Flyboys is a drama about American members of a French fighter squadron in WWI.
Before the US entered the war, many idealistic young men traveled to France and joined the war. The best known of these men were members of the Lafayette Escadrille - named after the Frenchman who came to the aid of Washington during the American Revolution.
I am student of history and I'm particularly interested in WWI so I wanted to see this movie as soon as I heard of it.
Some other comments complained about historical inaccuracies or about how the planes operated. I knew, going in, this wasn't a documentary. I expected it not to be 100% accurate. However, the combat scenes were very accurate (except the vapor trails coming from the bullets of the machine guns) . The pilots back then pushed their machines to the limits and some of the more wild moves were based on actual combat reports from the day.
Another accurate part was how the men came from different backgrounds and circumstances and how the life expectancy was low - a matter of weeks.
Being a movie, there was some unbelievable bits, mostly in the a couple of the actions Rawlings, played by James Franco.
As I said I fully expected this film not be a documentary but then they had a "where are they now" bit at the end, telling us what happened to the main characters after the war. That really wasn't needed and could be misleading especially for a viewer who has no prior knowledge of the war or of the Escadrille. What's the point of showing what happened to fictional composites.
Other than that I liked this movie and added it to my DVD collection.
Before the US entered the war, many idealistic young men traveled to France and joined the war. The best known of these men were members of the Lafayette Escadrille - named after the Frenchman who came to the aid of Washington during the American Revolution.
I am student of history and I'm particularly interested in WWI so I wanted to see this movie as soon as I heard of it.
Some other comments complained about historical inaccuracies or about how the planes operated. I knew, going in, this wasn't a documentary. I expected it not to be 100% accurate. However, the combat scenes were very accurate (except the vapor trails coming from the bullets of the machine guns) . The pilots back then pushed their machines to the limits and some of the more wild moves were based on actual combat reports from the day.
Another accurate part was how the men came from different backgrounds and circumstances and how the life expectancy was low - a matter of weeks.
Being a movie, there was some unbelievable bits, mostly in the a couple of the actions Rawlings, played by James Franco.
As I said I fully expected this film not be a documentary but then they had a "where are they now" bit at the end, telling us what happened to the main characters after the war. That really wasn't needed and could be misleading especially for a viewer who has no prior knowledge of the war or of the Escadrille. What's the point of showing what happened to fictional composites.
Other than that I liked this movie and added it to my DVD collection.