10 now -- therefore after this sentence I'll stop typing. Oops...still didn't take, so I'll now type 1 more line of ridiculous text to meet the all-important 10-line minimum.
This Film Is An Example Of Why People Wait For DVDs
posted on 18 Aug 2009First let me just say that I originally had no plans to see this film on the big screen. I had just watched the premier of "The Departed" earlier in the day and one of my friends flew into town and was like "hey lets all catch a movie." So he recommended we all see "Flyboys" since none of us had seen it before. Little did I know that I'd be wasting $8 of my money.This movie was just plain bad. Convoluted plot, boring action and acting that was painful to watch. Whoever decided that it was a bright idea to try to tell a love story between two people who can't even communicate to one another because they speak different languages should be fired. This was a very bad idea for what is supposed to be a war epic. The whole love story should have been removed from the plot. This was supposed to be a 90 minute film but the director tried to be cool and turn it into a WWI epic which this film definitely was not. The plot is your typical "America saved the world" all over again. The action was filled with about a billion clichés. How many times do we need to see the guy who is too scared to fight in battle show up at the end to save the day? Gee I've never seen that in a film before. With regards to the death toll, anyone with half a brain could see who was next to die. The obnoxious amount of time spent trying to convince the audience how terrible racism was added 20 minutes to a film which was already too long for it's own good. Some sequences were just plain ridiculous and I swear I inadvertently rolled my eyes and moaned and groaned out loud in the theater at least twice. Something I never do at the theaters. The acting was so atrocious that the few people in the audience laughed when they were supposed to be speechless. The plot was all over the place and jumped from love story to air battle without a moments notice. There were no smooth transitions from one plot point to another. In fact I'm not even sure if this film had a plot. And now for the really disappointing news.- 70% of the aerial battle sequence shots consist of close ups of the pilots with their guns firing toward the camera. OK I get it. When they squeeze the trigger the guns work. Now can I please see something from another angle? - Someone actually thought it'd be cool to depict one of the good guys tearing off a wing from a bad guy's plane using his wheels.- The part where the guy lands his plane to save some other guy and is running through a trench battle = give me a break. And why didn't the guy who had his hand pinned in what appeared to be dirt dig under his hand? - With regard to my last complaint I'm pretty sure they wrote the script such that a pilot lost his hand so they could attempt to get a laugh out of the audience by having Captain Hook take out a plane. Who writes this stuff anyway? - Apparently during WWI pilots often stared each other down in midair. I never knew that. - The final battle consists of the main protagonist flying up next to the main antagonist and shooing him with a handgun. This was it for me. What the hell was that? Did I really just see that on the big screen? I'm sorry but now I know why no major movie studio wanted to bankroll this horrible picture. I'd feel sorry for the producers and investors who conjured up the supposed 60 million to make this film if I actually enjoyed what I saw on the big screen but this was total trash. This is why people get upset about going to the movies and choose to wait for DVDs. I regret having agreed to see this film a few hours after having watched the premier of Martin Scorsese's "The Departed." Flyboys was so bad that it totally ruined The Departed for me. 2/10 rather than a 1/10 because they blew up a Zeppelin.
Unrealistically realistic
posted on 18 Aug 2009I like flying. And I like movies about flying. So I am positively biased. Nevertheless, this movie gets only 6 out of 10 from me. I don't mind that the story is thin. I don't mind that the characters are flat. I don't mind that the story is only loosely based on facts. But I don't understand why the realism of the computer generated planes had to be destroyed with these unrealistic flying capabilities. It is really to bad. If only the director had restrained himself on that part. Anyone commenting about the so-called superb flight movements,should go out and rent The Blue Max, for instance. Then they will see what these planes really could do: not very much, compared to this movie, I'm afraid.
Historic inaccuracies
posted on 12 Aug 2009I liked the movie. There was enough in it to make me feel that I was part of the events. Perhaps knowing too much about the era spoilt it a little for me.....for instance.1) Why were the Germans apparently flying Fokker Dr1s about one year before they came into service. 2) Why were they all red? That wouldn't have been the case at all. 3) Why were the Americans often seen flying British planes? French planes carried a roundel with red as the outer circle. British planes had blue as the outer circle. 4) A Zeppelin raid in daylight? I don't think so. Also, Zeppelins flew very high.....above the ceiling of heavier than air planes. 5) Why no mention of Raoul Lufbery, the squadron's hero? 6) During the scene where the Germans are marching across the fields, they appear to have British tanks.Still, I did enjoy the movie.....shame he didn't get the girl in the end. Phil
What a dud!
posted on 06 Aug 2009"Flyboys" didn't stick to history, had incredibly poor editing, and difficult to believe plot-lines.Who did the editing of this tripe? The lad who loses his hand "disappears" from the movie, isn't mentioned, then walks out of the mist to re-engage in the battle (with an oddly long "hook").The replica Nieuport 17s were too small, engines back then rotated around the crankshaft, and at least one of the replicas had a straight wing. If the production crew had visited "Old Rhinebeck", a museum with "working" WWI aircraft, I'm sure the movie would have come away with a bit more realism. Escadrille groups (Spa 82/83, etc.), didn't share aerodromes with the British.If you read Mason-Malloy's books about the LaFayette Escadrille, or other accounts, you'll find the contrivances this movie used degraded the memory of these aviators. Truth (as in the lion Whisky...where was his "twin" Soda?) is stranger than fiction; but in this case, truth is buried by poor writing, poor editing, and bland acting.
Pretty much as bad as I'd anticipated
posted on 06 Aug 2009OK, so when I saw the previews on TV and found out it was directed by the same guy who gave us "Independence Day" my crap radar went to full alert. But, being an ex-pilot with a life-long passion for WW I aircraft I figured I would catch it at some future time on TV, mainly just for the flying scenes. But, as luck would have it, my wife brought it home for me one night so I thought I'd give it a go.As everyone knows, the story surrounds members the Lafayette Escadrille who volunteered to fly for France before America's entry into WW IYep, it's full of all the usual clichés and stereotyped characters, but I'm here for the planes so I don't care; I'll put up with it. But even here it disappoints. Flying movies are supposedly made for aircraft buffs, right? So if that is the case why do we see aircraft from 1917 and 1918 on a flying field in 1916? Sorry, but if you're going to do it, do it right. Many of the flying scenes seem overdone with maneuvers that range from highly unlikely to down right impossible. Again, these scenes just seem to be there to hit you between the eyes with the "more is better" syndrome. I will admit that the CGI work on the aircraft is very very good but take a look at the obviously fake rotary engines in the Nieuports. Sigh....Oh yeah, the obligatory love interest sub plot basically gets in the way so get the VHS version so that you can fast forward.Initially I thought that the inclusion of a black pilot was pure token crap (after all they had enough trouble getting accepted as the Tuskegee Airmen in WW II) but in fact this part is true. Eugene Bullard did indeed fly in the Lafayette Escadrille for the French and although ignored in the US was honoured by France. He survived the war and ran a successful night club in Paris. So I'll give the writer(s) credit for that.So in my opinion this is one lame duck movie and the flying scenes don't really compensate. Glad I didn't pay to go and see it. One last bit of advice...if you want to see a REAL WW I flying movie get a copy of "Hell's Angles". Thank you Mr. Hughes.
I have seen the premier showing of this movie!!!
posted on 04 Aug 2009I was privileged to see the premier showing of FlYBOYS at the Warner Theatre 8/26/06.This is probably one of the best WW I movies I have seen! I am a also pilot, so I am commenting from that knowledge as well.The love story plot made sense and did not overshadow the fact that this was a view of our US pilots in WW I. I would rate this a MUST see for pilots as well as WW I buffs, then for others a very great movie that you can bring your children to.I would rate it right up there with "The Great Waldo Pepper" and "Blue Max"..
Excellent, with needless downer at the end
posted on 04 Aug 2009I really enjoyed this movie for three reasons: 1) I like James Franco 2) I enjoyed the amazing areal dogfight scenes 3) I like war moviesI must point out that I was very upset with the ending. Overall this is an uplifting film toward the end....James Franco finds himself in success as a fighter pilot after a life of trouble and misdirection....the failing pilot learns how to succeed and finally gets a successful kill, James Franco finally gets to kill the German with two swords on his plane, the black guy fulfills his dream of flying for the US Postal Service, and the Lafayette Escadrille is successful in their bombing raid behind enemy lines....but then at the very end we find out that our boy James Franco never finds his girl and never gets to fly again. That was something they could have just left out. It's like here's this awesome movie you spend 2.5 hours watching and it builds up to great things, then they say "but our hero does not get the girl." That's just a dumb way to end it. But I highly recommend this film...the dogfighting is amazing and the world war I imagery is very good as well. Just the right amount of comedy in this film too.See my profile for my rating philosophy.
Every element in a movie you could ask for.....
posted on 25 Jul 2009This movie had romance, comedy, action, drama, suspense, and adventure. It was an all around good movie that I would recommend everyone go and see. Most of the event were based on a true story and that made the movie even better. It is aspiring to see events as the actually happened. You will laugh and maybe even cry. It was a touching and amazing movie. Virtually everything in the film happened in real life. These men did not know, nor did anyone, what they were in for or what could happen to those early planes in flight or fight. They weren't drafted. There was no glory. Their motives were remarkably pure: They did it because it was the right thing to do.
Historical accuracy is not the only issue of realism.
posted on 25 Jul 2009Some comments have criticized the use of airplanes that were not introduced until after 1916. That is valid, but not so important to me. More important is the issue of the pilot behavior in combat. When the fighter pilot looks back and sees the enemy on his tail, he is not going to sit there and think about for 10 seconds, or he will be dead. The reaction would be, within a fraction of a second, to have full aileron, full rudder, and pulling as many Gs as possible, attempting to shake off the enemy. This would be true in a biplane in 1916, a P-51 Mustang in 1944, or an F-4 Phantom in Vietnam.These old biplanes had very low horsepower, and the climb angles depicted were much steeper than these airplanes could maintain for more than a few seconds. The way so many airplanes were clustered together in the attacks was obviously to show the whole squadron, and is very typical of war movies. But that also was very unrealistic. You have to be ready to make very sudden and violent maneuvers - there is plenty to worry about without having to avoid running into your friends. I personally have done formation flying in air shows, and it is difficult enough when every move is carefully orchestrated.And lastly, how many aviation flicks are they going to make with scenes showing someone spraying sparks with an acetylene cutting torch! It was ridiculous in Empire of the Sun, and even more ridiculous with these wood and fabric airplanes. You have to wonder about the intelligence of directors who do this nonsense.
Pretty good
posted on 23 Jul 2009I expected worse. I expected some over-hyped action, computer animated candy ass lollipop movie.Instead I found the pacing to be pretty good. The dialog was OK. The camera work was pretty good. The story was pretty good. The acting as OK. I ended up enjoying the story and visuals of the WW1.Don't expect a miracle but it wasn't a waste of money.Some things I did not like were script decisions to having a lion as a pet - that was kind of corny. I enjoyed the relationship development between the pilot and the French woman. I loved the low light camera on a lot of takes. Very pleasant.
flyboys: airkids; a recipie flight film filet fragmented
posted on 15 Jul 2009Flyboys, flies off in too many different directions like so many ill aimed machine gun bullets missing their intended targets. AFTER the 'KIDS' learn to fly and kill only one boy finds a girl to form any type of meaningful relationship outside of flying and killing along side of his fellow pilots. This seems a bit odd with a group of young men charged up with testosterone everyday whose job it is to go up in the sky and shoot down the enemy. Two of the best friends on one particular mission learn a real blood and guts lesson of war. When one is shot down behind enemy lines as his plane crashes and turns upside down trapping his left hand under the wing with no other visible damage. His friend lands his plane to help his downed comrade but after a valiant effort to save his friends pinned hand from under the weight of the wing he must cut it off with a quick slash of a shovel to save his life. The crashed pilot must have had a momentary loss of memory; he was in a trashed, cloth covered 1917 FRENCH WWI Biplane. He could have punched a hole through the wing with his good hand and released his 'trapped' limb. When the other pilot landed he could have used the shovel to break the wooden wing supports and free his friends hand. The limbless pilot makes a claw for his missing hand, and returns to the sky as THE CLAW!. An aerial ace reborn out the ashes of THE PHOENIX. Remember HAROLD AND MAUD in the 1960's? This film lacked for nothing and was played for laughs, Flyboys was played for the lack of laughs and the lack of a good film.
Let's stick with what counts!
posted on 15 Jul 2009Come on guys! The only real issue here is how does this 2006 Special Effects wonder(that's SEW!) stack up against the all time classic WWI flying machine spectacular---Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels? I'd say pretty well, especially when you consider that the Hell's Angels dogfights were so cool that George Lucas supposedly redid them in Star Wars!I had some questions about who built the planes for this film---the Hollywood legend is that Hughes managed to round up nearly all the "real thing" aircraft that could be found for "Angels"---but then when you've got $60,000,000 to mess around with quite a bit can be accomplished. You think the plot is weak---at least they didn't have Jean Harlow to contend with. Confidentially, I loved it.
Good Way to Intro Teens to History of WWI Flight
posted on 09 Jul 2009As an adult woman I enjoyed this movie. With the exception of a couple of 'mild' bordello scenes it is acceptable as a family movie for parents and their tweens/teens. My kids have enjoyed computer flight sims for some time now and this was a way to get them talking about the history of WWI flight. The flying scenes often play out like cinematics on a video game and that kept their attention. The movie thrilled me since I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type movie fan. I have been told there are some inaccuracies in the story line but I won't knock the movie for that. I would have liked to see more in depth character development but they had so many primary characters I don't think this was possible.Over all I enjoyed the film as a 'All American Hero' feel good type flick.NOTE! I will 'warn' any one that gets the collectors edition and plays the Flyboys PC DVD Game Demo that if you enter your email address you end up signed up for a 4 week trial for online 'sims' games at iEntertainment Network web site after which they say you WILL be billed. Ummm... I NEVER signed up for anything except to register my demo! I thought this was a rather bold move on their part :( (In Their Words... after running the demo on February 2)---Current plan: Total Sims Free Events Charge: No charge On March 2nd, 2007, your subscription will be changed to the Total Sims Special plan subscription plan. At this time, your account will be charged 13.95 USD.*You ("Subscriber") represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age and that you possess the legal right and ability to enter into this agreement. You agree to pay all charges incurred by your account in accordance with the current rate schedule then in effect.----!eek!
Superficial Nonsense
posted on 27 Jun 2009The worst film I have seen all year. The setting and effects are superb as is the attention to detail. But ......... you can see the plot lines coming from miles away. The stereotyping is pathetic, the scenes contrived, I watched to the end in the hope that a believable storyline would evolve but it didn't - cliché after cliché after cliché. If you are a world war 1 aircraft buff then the film is a treat if you can ignore the mismatch of time periods portrayed; If you are a woman then you can blub over the romance elements; But if you want a believable storyline then look elsewhere. I would rather watch paint dry or have to polish my eyeballs with sandpaper than have to watch this film again - one to miss
A really good movie about World War 1 pilots.
posted on 19 Jun 2009I thought that this movie was a refreshing change from the graphic, bloody body parts style of the war movies of the past five to ten years. This one has some blood and some violence, but what good war movie doesn't? This film reminds me more of the older war movies that I watched when I was growing up, like "12 o' clock high" and "To hell and back", and they reminded my father of those same movies. The older war movies did not have the blood and guts of todays fare, and there was a certain connection that you made with the main characters, this film does that. It also was refreshing to see a film about the a subject that most children today won't even be taught in school; United States involvement in the Lafayette Escadrille, young men from America who wanted to help fight the Germans before the United States got involved, and had the desire to be a pilot. I had no issues taking my 10 yr old son to see this movie and I think he now has an interest in learning more about World War One; he also enjoyed the flight scenes and I think they did a very good job with the computer generated graphics for this film. The story line is decent and you can really sense the feeling of a team coming together, as well as the main characters coming of age as you go through the film. The young group of relative newcomers did a wonderful job on this film and should be proud. I would recommend this film to my friends and co-workers.
so great!!
posted on 11 Jun 2009this movie was so great. James Franco is truly charming and a great rising star, I've seen so many of his movies and he evolves every time. fly-boys portrays brave men fighting for there country and is shows all the fears and hardships they have to go through. this movie is so great and made me appreciate life and take chances and do what i dream to do. :] corny yes i know ..but it really does. this true life story makes me see our country as a strong one. fly-boys is great and it explains the story very smoothly and it doesn't have many gory bloody gross scenes i thank the directors for that.but.anyways. you should watch it.GO WATCH ITT!!! :]
No Big Names but a good movie
posted on 09 Jun 2009Although this movie does not have any "big" names in it is a worthwhile movie to see. The young actors does a very good job in their parts. What is worth the price of admission is the fighting scenes in the movie. It is amazing that the producers put together fighting scenes that were so realistic. Especially the scene where the blimp that is shown in the fight scenes is shot down. This goes to prove that a good story (true) will overcome the need for name actors and actresses to make the film a hit. My recommendation is to go see this one, or if past your movie theater get the DVD which I did and sit back and enjoy two and a half hours of thrilling amazing film work, you will enjoy
Great air scenes; everything else poor
posted on 18 May 2009Saw this last night. It was about what we expected -- great flying scenes, but the acting was disappointing, editing poor, direction often weak and the script just awful. I'd see it again.The script suffers from a plethora of flaws, from massive holes to painful verbal clichés and stereotypical characters. Three screenwriters are credited, and you wonder how many others were called in for minor work. The film certainly has that written-by-committee feel.James Franco has a great grin, he just doesn't have what it takes to be the movie's star. As for the romantic subplot, there's no chemistry at all between him and Jennifer Decker. She's very pretty, but when she recites her "I'm struggling to learn a few words in English" lines, her distant expression and unblinking eyes make you think this woman is mentally deficient and possibly cross-eyed. You're meant to believe the two share a grand passion, but Rick and Ilsa they ain't. Martin Henderson battles to fill out a character that's meant to seem deep but is all surface. It's not surprising that the script wins the battle.There are a couple of places where it's said that the US should have gotten into WWI sooner. You can argue that the sentiment is valid from the French officer. But the way it's put by him and in the newsreel at the beginning of the movie (the scene is complete with women tearing up at the carnage on screen, but apparently not horrified at the idea that their own men could be dragged into that foolish and horrifying war) makes it sound like an unarguable, everybody-knows-that-now point. I began to long for a scene where an American mother stands up to sing "I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier." Better to have left that alone, since most of the flyers' motivations are completely personal.During flying scenes, director Tony Bill likes to have opposing aviators stare at each other threateningly. By the time you see this exchange for the third time, you're pretty tired of it. You'll get more tired.But you won't get tired of the flying scenes, as the Neuport bi-planes take on the more agile Fokkers with their short triple-wings. Best of all is the attack on a Zeppelin. This is best experienced rather than described, and if you have any interest at all in aviation. you should get to the theater. Don't, don't wait for the DVD -- the aerial scenes deserve to be experienced on the big screen.
Flyboys not worth money to spend on!
posted on 30 Aug 2009Flyboys is set in the area of the Great War 1914 - 1918 and the hope of getting historical information presented in a nice movie with detailed characters was very high on my side. Unfortunately this hope was in vain since the movie is full of stereotypes and predictable from the beginning on. Hero looses family farm - hero gets over to to France to join the air force - hero meets a pretty french girl - hero saves her from the bad Germans and takes revenge for his friend who was killed by an ruthless evil, off course you guessed it, German pilot. Besides all that the historical facts have been completely ignored, not every single Fokker DR. 1 was red. There was this guy called Freiherr von Richthofen also known as the Red Baron who flew one of those airplanes and painted it red, but this movie was filled with his clones. The only highlights in this movie is the acting of Jean Reno and the flight scenes else-wise I would not recommend to go and see this movie. It is just not worth the money and time.