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Flyboys Review Thread... (1 Viewer)

Tim Glover

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Hope it's okay to start a review thread.

Saw Flyboys tonight. I went in with reasonably low expectations inspite of loving the trailer. I was thinking we would get Top Gun meets Pearl Harbor.

I really liked it. Far from perfect. But it works. Some of it feels a bit rushed and some of it needed trimming. A longer cut HAS to be out there somewhere. There were times I was thinking in some ways, the director wasn't too sure which direction to take the film.

Still, the acting is pretty good. This is James Franco's film, make no mistake. The camera loves him and he makes the most out it. He really did portray "Rawlings" quite well.

The Soundtrack is also good but there were times when it was just there too much-especially in the beginning.

The ariel battles are truly amazing. Very cool and lavish. I didn't expect this to be so effectively shot, but it was.

I really did like most of the characters & that's why I wanted a bit more at times. You know alot of films like this are just naturally going to remind us of other films. Flyboys is at times, like Pearl Harbor. Except to me, Flyboys is a much better film.

Thank God there were NO lines of dialogue saying, "take that you Jap sucker!" Whew. ;)

It's late and I've rambled incoherently.
htf_images_smilies_blush.gif


It's a great looking film too. It will be utterly gorgeous in High Def.

Yes, there are faults, and yes, it needed some tightening. Flyboys makes no apologizes about heart, pride, courage, and honor.

I liked it.

8.5/10
 

Rudi

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Yes as Japan was on the allies side in WWI. But it wouldn't have been krauts, it would have been huns. I really want to like this move, but seeing every German aircraft a red Fokker DR1 makes me cringe. With CGI they can be as accurate as they want. I guess they didn't want to. Still I will go see it and hope for the best.
 

Tim Glover

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Yeah, I was just using that line as a reference. After a restless night, I still think of Flyboys favorably. I will say that it might have benefitted from being a tad more gritty...but that's not a deal breaker.

Did I mention the ariel stuff was amazing? :)
 

JohnRice

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From what I've seen in trailers, I expect none of the aerial stuff is "shot", particularly since biplanes and triplanes are pretty much incapable of doing most of the stunts shown.
 

Edwin-S

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I'm sure most of the battles are CG but what stunts are shown that biplanes can't do? There doesn't seem to be anything in the trailer that a biplane is incapable of; although, underpowered WW1 biplanes wouldn't have been doing extended vertical climbs like the planes in the trailer were doing.

The scene on the dirigible was pretty funny. Where does the guy running away from the explosion on top of the dirigible think he is going with no parachute? :laugh:

Anyway, I think I might go to see this since there are very few films being made that are set in WW1. For films that treat WW1 seriously I would watch "PATHS OF GLORY" or "A VERY LONG REMEMBRANCE", but FLYBOYS looks like it should be good for a couple of hours of relatively mindless entertainment with a WW1 setting.
 

Eric Carl

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I thought the movie was very good. I do not like to give ratings...but it is worth viewing.....you know so you can actually judge the movie, not the trailer.

I thought this had been talked about, before, here but, maybe it was another board. Basically, the board agreed that trailers are essentially tools to sell the music used in the trailer, and maybe, in the process, the movie as well.

And, if you are judging every movie by the trailer, than I think you probably missed some great ones. I mean, there are bad movies with fantastic trailers and good ones with horrendous ones so judging movies on trailers is about as judging a book by its cover

As to why there are ONLY Red Fokker DR1 used it probably is to make it easier on the viewer as to who is on which side. I think that maybe it was true, in real life, but you could figure that out for yourself. And, if you actually watch the movie, you will see that the main villian flies a different coloured plane altogether...you know so you actually can tell which one he is. And he was likely the German squadron leader, so maybe his plane was also a different colour so his squadron could see where he was; whether he was advancing or retreating.

I also felt the movie dealt with Skinner in a proper manner; I mean just because we live in a world where you always have to mindful of what you say, at all times, does not mean that the world was always so. Or that mistakes could happen only in the past....not now in the 21st Century, or Pre-WW1 for that matter...there are no mistakes in this day and age, it just sounds so, I don't know, human. Being human means learning from past mistakes and changing our views on different things. People don't do that, do they? Yes, well at least some do, and the movie deals with that too. Going back to Skinner, when jokes were made about him, most people chuckled at what was said.

As to whether the movie was actually shot or CGI, to be honest, I could not tell. I mean, logically, they are not going to be able to shot a plane going right in the ground with someone in it but, you want to know something, if it bothers you that anything in a movie could not happen in real life, than, maybe, you are overthinking the movie. What I am trying to say is, that when someone dies in a movie, I know he didn't actually die in real life, I don't need that realism, and if you want that kind of "satisfaction"....you have problems.

What I do have a problem with, is when a character is placed in a situation were you know said character lives but, the movie gives the impression that he or she may die. This happens in prequels and sometimes it just kills the movie; just watch "Exorcist: The Beginning", the finale is so drawn out and, you already know that father Merrin lives, so it just kills the mood of the movie.
I don't mean to say that it could have been a classic, it just does not feel right to me.

But that has nothing to do with this movie so, this is how I will end this reply.

-Eric
 

Eric Carl

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Maybe he is thinking: "RUNAWAY, RUNAWAY, the explosion is going to get me!"

.....

When he finally realizes that he is going to die, he probably would have stopped running or, if he wondered what flying felt like, jumped. Or maybe just stop and say "SHIT!", of course if either one of these happened, in a different movie, we would see the explosion up close and INpersonal. I mean, every movie watcher knows how an explosion feels like, right?

-Eric
 

BarryR

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From the commercial, the aerial shots look like one big cartoon showing totally implausible, over-the-top stunts which gives it all a very artificial and unrealistic feel. Give me HELL'S ANGELS any day.

:D
 

Tim Glover

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Rented this tonight and thought I would chime in again about Flyboys. It is certainly one of those films that should be seen in the big theater with all the cool flying. It's just not as effective on a tiny 42 inch monitor. :)....

Still, I enjoyed it...looks like there was about 9 HTF members who saw this last fall which brings the total amount to 11 in the US. :D I am kind of surprised it bombed like it did? Strange. James Franco is really not a household name just yet but he is very good here.

I mentioned in my first review how charming he is in this and this is his film. Franco does possess that all american look as well as a bit devious. Good combination...

Flyboys is kind of predictable; we know the scenes that are to come in advance...but that's ok. It still works. Perhaps some of my admiration for it comes from the underdog status the film got. Maybe I was expecting less and just got more...who knows, but it really doesn't matter-it's a good film.

Surely Flyboys will get a second life on DVD. I hope it does. It's not in my top 10 for 2006 but it's in the honorable mention in a very good year.

I bumped my rating up a bit to 9/10. Give it a chance; it's worth your time.

BTW, the dvd looks and sounds rather good too. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

mylan

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I have shied away from this one because I can't get over how bad Anapolis was. My wife and I thought that if you had seen Top Gun, you had seen the better movie. They ripped off almost every plot line from young hot head making it big to meeting the hot girl in the bar who turns out to be your instructor! Someone please tell me that this movie is better than that.
 

Joey Gunz

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I had pretty high expectations when I rented "Flyboys" and couldn't wait to watch it! What did I think of it afterward? I hated it.

The characters were all stereotypical and one dimensional. The aerial dogfights were pretty good but grew tiresome. There were a couple of unintentional goofy scenes that made me groan. The CGI effects were excellent though. This movie could have been a big, sweeping epic and it failed. I just didn't care about anyone in it and I hated that they tried to jam a love story in the middle of everything. It was pointless and the actor & actress had no chemistry whatsoever. This movie gets a big, disappointing thumbs down from me.


3/10
 

Rudi

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Although I thought that the CGI dogfights were pretty good, they did not compare with The Blue Max. I watch that movie at least once a year and the real aircraft(even though some were post WWI like the Tiger-Moths) looked great and showcased their lack of power and how close they got to each other before firing. Even the love story served to show class differences as cliched as it was. For me The Blue Max is the top WWI in the air movie. Flyboys a 6 out of 10.
 

todd s

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I missed it in the theater. But, purchased the 2-disc SE cheap at Costco. Watched it with my father in law on my front projector. We both enjoyed it.

At the end re: Interesting that Franco's character never was able to find the girl. But, he did get his ranch back.

Just curious. How accurate were the characters portrayed? Was their the rich kid whose father made him go? Among others.
 

Joey Gunz

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The movie was inspired by a true story. I take it that this meant that yes, there were U.S. airmen fighting in WW1 before the U.S. decided to enter the conflict but the characters in the film were all fictional.
 

Kirk Gunn

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I haven't seen the movie, but plan to soon. Perhaps they were alluding to the Lafayette Escadrille ?

per Wiki:

The squadron was formed in April 1916 as the Escadrille Américaine (number 124) in Luxeuil prior to U.S. entry into the war. Dr. Edmund L. Gros, director of the American Ambulance Service, and Norman Prince, an American expatriate already flying for France, led the efforts to persuade the French government of the value of a volunteer American air unit fighting for France. The aim was to have their efforts recognized by the American public and thus, it was hoped, to rouse interests in abandoning neutrality and joining the fight.
 

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