Product: Flyboys [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Spectacular and Enjoyable
When I saw the shorts for "Flyboys", I had to wonder if it were another rehashed version of the abominablePearl Harbor (Two-Disc 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition), about which I still have the occasional nightmare. I won't be having nightmares about "Flyboys".Set in the First World War, it follows the journey of a group of young Americans who decide, for various reasons of their own, to enlist with the French forces to fly against the Germans. They did this before the USA entered the war. Learning to fly canvas and wood planes, they soon find out the realities of air warfare and the skills of their enemies.The acting is fairly average and most of the dogfighting and aerial shots are CGI images. However, that is understandable considering there are not many of the aeroplanes left, and anyone who has built a replica would be naturally possessive and protective. That said, I thought the CGI had been well done, indeed, and was far superior to a lot that shows up in war movies. The quality was very good.For the historical inaccuracies that some have mentioned, you would have to be very knowledgable in the field of First World War aviation to pick them up, except the most obvious ones. For the average viewer, these concerns will not take away from the overall plot or enjoyment of the movie. The one point I thought was a bit rich was Rawlings landing his plane and running into No Man's Land to rescue a downed pilot. The fact that some of the best machine gunners in the world at that time could not hit him was a glaring oversight.The concession made to the performance of the aeroplanes themselves is also understandable in my own opinion. For the sheer spectacle of combat, I can see why they "enhanced" the performance of the planes themselves. The real thing would not have been able to do vertically climb as they did in the movie, (true), or do such snappy moves, (true), but that would have been less than exciting if the makers had stuck strictly to the reality.For sheer spectacle, this movie more than makes up for its short-comings. It is visually gripping and very much an action drama. Considering it is the first movie about First World War fliers in some decades that I know of, it was a refreshing and pleasant movie to see. I really enjoyed it.