Flyboys (film)
| Flyboys | |
|---|---|
 Movie Poster for Flyboys | |
| Directed by | Tony Bill |
| Written by | David S. Ward |
| Produced by | Dean Devlin and Marc Frydman |
| Starring | James Franco Martin Henderson Jean Reno Jennifer Decker David Ellison Tyler Labine |
| Distributed by | MGM |
Release date | September 22, 2006 |
Running time | 140 minutes. |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English French |
Flyboys is a 2006 drama film set during World War I, starring James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, David Ellison and Tyler Labine. It was directed by Tony Bill and written by David S. Ward, based on an original screenplay by Phil Sears and Blake Evans
Before the film's release, it was heavily criticized by movie-goers for stating that the United States was the first country to fly, despite not joining the war until late;[citation needed] however, the film points out that the Lafayette Escadrille, the 124th air squadron to be formed by the French, consisted mostly of Americans in 1916.
The film was shot on location in the United Kingdom in Spring 2005 . The trench scenes were shot in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the same location used for Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. The film was financed privately outside the standard Hollywood studio circuit by a group of filmmakers and investors, including producer Dean Devlin and pilot David Ellison, son of Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison; both spent more than $60 million of their own money to make and market Flyboys.
The Nieuport 17s featured in the film were built by Airdrome Aeroplanes, an aircraft company based outside of Kansas City, Missouri.
Plot
The movie follows several members of the Lafayette Escadrille, American pilots who volunteered to fight in the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during the First World War prior to America's entrance into the war.
A group of young Americans go to France, for different personal reasons, to fly for the Allies in World War I. During the training period, the film mostly follows their personalities and developments; later, the focus shifts to the art of the aerial dogfight. Themes of revenge and love are also explored. The film ends with an explanation of what happened to each character, as the movie was based on real occurances.
There are many historical inaccuracies; for instance, the Fokker Dr.I triplanes shown were not used until later in the war, and the Fokker tri-plane was not used in quantity as depicted in the film; they were never in widespread use and were often structurally unreliable. Also, only a handful of Fokkers were painted in red (Manfred von Richthofen's was the most notorious). The filmmakers used them, because of their distinctive look that made them easy to tell apart from the Nieuport 17 biplanes used by the American pilots. Additionally, some details about the engines and armament are subtly inaccurate.[1]
Cast
- Todd Boyce as Mr. Jensen
- Jennifer Decker as Lucienne
- David Ellison as Eddie Beagle (based on Courtney Campbell and Bert Hall)
- James Franco as Blaine Rawlings (based on Frank Luke)
- Martin Henderson as Reed Cassidy (based on Raoul Lufbery)
- Michael Jibson as Lyle Porter
- Tyler Labine as Briggs Lowry (based on Norman Prince)
- Augustin Legrand as Lt. Giroux
- Keith McErlean as Toddman
- Jean Reno as Captain Georges Thenault
- Ian Rose as Wolfert
- Abdul Salis as Eugene Skinner (based on Eugene Bullard)
- Gunnar Winbergh as The Black Falcon
- Philip Winchester as William Jensen (based on several pilots)
Reaction
Reviews of the film were largely mediocre. The Rotten Tomatoes web site, as of September 25, 2006, gave it a "rotten" rating with only 30% positive reviews.[1] Google Movies provided an average rating of 2.6 out of 5 as of November 13, 2006. Critics did, however, credit the film for the high quality of the action sequences in the air.
The movie opened fourth at the box office with a gross of $6 million.[2] On December 26, 2006, Variety named it one of the ten biggest box office flops of the year, citing an estimated shortfall of $90 million.[3]
Quotes
- Thenault: "We don't want you bringing bullets home. We have millions. Leave the bullets up there. Let the Germans take them home."
- Beagle: "Will we be back by lunch?"
- Cassidy: "Whatever happened on the ground or up in the air, you've gotta get that out of your head.
- Beagle: "Beware the hook!"
- Cassidy: "I stay to get the ones who killed my friends."
- Cassidy: "If the plane catches fire, you have three options, you can stay in it, and burn with it all the way to the ground, you can jump from several thousand feet, or, you can take the quick and painless way out..." (refering to shooting yourself)
Filming errors
- The aircraft engines in the CGI scenes are pictured as not moving. The rotary engines used in early aircraft would spin at the same speed as the propellor. [citation needed]
- The anti-aircraft artillery shown in use by the Germans was not of any type used by any side in the First World War, and those that did exist were not nearly as accurate as that shown. In reality, had any of the portrayed flak burst as close as it appeared in the film, they would have instantly destroyed the aircraft.[citation needed]
- When Thenault says; "the Germans have just bombed the railway yard at Revingny", the camera pans for a split second shot of the underside of a Gotha bomber, and the bomb-rack is full, which would not make sense if it had "just bombed the railway yard." Also, in the same shot, the pilot (who is refilling the radiator on the port engine) can be heard to say; "I'm keeping you guys alive you know!" referring to the gunner and bombardier, all that can be heard from the Gotha afterwards is in German.[citation needed]
- In the scene where French refugees are attacked by Fokkers, Blaine Rawlings shoots a plane down. When the plane is burning to the ground, you can see Crossed Sword's insignia on it. However, Cross swords would be killed later on in the fight.[citation needed]
- Fokker Triplanes are shown as the only plane flown by the Germans, in fact they were not used at this time, and were rare when used.
- The RMS Aquitania is depicted in the movie as still being a luxury liner. However, during the war, the Aquitania served as a hospital ship and troopship.[citation needed]