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.[2] 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 of 5 French officers and 38 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.[3]
Plot
A group of young Americans go to France, for different personal reasons, 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.[3] 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 World War I American Pilots, which, in 1927, was the first film ever to win the Academy Award for best picture.
Cast
In writing the original drafts that formed the basis of the final screenplay, Tony Bill made an effort to incorporate the real-life adventures of a number of American World War I expatriates who served in both the Lafayette Escadrille and the Lafayette Flying Corps, although pseudonyms were used throughout.[4] The casting of James Franco in an action adventure feature, at the time was considered a "stepping stone" to his rise as marquee player and movie star.[5]
Production
The film was shot on location in the United Kingdom primarily in spring 2005 although principal photography continued on into the summer.[6] The trench scenes were shot in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the same location used for Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. The airfield and aerial shots were filmed on and above RAF Halton (near Aylesbury) where hangars, mess rooms and officers quarters were built adjacent to Splash Covert Woods. All scenery and props were removed when filming ended. The interior shots of the chateau were filmed at RAF Halton's officers' mess, Halton House. Some interiors and studio green-screen work were filmed at Elstree Film and Television Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.[7]
The film was financed privately outside the standard Hollywood studio circuit by a group of filmmakers and investors, including producer Dean Devlin and pilot David Ellison, son of Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison; both spent more than $60 million of their own money to make and market "Flyboys".
The Nieuport 17s featured in the film included four replicas built by Airdrome Aeroplanes, an aircraft company based outside of Kansas City, Missouri. The other aircraft used were a mix of authentic aircraft (the Nieuport 17 that James Franco used throughout the filming was an original combat aircraft from Kermit Weeks' collection in Florida, specially brought over for the film)[8] and replicas including Nieuport 17s, a sole Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter and a number of Fokker Dr.I replicas.[9]
In preparing for the starring role, James Franco took flying lessons. All the other main actors, except Jean Reno, were filmed in actual aircraft in anticipation of using the aerial footage in final scenes. (Reno pointedly refused the offer, with a "No thanks, I'm afraid of flying." admission). Very little other than Franco's closeups in a cockpit ultimately made it to the screen.[10]
Historical accuracy
This film has been widely criticized for its lack of historical accuracy.[11] The most serious lapse was the blending of the Lafayette Escadrille with the Lafayette Flying Corps, a sub-unit where the real-life Eugene Bullard actually served.[12] Various details of World War I fighter aircraft technology shown in the film were inaccurate. For example, the aircraft engines in the CGI scenes are pictured as not moving. The rotary engines used in early aircraft rotated along with the propeller at the same speed. This mistake is mainly due to the fact that the Nieuport and Fokker aircraft used in the movie are flying replicas built with new engines. This detail can be briefly seen in the final combat when the black Fokker is taking off after Rowling's ground attack at the German airfield. [13]
One major point of contention in the film is the singular use of Fokker Triplanes, which were not in widespread operational use. Almost every Triplane was also painted red in the film, indicating that the Triplane was in Jasta 11, the "all-red" unit. Its leader, Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron", flew four "blood-red" Triplanes (although undersurfaces remained blue).[14] On the director/producer commentary track for the DVD release, Producer Dean Devlin noted that they were aware of this predominant use of red triplanes, but wanted to give clear visual signals to the audience to enable them to easily distinguish friend from foe in the aerial sequences.[15]
In the film, the RMS Aquitania is depicted as a luxury liner; however, in early 1914, she was converted to use as an armed merchant cruiser, and by 1915 had been put into use as a troop transport ship, painted with dazzle style camouflage. However, the film might have used it to demonstrate the style of transport ships during the war.[16]
The use of weapons and ordnance was completely unrealistic, as anti-aircraft artillery shown in use by the Germans was not of any type used by any side in World War I. Had any of the portrayed flak bursts come as close as they appeared in the film, the aircraft would have been most likely destroyed. Also, one scene describes the Germans as using a new 9 mm calibre "Spandau" machine gun, even though no German machine gun was ever produced in 9 mm; the "Spandau" was produced only in 7.92x57mm calibre.
Reception
Critics generally gave unfavorable reviews of the film based on the hackneyed dialogue and inconsistency of the plot, although public acceptance was more forgiving focusing more on the realistic aerial scenes. The Rotten Tomatoes website, as of 25 September 2006, gave it a "rotten" rating with a mere 33% positive reviews. [17] Google Movies provided an average rating of 2.6 out of 5 as of 13 November 2006. Established reviewers did, however, credit the film for the exciting action sequences in the air.
The film opened fourth at the box office with a total box office gross of $17,770,614.[18] On December 27, 2006, Variety named it one of the 10 biggest box office flops of the year, citing an estimated shortfall of $90 million.[19]
References
Notes
- ^ a b "Flyboys (2006)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=flyboys.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ^ Farmer 2006, p. 18.
- ^ a b Sherman, Steven. "Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer Pilots in WWI." acepilots.com, 2007. Retrieved: April 27, 2008.
- ^ a b Farmer 2006, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Farmer 2006, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Farmer 2006, p. 16.
- ^ Farmer 2006. p. 50.
- ^ Farmer 2006, p. 20.
- ^ Farmer 2006. pp. 21–22, 50.
- ^ Farmer 2006, p. 53.
- ^ Phillips, Michael. "Flyboys: Movie Review". Chicago Tribune, September 22, 2006. Retrieved: August 24, 2008.
- ^ Flammer, Phillip M. "Roster of the Lafayette Flying Corps." New England Air Museum, 2006. Retrieved: August 24, 2008.
- ^ "Early Aircraft Engines." U.S. Centennial of Flight, 2003. Retrieved: August 24, 2008.
- ^ Winchester 2004, p. 141.
- ^ Bill, Tony and Dean Devlin. "Special Features: Audio Commentary." Flyboys (DVD: Full Screen). MGM, 2006.
- ^ Mancini, Louis. "RMS Aquitania." Monsters of the Sea: The Great Ocean Liners of Time, 2008. Retrieved: August 24, 2008.
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flyboys/
- ^ Mojo
- ^ Variety
Bibliography
- Farmer, Jim. "The Making of Flyboys." Air Classics, Vol. 42, No. 11, November 2006.
- Winchester, Jim, ed. "Fokker DR.1: JG 1". Biplanes, Triplanes and Seaplanes (Aviation Factfile). London: Grange Books plc, 2004. ISBN 1-84013-641-3.
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