Flyboys (2006) (2-Disc Set; Collector's Edition)

Flyboys Doesn't Earn Its Wings

By Maestro  Jun 6, 2007

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 Independen...ce 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. Read more Less