Product: Flyboys [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Great movie to appreciate pioneers of combat flying
This is an underappreciated film. Its based on composite characters and the exploits of the Lafayette Escadrille (Lafayette Squadron) of the fledgling French Air Force in the trench warfare days of WW I prior to the US joining the effort. In the days before reliable combat aircraft, no parachutes, no aircraft radios, and next to no instruments, flying by "the seat of one's pants" was the norm. Low level, low speed flying gets plenty fast when you are only 300 feet off the ground in a dogfight! The CGI graphics are, overall, excelllent, at least by today's standards, with computer's doing a passable job of demonstrating the various flight characteristics of the various aircraft (fighters, bombers, and zeppalins) of the day, including crews crawling out on the wings to service engines during a mission!This film, and the historical information on the bonus DVD, does a good job in not only demonstrating the world of aviation in WW I, but also in appealing to viewers who enjoy good historical fiction. As with "Memphis Belle," all the various events in the movie actually occured (or something very much like them), though perhaps with a bit of "Hollywood" thrown in for romance, time constraints, etc.