Flyboys (2006)

Product Details: Flyboys (2006)

Edition:

DVD Full Frame. See other editions

MPAA Rating:

PG-13

Release Date:

01/30/2007

UPC:

027616062246

Directed by:

Tony Bill

Featuring:

James Franco, Jean Reno, David Ellison. See all cast

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Synopsis: Flyboys (2006)

Synopis: FLYBOYS is a good old-fashioned historical drama concerning the Lafayette Escadrille, a French regiment of American volunteer airmen serving the allied cause in WWI before the U.S. became officially involved. James Franco plays Blaine, a Texas rancher; he bunks with Eugene (Abdul Salis), an African American boxer whose been living in Paris as an ex-patriate to get away from American racism. Other fighters include a pampered New York scion (Tyler Labine) and a lanky, lazy Kansan (David Ellison). They all train under the patient hand of the French commander, succinctly embodied by the wondrous Jean Reno (THE PROFESSIONAL). Martin Henderson (TORQUE) is good and brusque as a jaded flier with a bunch of kills under his belt and an obsession with an ace German fighter; he wont let the new kids drink in the officer's club until they've shot down their first planes. It all unfolds in a no-nonsense linear narrative that reminds one of early films like THE DAWN PATROL (1930) and WINGS (1927); and there's a comfortingly familiar orchestral score that's heavy with the cloud-invoking wooden flute. But the CGI-enhanced aerial dogfight scenes are the crux of the biscuit here, and history fans should be frothing at the mouth with all the zeppelins, dogfights and enemy chivalry. There's plenty of well-researched period detail and even some ooh-la la romance in the form of a good girl gone semi-bad from a nearby brothel (the very charming Jennifer Decker).

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Features: Flyboys (2006)

Features: DVD Features:

Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 - French, Spanish
DTS 5.1 - English
Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Alternate Scenes - Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentaries - Tony Bill - Director; Dean Deviln - Producer
Behind the Scenes - 1. Special Effects
2. Miniature Stunt Pilot Featurette
Documentaries - Short Documentary on the Real Life Lafayette Escadrille
Trailers

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User Reviews: Flyboys

1. Flyboys Doesn't Earn Its Wings

   , June 6, 2007
   Reviewer: Maestro - See all Maestro's reviews

   Overall:
   Picture:
   Sound:
   Features:

   Pros: The music was enjoyable.

   Cons: The special effects were not very special. At some points, the fight scenes were obviously CG created. At other times, they looked like large model plane sets fighting.

   Dean Devlin is best known for his work on the blockbuster, Independence Day and The Patriot. Now, he returns to work on Flyboys, a movie that has more the feeling of Independence Day than The Patriot.
   
   This movie, though, is far worse than Independence Day. It starts off very abruptly, and continues on in the same form throughout the movie. [Tony] Bill and Devlin do rather little to tell a backstory on Franco's character, while giving far more backstory to his supporting cast in mere seconds introducing each of them.
   
   The description of this story makes it seem like Franco's squadron of fighters was the first group of Americans to fly and fight in World War I. But the newsreel shown in one early scene explains that they obviousy were not the first. So that description on the box is an obvious lie, which takes away even more from this movie.
   
   The majority of the movie (which is loosely based on the real life Lafayette Escradille) felt like it was just one long dogfight. To make matters worse, the scenes involving CGI work were quite obvious. And other dogfight scenes looked painfully like a bunch of model planes flying around.
   
   There is also the mandatory, ever present underlying romance subplot to cnosider. The catch with this is that it does not turn out the way audiences might hope and expect. So it did not entirely take away from the movie, which was possibly the only positive to this droll work of half-history.
   
   This movie is much like the rather boring Pearl Harbor. That movie, too failed to really tell the true story of what happened on that terrible day or even what led up to it. All it (and this movie) did was glorify the battles. It didn't really tell the full story. It is as if Devlin and director Tony Bill just wanted an excuse to make a special effects movie with no real plot. If James Franco wanted to be taken seriously and for more than his role as Harry Osbourne, this was not a good way for him to start out his career as a leading man. ...

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2. Flying High with Flyboys

   , March 12, 2007
   Reviewer: nildesperandum777 - See all nildesperandum777's reviews

   Overall:
   Picture:
   Sound:
   Features:

   Pros: Great cinematography, decent acting, great aerial combat scenes

   Cons: decent acting

   I wasn' sure what to expect when my father-in-law lent me this dvd. But I know I wasn't expecting a great movie.
   
   Set in WWI, some Americans join a French battalion of airplane fighters.
   
   What follows is a great story, engaging characters and a rugged look into aerial warfare at the turn of the century.
   
   The movie isn't as violent as you'd expect for a war film. I think families with children over 10 could watch it and talk abou the horrors of war. ...

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