Posted on 09/24/2006 7:15:44 PM PDT by oyez
(I havn't posted a topic in years so please bear with me.)
We finally get a story of good American volunteer-ism, comradeship and adventure without the pacifist claptrap. This is the kind of war movie the public has been asking for for sometime. I'm not a movie expert but it is in the spirit of Howard Hughes's "Hell's Angels", but not as classic. It is done in an acceptable context that schools could use as video material. There is no bad language just the pain and horror of war.
I have not read any reviews of the movie, but I can predict the critics will call it another shallow, unrealistic piece of "America saves the world" genera.
Lafayette Escadrille did not save France or anyone else, it gave the French the assurance the Americans were kindred in spirit of the price of freedom.
I sometimes regret America ever got the ball rolling by joining in WWI. Had we not, the war would have ended in 1920. The armistice would have been written with the same mistakes and with seeds for the next war. America would have been spared of the casualties, the expense, the depression of the '30's, and the devastation of the Spanish flu.
Then again we wouldn't have had the dress rehearsal for WWII.
I fear that yet within a few years the clarion call will go out for "America to save us all" once again.
I invite comments form FR. Most are more eloquent than I.
They used a combination of real aircraft, miniatures and CG effects.
You're right. Because the movie shows military men as heroes rather than jerks, and celebrates courage under fire rather than PTSD, some lamestream reviewers don't like it (though, in fairness, others have raved).
The German aircraft are depicted as superior; there are both dogfights and ambushes. It's a dramatic movie rather than a documentary, and lots of fun.
"It sounds like the kind of old-fashioned war picture that I thought Hollyweird had forgotten how to make."
It is. Excellent pic.
ping to #25
I saw it yesterday and agree. A great use of computer generated graphics. It was nice to see Hadley-Page and Gotha bombers, even if they only exist in the bowels of some computer. Having been to Oshkosh many times, I must point out that the make believe (CGI) airplanes looked much more substantial than the real thing. The pilots must have been crazy to go up in them with people shooting at them. Anyway, good show for anyone who likes old airplanes -- and pretty much everyone else.
There are no rotary engines still made (of the kind that were used in WWI). Adding to confusion is the Mazda type rotary engine, which is COMPLETELY different.
The original Rotary was done for a very good reason. Cooling. The metals were not as strong back then as they are now and heat weakens them. A stationary radial engine would get hot, the metal would weaken, and horrendous wear would occur. The rotary would keep itself cool even while on the ground.
The acutal engines were masterpieces of machining. They started with a solid block of steel and machined the cooling fins into it. The walls of the cylinder were so thin that they could not be bored out in a rebuild. BTW, the average time between rebuilds for them was about 20 hours. For a time, they gave the highest power output per pound of any engine made. Eventually, they were outclassed by cheaper and more reliable liquid cooled engines and even later, radial engines.
Flyboys by James Bradley was an excellent book. However I'm not so sure if Hollywood could make a go at it. The books takes a hard look at how Japan looked at America before the war, a slave holding, Mexican displacing, Indian killing, Manifest Dynasty believing, Philippine intrusionist, Hawaii swiping, energy usurping, self-important, Imperialistic Republic. Hollywood would have the audience biased in no times.
There is a ton of literature that supports this as well, especially, Manfred von Richthofen's own journal, which goes into detail as to why the red paint. Lother von Richthofen also discusses this, as does Herman Goering, who ended up the commander of the flying circus at the end of the war.
Yeah, the trailer included the highlights. The jaw-dropping maneuvers are rare, and Tony Bill told me that many of the most "unbelievable" ones were taken from actual events. He is very serious about research and had a lot of expert aviation advisors, in addition to being a champion aerobatic pilot himself.
Obviously not enough to determine what color the planes should be.
Yes, there are several original WWI aircraft in running condition, as well as some 1:1 replicas which are fitted with WWI-vitage engines. You've gotta give credit where credit is due... the rotary piston engine was effective in spite of it's significant quirks. The Germans used it, too, and managed to rig up a switch that would cut the ignition to several cylinders. That gave them a "stepped throttle".
Pilots on both sides had the same problem with the rotary: they inhaled lots of castor oil from the exhaust, resulting in persistent diarrhea.
War really IS Hell.
My family saw it over the weekend. We really enjoyed it. My son and my husband loved the airplane dog firghts. My daughter loved the love story. It had something for everybody.
Good movie.
p.s. very gory in war battle scenes but the language was surprisingly tame and the love story consisted of a kiss.
What absolute total trash! I was wishing for Flyboys 20 minutes into that Dahlia garbage. Worst movie I've seen all year.
James Franco (who stars in Flyboys) also starred in "Annapolis" recently which also had a fairly patriotic message, although not blockbuster material. I wonder if he's a conservative.
My favorite movie from WW1 was "The Blue Max" with the late George Peppard and James Mason.
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