Product: Flyboys [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
testament of youth
Impressive is the realistic romance that was portrayed for that time in history with our hero the cowboy (James Franco) and the french girl (Jennifer Decker). This reminded me of a book i read by Vera Brittain the "Testament of Youth" of how innocent and cavalier this generation was at that time. Her most intimate memory of a man she loved was the warmth of his hand she felt through her gloved hand was similar to the courtship in this movie. For the sake of being a pilot and doing flight simulation with aircraft i'll never get to fly this is a time period movie i enjoyed as much since the film "The Blue Max" for the romance of flying has been a real treat to see the souls that pioneered in the Great War with aircraft that are agile as a ballerina but fragile as a butterfly when handled. This being maneovers that involve piroettes because of the slower speeds compared to jets that generally use a 5 mile turning radius. Jet fighters that are built to handle at least 10 times the weight in horizontal or vertical turns the World War I fighter could easily rip apart it's canvas fabric or wooden structure is shown in the flying sequences. The french Nieuport is very pleasing to the eye as the fine figure for a woman. The vertical tail looks as if the french flag was hung off the end with the corners edges rounded off just as also the german Fokker's horizontal tail is shaped like a falcon's is a treasure trove to visualize in this film. I greatly appreciation that the director took to explain and portray these men and flying machines during this era how they were both utilized. It is my regret that not many people saw this film in the theater to care and understand the spirit of adventure that parallels or own lives.