Friday, September 22, 2006

Movie: Flyboys ****

Tonight after work my wife and I went to see FLYBOYS (4* out of 5*). This is a movie about Americans that volunteered to be fighter pilots for France during World War I in the Lafayette Escadrille. This is before the United States got into the war. (see post below for history of unit). I liked the movie and my wife was pleasantly surprised. Many of the critics have panned the movie because of the many war movie cliches; but, I think most of them work in this movie. There are a lots of production values in reproducing France in WW I. I liked the history, music, costumes and the cinimatography. The story is a typical one for this type of movie. The aerial combat scenes are very well done. There is a love story for the lady's. Is that sexist? I think that many of the movie critics are anti war pacifist who hate war movies unless they are blatantly pacifist. Go see it on the big screen. I will defiantly get it when it comes out on DVD. In watching the movie I kept thinking about Quentin Roosevelt the son of Teddy Roosevelt. Encouraged by his father, who was a war hero for charging up San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War, he joined the US Army Air Corps where he became a fighter pilot during World War I after the U.S. entered the war. Extremely popular with his fellow pilots and known for his daring, he was killed in aerial combat over France. His father died shortly thereafter of a broken heart. Again, Freedom isn't free.Click on the title above for a link to the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) page for Flyboys.