Flyboys (2007) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There's a familiar cliché to match every thrilling scene of aerial combat, but director Tony Bill manages to keep it all interesting, from the romance between a young American maverick (James Franco) and a pretty French girl (newcomer Jennifer Decker) to the exciting action in the air, which includes a stock variety of heroes (many of them composites of real-life WWI pilots) and an intimidating villain known only as "The Black Falcon," whose Fokker Dr-1 triplane (one of many in the film) recalls the exploits of German "ace of aces" Manfred von Richtofen, the dreaded "Red Baron" of legend. With impeccable production values that will impress even the most nit-picking aviation buffs, "Flyboys" (like "Superman Returns" and "Apocalypto", also released in 2006) was also one of the first feature films to be shot with Panavision's state-of-the-art Genesis digital cameras, resulting in beautiful images that meet or exceed the visual nuance of film. "Flyboys" also benefits from painstaking attention to physical detail, making it easier to forgive its shortcomings as a generic and formulaic slice of romanticized history. So while some viewers may have wished for a more realistic and grown-up depiction of the Lafayette Escadrille, it's safe to say that "Flyboys" will be thrilling its target audience for many years to come. --"Jeff Shannon" Extras from "Flyboys" Director Tony Bill on Filming Dogfight Sequences" ...On throwing away the script for pilot training ...On the real-life stunt pilot who stars in the film Beyond "Flyboys" More "War in the Sky" Films "SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1" More "Military and War" Films Stills from "Flyboys" |