Product: Flyboys [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
A MASTERPIECE! FRANCO IS RIGHT ON!
Flyboys is a 2006 American drama film set during World War I, starring James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, David Ellison, Abdul Salis, Philip Winchester and Tyler Labine. It was directed by Tony Bill, a pilot and aviation enthusiast.[1] Screenplay was written by Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans and David S. Ward with the screen story by Blake T. Evans.The film follows the enlistment, training and combat experiences of a group of young Americans who volunteer to become fighter pilots in the Lafayette Escadrille, the 124th air squadron formed by the French in 1916. The squadron consisted entirely of American volunteers who wanted to fly and fight in World War I during the main years of the conflict, 1914-1917, before the United States later joined the war against the Central Powers.A group of young Americans go to France, for different personal reasons, and volunteer to fight in the French Air Service, L'Aéronautique militaire, during World War I prior to America's entrance into the war. One of the main characters, Blaine Rawlings (James Franco) faced with the foreclosure of his family ranch in Texas, decides to enlist after seeing a newsreel of aerial combat in France. Dilettante Briggs Lowry (Tyler Labine) joins because of his overbearing father. African-American boxer Eugene Skinner (Abdul Salis), who had been accepted as an athlete in France, was motivated to "pay back" his adopted country. These American recruits were under the command of French Captain Georges Thenault (Jean Reno), while the veteran fighter ace Reed Cassidy (Martin Henderson), a fellow American, takes over as their mentor.During their training, the film mainly deals with the struggles each pilot has with the demanding flying; later, the focus shifts to the aerial dogfights that dominate the front line missions. Themes of camaraderie, racial prejudice, revenge and love are also explored. The film ends with an epilogue that relates each film character to the real-life Lafayette Escadrille figures on which the movie was based.[2] One charming touch in this film is that the hero is given a small bear, which he carries as a good luck charm. This is an obvious reference to the small bear carried as a good luck charm by a pilot in "Wings," a silent film about the Lafayette Escadrille, which, in 1927, was the first film ever to win the Academy Award for best picture.