So of you might have already know. A new movie call ‘Flyboys’ about to play this fall. It’s about WWI American pilots. See the trailer here
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/flyboys.html
Looks good to me. Nice to see a WWI dogfight film since Blue Max. Yet I wonder how historical accurate it is. I wonder if American pilots ever engaged Fokker DR1 from Red Baron. I also wonder African-Americans were allowed to fly combat planes during that nasty segregation era.
It’s a drama, not a documentary. Fiction. I’d be one thing if they showed .50-caliber Brownings on a Spad, or ailerons working in reverse, but the what-ifs of fiction make it perfectly reasonable to muse about the possibility of black pilots, or of Americans dogfighting Dr 1s. We sometimes get too hung up worries about “historical accuracy.” Of course it would be ludicrous to have the Germans and Americans dogfighting over England, say–that’s going a little too far–but what I saw in that interesting six-minute clip certainly looks interesting.
Most model-makers are very concerned about historical accuracy, of course, but there are some who have a lot of fun building what-if airplanes. Loved that piece in FSM some months ago, for example, on imaginary Reno racers with national characteristics.
Stephan
Looks like it might be entertaining, even if not historically accurate.
Regards, Rick
Actually, the inclusion of a “black” pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille is not fiction. The character of Eugene Spencer is based upon the “real life” Eugene Bullard who is reputed to have been the first pilot of African ancestry to have served in combat. From what I have been able to learn, he was a member of the French Foreign Legion and was highly regarded by his French comrades and superiors.He was accepted for pilot training and joined the Lafayette Escadrille. It is unclear as to his citizenship (I have been unable to confirm American citizenship), but his participation is indisputable. He is credited with one confirmed aerial victory and a possible second. When the Lafayette Escadrille was transferred to American control, Bullard ran into the “race wall” and was not allowed to join his peers. He was allegedly involved in a fight with a white officer and transferred to the French infantry. It is an interesting story and I plan to do a little more research.
Looks to me to be the WWI version of “Pearl Harbor” complete with the obligatory love intrest in the form of the French girl.
That doesn’t mean that I won’t be in the theaters on 9/29 to see it - WWI aviation films are so few and far between that you have to go see them -even if they do look like it might be a sort of chick flick.
BTW - has there been ANY WWI aviation movies since “The Blue Max”?
When I first saw the title I was intrigued initially thinking it might be based on James Bradley’s book of USN and USAAF pilot accounts concerning Chi Chi Jima during WWII.
Then I realized it was likely going to be more like a WWI version of Pearl Harbor. This is where a cinema version of Tivo would be really cool to fast forward to the dogfights between the stringbags. Oh well, I hope the girl is as hot as Kate Beckinsale.
Have to agree with the WWI Pearl Harbor comment I’m afraid. That and the fact the lead character is named “” and has blonde tips in his hair kinda puts me off.
But just like anybody else with even a vague interest in aviation I’ll definitely be watching this one on the big screen. I’ll even take the wife as I think she’ll get a kick out of the love interest parts.
From what I saw, it looks awesomo-cool! The special effects are pretty good lookin’. I won’t make the mistake of quitting my job so I can wait in line for this one, though. I learned that the hard way when Star Wars Episode III was comin’ out… looks awesome!!!
Scott Willerton
In the July 2006 edition of the Air & Space Smithsonian magazine there is a great article on this movie. It tells about the actual aircraft used, who provided the replicas, and how the action sceans were shot. From watching the promo footage at the above listed site, it is hard to tell the difference between the computer footage and the live flying sceans. Can’t wait to add this movie to my collection of aviation war films! [:D][yeah]
T.Young [8-]