MMG: Rate this movie... Flyboys (2006)

[Scott Rose]

Todays movie.... Flyboys (2006).



Please vote in the poll and leave comments or critiques below.

[Ernie_D]

World War I is a very complicated war poorly taught in most, if not all schools. This is probably why this movie did poorly at the box office. It is the true story about how Americans went to France tofight in WWWI before the US joined the conflict. First, these guys had to learn how to fly the planes, then how to fight while flying the planes. There is a sort of romance in the movie, but it never gets beyond lukewarm. The movie is actually most appealing if you are a history and/or aviation buff. I list myself in those categories, so I give it four stars out of five.

[Scott Rose]

Voting closes in 7 days...

[Clifford Bossie]

I enjoyed it overall. There were some movie tropes, but no worse than most movies and better than some. It was fun and I saw it with a friend who is a pilot. Neither one of our wives were interested in going so it was boys day out.

[C VEICH]

I thought it was pretty terrible.

[Joe Scheil]

I watched the trailer. As a guy who likes both aviation and history, I didn’t see enough real occurrences of either to decide to watch the film.

To qualify that a bit further, I just had a most amazing experience watching Mikael Carlson fly his Fooker D.VIi in a demonstration of WWI flying that was simply awesome. (And I hate that word but it fits here)

His flying in that plane, powered by the original engine and as close as you can get structure and covering, was different than every other time I have seen a replica or other WWI type operated. The plane had stunning performance at slow airspeed in the vertical, turned and dove with tremendous agility and was just a fantastic vision to see. It is an amazing fighter plane when flown by someone who knows how. After the flight his words regarding the D.VII were similar to words that describe the F6F Hellcat. “It’s a great plane, and a safe fighting platform for almost any pilot....but against a real fighter (pointing at the Dr.1) with a pilot who knows what he is doing... he has only a small chance...”.

I can’t wait to see him fight an opponent in Austria in September. My eyes were opened on that day. The WWI aircraft perform splendidly when they are perfectly correct and true to their original selves. I am not sure if I am tired of the WWII birds....but the sight of his Dreidecker and D.VII simply will not leave my mind.

Cgi airplane antics are just like the marvel comic movies. What is the point?

[old iron]

If I remember right, all the German planes were Dr.1s

[Scott Rose]

I thought it was pretty terrible.

Care to provide specifics?

[Dave Hadfield]

I remember a lot of loathsome CGI.

[Baldeagle]

I can tell you that it was a great experience filming it. Three months in England, well paid, and interesting flying. We in the Aerial Unit of course thought that they should've used more of our work in the finished product, but so it goes. Tony Bill and Dean Devlin were fun to work with, James Franco kept to himself a little bit, but the rest of the actors were very friendly and outgoing. Abdul and Tyler interrupted filming one day to sing Happy Birthday to me at the top of their lungs, great memories. And the food was really good, as it always is on those things. Plus I got to go to Flying Legends, Shuttleworth, London on most weekends. and a number of other interesting places. And worked with Ray Hanna, Nigel Lamb, Taff Smith, Brian Brown, John Day, Rob Gauld-Galliers, and others. I wish I could do that once a year.
I flew Kermit's Nieuport 17 for the filming.



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[Baldeagle]

On set, David Ellison, Phillip Winchester, Tyler Labine, Abdul Salis, myself, and Tony Bill. I think that's Barry McGee in front. Kermit Weeks' Nieuport behind us.



They had some great stuff on set, which was at RAF Halton, about 40 miles I think north of London. A real LeRhone weights about 350 pounds, this one weighed about 35. Note the replica Bessoneau hangar in the background, with mock up Sopwith next to it.


Can't seem to find any more of my pictures at the moment.



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[Scott Rose]

I can tell you that it was a great experience filming it. Three months in England, well paid, and interesting flying. We in the Aerial Unit of course thought that they should've used more of our work in the finished product, but so it goes. Tony Bill and Dean Devlin were fun to work with, James Franco kept to himself a little bit, but the rest of the actors were very friendly and outgoing. Abdul and Tyler interrupted filming one day to sing Happy Birthday to me at the top of their lungs, great memories. And the food was really good, as it always is on those things. Plus I got to go to Flying Legends, Shuttleworth, London on most weekends. and a number of other interesting places. And worked with Ray Hanna, Nigel Lamb, Taff Smith, Brian Brown, John Day, Rob Gauld-Galliers, and others. I wish I could do that once a year.
I flew Kermit's Nieuport 17 for the filming.

Neat, that must have been a great time. Thanks for sharing

[C VEICH]

I thought it was pretty terrible.

Care to provide specifics?

It's been so long ago that I saw the movie that I can't recall any specifics Scott. I do recall being very unsatisfied with the CGI aerial sequences and the very unrealistic performance depicted for WW1 types. As for the story itself again I cannot remember details but I do remember not being terribly impressed by it. And that is saying something because my expectations were not very high to begin with. I really only watched the movie simply because it was aviation related and not because I saw anything compelling in the trailer story wise.

[Saville]

I'd actually give it 3.5 stars but as that was not an option I selected 4. Jean Reno is always excellent to watch - great actor - and lent some realism in that his was not a fake french accent.

I had low expectations for the movie and I wasn't disappointed.

[JohnB]

I enjoyed it...
I didn't have huge expectations about the flying, I certainly expected CGI.

I went to encourage "Hollywood" to make more similar films...if my $10 matters to them.

I always find it interesting that airplane guys complain about the lack of airplane films, then usually complain about them when they are made!

I have seen very few perfect films, and no airplane related films are in that list. Even the ones that come close always have some airplane issues, usually related to the lack of available types (like the Hunter filling in for the Douglas 558-II in The Right Stuff or the use of models or (today) CGI when they can't really wreck an airplane due to rarity or pilot safety.
"What do you mean Paul Mantz/Kermit/USAF/USN won't let them destroy a real valuable airplane...and a pilot doesn't want to risk death for MY entertainment?

Come on people loosen up, go and enjoy a film even if it's not 100% accurate from a nerd perspective.