Tom Crawford wrote:
Flyboys just came out this week in DVD. What do you think? I say "No comparison". The Blue Max is far better...especially using REAL airplanes
in REAL aerial sequences and the ability to establish THE plot...plus Ursula
Andress...WOW...Tom
Tom, IMO, both movies have their advantages and disadvantages. Both are loaded with innacuaracies. I agree with you that TBM is better in terms of real flying sequences, and yes, Ursula Undress...er... Andress.
Flyboys, on the other hand, has recieved a lot of flak for not sticking to the "real" story of the Lafayette Escadrille. What most most people aren't aware of, however, is what Flyboys got right. There are a LOT of very accurate details if you know what you're looking at.
For instance, the little note from Cassidy that 'Rawlings' reads at the memorial service for Cassidy and Porter is taken almost verbatim from a genuine note left behind by the real James McConnell of Escadrille N.124. And the love interests in the story...at James McConnell's funeral, no les than 3 weeping French lasses showed up.
The lion - I've heard where one movie critic stated that the idea of a lion for a mascot was ridiculous. Obviously that critic didn't bother to read up on the subject before dispensing his "expert" advice. The LE had not one, but TWO lion cub mascots, one of which was indeed named "Whiskey". In fact, as in the movie, Raoul Lufberry trained Whiskey to pounce on unsuspecting French soldiers who visited the field.
The character "Cassidy", I think, was based largely on Raoul Lufberry. You can see traces of that in the fact that he was battle-hardened ace, as well as the fact that he was the only pilot that got along with "Whiskey", the lion.
The the rich Harvard drop-out that was sent off to war by his father(don't remember his name), reminded me a lot of Elliot Springs, in that he came from money, dropped out of Harvard and had a very rocky relationship with his father. His death in the movie (i won't give away how he died) is, I would say, the scene that gripped me the most. I have read about that happening to so many airmen, but to see an actual depcition on-screen of that happening really tugged at my soul. Ironically, that is how Lufberry persished, although he opted to jump rather than use the gun.
I've heard some critiscism that the filmamkers were trying to be politically correct by placing an african-american in the movie. Not so. The character "Eugene Skinner" was based on the real life pilot Eugene Bullard. Bullard, an African-american, scored 2 victories while flying with the Lafayette Flying Corp (the expanded version of the LE). He earned the nickname "the Black Swallow of Death". France honored him after the war by making him a “Knight of the Legion of Honor”. Between the wars he opened a very successful nightclub in Paris. During WW2 he joined the French resistance. After the war he was again honored by France by being invited to the Arch-de-Triumph to relight the “eternal flame” after WW II was over.
Other things that I found commendable:
- the attention to small details. the cuts of the uniforms, the "Bottle of Death", the various accoutrements of the WW1 airfield
- the aircraft, although being CG renderings for most of the flick, were far more accurate in their appearance that their earlier TBM counterparts.
I wish I could keep going, but the fact is that it has been several months since I have seen the movie and my memory of the specifics of the movie have faded a little.
Russ
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