Flyboys (2006)
Yet another excellent war picture that got panned and documented as a box office flop. Poor James Franco! It’s no wonder he found his home in offbeat movies when his chances in more mainstream movies were unfairly criticized. I’ve read the criticism for both Flyboys and The Great Raid, both released in 2006, and I have to think the mistaken critics had a personal vendetta against him and wanted to bash his movies. It’s just not possible to watch these movies and describe them so terribly. Flyboys was accused of having unconvincing computer graphics, and tiny details that no one would ever look for were called to the forefront as great historical inaccuracies. Does it really matter that the German army helmets were the previous year’s designs, or that the plane engines weren’t spinning? The German troops were shown in the background of one scene; the flying scenes were so intense and filmed with such intricate camera movements the engines weren’t noticeable—and if they were, excess spinning might have been too distracting to the viewers with everything else in the frame. Instead of nitpicking the movie for only including one lion cub mascot instead of two, how about praising James Franco for getting his pilot’s license to prepare for the role? My heart goes out to everyone involved in Flyboys and to those who put up the money for this excellent big-budget period piece.
Sometimes modern audiences just don’t understand how things were done before they were born. If they’re expecting to see a war movie with nuclear explosions and fighter jets, they shouldn’t go see a WWI movie. As the beginning newsreel—with real footage—shows the audience, airplanes were new during that time period and were just being introduced as army planes. They weren’t even used by the postal service yet—so of course they’re going to look like ridiculous, rinky-dink planes! Study your history, and then come back to the movie. There’s a great, brief scene where James Franco picks out irregular shaped bullets from his machine gun and drops them into a bucket; he tells his costar and the audience that bent bullets jam the gun and cause problems during the fighting. I can imagine a modern critic looking at the bullets in his hand and thinking they look stupid and unrealistic—but back in 1916, bullets were not uniformly made. It was an extremely realistic scene. During the fighting scenes, the bullets made large, jagged holes in the airplanes, which was realistic given the technology of the time period. In a modern war movie, heat-seeking missiles can make a plane explode, but back then, you couldn’t take down an airplane with a single bullet. If you’re not in the mood to watch a WWI movie, why are you watching one?
The answer must be, of course, to see James Franco in a uniform. If that’s your reason, you’ll love the movie and won’t even think of criticizing it. On his days off, he romances a local French girl, Jennifer Decker, and persists through the language barrier. However, since this movie is over two hours long, there’s so much more to it than a sweet wartime romance. It’s a fascinating story about the first American volunteers in WWI who travelled to France to join the Lafayette Escadrille. Each of the main pilots are given his own backstory: Tyler Labine is sent to make his father proud, Philip Winchester wants to become a war hero, Abdul Salis wants to be treated like an equal, David Ellison has a mysterious past, and James Franco is inspired to make a fresh start after watching the opening newsreel. When in France, they meet the hardened Martin Henderson, who repeatedly flies on solo missions to kill the Germans who killed his friends. Commander Jean Reno teaches all the boys how to fly, shoot, and fight, and he’s given the most fascinating sequence in the entire film. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an in-depth explanation of how pilots were trained in WWI. Without advanced technology at their disposal, their methods were genius.
I also don’t know if I’ve ever seen an air force movie with such incredible special effects. Every lengthy flight is intense and action packed, with bullets flying, planes crashing or catching on fire, and the pilots twisting and turning in impossible maneuvers. You might get a little dizzy keeping up with them, but it’s worth it. One of my favorite silver screen movies is The Dawn Patrol, a heartbreaking drama about WWI pilots who repeatedly get sent up at dawn when they know there’s very little hope. While Flyboys isn’t a tearjerker, it reminded me of the old black-and-white classic. You’ll get attached to the characters and believe they are where they’re pretending to be. If you missed this one in the theaters, rent it and get ready for a fantastic movie night. If you want to, you can have James-Franco-in-uniform month and every weekend invite your girlfriends over for Flyboys, The Great Raid, and Annapolis.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The first minute of the movie, as well as every flying scenes has intense swirling camera movements that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More James Franco movies here!
Sometimes modern audiences just don’t understand how things were done before they were born. If they’re expecting to see a war movie with nuclear explosions and fighter jets, they shouldn’t go see a WWI movie. As the beginning newsreel—with real footage—shows the audience, airplanes were new during that time period and were just being introduced as army planes. They weren’t even used by the postal service yet—so of course they’re going to look like ridiculous, rinky-dink planes! Study your history, and then come back to the movie. There’s a great, brief scene where James Franco picks out irregular shaped bullets from his machine gun and drops them into a bucket; he tells his costar and the audience that bent bullets jam the gun and cause problems during the fighting. I can imagine a modern critic looking at the bullets in his hand and thinking they look stupid and unrealistic—but back in 1916, bullets were not uniformly made. It was an extremely realistic scene. During the fighting scenes, the bullets made large, jagged holes in the airplanes, which was realistic given the technology of the time period. In a modern war movie, heat-seeking missiles can make a plane explode, but back then, you couldn’t take down an airplane with a single bullet. If you’re not in the mood to watch a WWI movie, why are you watching one?
The answer must be, of course, to see James Franco in a uniform. If that’s your reason, you’ll love the movie and won’t even think of criticizing it. On his days off, he romances a local French girl, Jennifer Decker, and persists through the language barrier. However, since this movie is over two hours long, there’s so much more to it than a sweet wartime romance. It’s a fascinating story about the first American volunteers in WWI who travelled to France to join the Lafayette Escadrille. Each of the main pilots are given his own backstory: Tyler Labine is sent to make his father proud, Philip Winchester wants to become a war hero, Abdul Salis wants to be treated like an equal, David Ellison has a mysterious past, and James Franco is inspired to make a fresh start after watching the opening newsreel. When in France, they meet the hardened Martin Henderson, who repeatedly flies on solo missions to kill the Germans who killed his friends. Commander Jean Reno teaches all the boys how to fly, shoot, and fight, and he’s given the most fascinating sequence in the entire film. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an in-depth explanation of how pilots were trained in WWI. Without advanced technology at their disposal, their methods were genius.
I also don’t know if I’ve ever seen an air force movie with such incredible special effects. Every lengthy flight is intense and action packed, with bullets flying, planes crashing or catching on fire, and the pilots twisting and turning in impossible maneuvers. You might get a little dizzy keeping up with them, but it’s worth it. One of my favorite silver screen movies is The Dawn Patrol, a heartbreaking drama about WWI pilots who repeatedly get sent up at dawn when they know there’s very little hope. While Flyboys isn’t a tearjerker, it reminded me of the old black-and-white classic. You’ll get attached to the characters and believe they are where they’re pretending to be. If you missed this one in the theaters, rent it and get ready for a fantastic movie night. If you want to, you can have James-Franco-in-uniform month and every weekend invite your girlfriends over for Flyboys, The Great Raid, and Annapolis.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The first minute of the movie, as well as every flying scenes has intense swirling camera movements that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More James Franco movies here!