Flyboys

Christian Movie Review

What Flyboys lacks in plot, it makes up for in action and authenticity. The film is inspired by the true story of the first American fighter pilots, the legendary Lafayette Escadrille. Unlike numerous World War II films, this is the first movie about World War I aviation to hit theaters in more than 40 years. It demonstrates the extraordinary bravery of 38 young men, heroes who risked their lives in the unprotected environment of the primitive, open cockpit biplanes of World War I.

• Genre: Action; Adventure
• Release: September 22, 2006
• Rated: PG-13
• Distributed by: MGM Studios
• Director: Tony Bill
• Cast: James Franco (Blaine Rawlings), Martin Henderson (Reed Cassidy), Jean Reno (Captain Thenault), Philip Winchester (William Jensen), Jennifer Decker (Lucienne), Tyler Labine (Briggs Lowry), Abdul Salis (Eugene Skinner), David Ellison (Eddie Beagle)
• Writers: David S. Ward, Phil Sears and Blake T. Evans
• Producers: Dean Devlin, Marc Frydman

The Lafayette Escadrille was comprised of 38 American volunteers who joined Allied forces in France in 1917 before the United States entered World War I. They trained for 2 months under the command of French Captain Thenault (Jean Reno) and the leadership of American veteran Reed Cassidy (Martin Henderson). In the flight scenes, you get a true sense of the unparalleled danger, terrorizing fear, and thrilling adventure these daring aviators experienced in their aerial dogfights. Their armor consisted only of canvas, leather, wood, wire and linen. Not even parachutes were offered to these pilots, only revolvers for protection behind enemy lines. The guns also provided a quicker, less painful death when burning in a cockpit fire was the only other alternative.

One element of value in the film is the inclusion of a devout Christian. He is referred to as a "man of God." He prays before his flights, reads his Bible, and sings the song "Onward Christian Soldiers" during each dogfight. He is bold in his faith, courageous in battle, genuine in personality and respected by his comrades.

Another valuable asset in Flyboys is the beautiful breaking down of race and social prejudice depicted among the characters. Examples of bravery and sacrifice are the supreme and inspiring demonstrations of this film.

Negative Elements:

The plot is terribly weak.

War is difficult to portray in a positive light. These men had everything against them. Some were running from their pasts. The life expectancy for a World War I combat pilot was only 3-6 weeks. They faced superior German technology, training and weaponry, including the planes they went up against. To their credit, in the face of so much negativity, they volunteered to fight.

One truly negative point underlined in the film is that the pilots were not honored among their fellow soldiers until they had killed at least one enemy. Once they became "official killers" they could begin to drink in the bar with the rest of their comrades.

There is no nudity in the film. In one scene, pilots are rescued after a crash by women of a local brothel. The women are fully covered by the lingerie of that era, however, an implication of sexual involvement is expressed. In contrast, the leading character is thrilled to discover that the woman who nursed his wounds is not a prostitute.

Violence:

Well, how do you make a war film without violence? It's impossible. In Flyboys there is blood, fighting, punching, shooting, bombing and death, but the violence is under-emphasized and certainly not the focal point of the action. One pilot takes his own life by shooting himself in his burning plane, another who knows he will die anyway, flies his plane into a target. When one pilot is trapped he can only be saved and freed by his friend, who has no other choice but to cut off his hand.

Language:

Viewers will experience some language in this film including two uses of "d**n" and "a**," one instance of "s**t," "h**l," and an unfortunate use of "God-d**n."

Drug and Alcohol:

Like violence, it's hard to portray the reality of war without the presence of alcohol. Several bar scenes are in the film, however, an overemphasis on drinking and drunkenness is absent from the film.

I'll conclude with just a bit about the real Flyboys. Captain Thenault and "Whisky" the lion mascot are the only authentic names and characters in the film, yet the distinguishing qualities of the others are taken directly from real life. Cassidy was inspired by Raoul Lufbery. In reality he was a loner driven by revenge. He downed more enemy planes than any other pilot in the squad. Rawlings (Franco) was inspired by Frank Luke, a young farmer from Arizona who led the pack in risky attacks on hard targets. Beagle (Ellison) was inspired by the legendary Courtney Campbell, who managed to land his plane after losing a wing. Lowry (Labine) portrayed Norman Prince, the Harvard graduate, son of a millionaire with eccentric tastes and 122 missions to his credit.

It's interesting that Jensen, representing the "typical idealistic pilot," was played by a Christian (Winchester). Like Jensen, many had to overcome great battles with fear to continue in combat. Lastly, Skinner (Salis) was inspired by Eugene Bullard, the son of a slave. He was the only African-American fighter pilot in the war. Although the United States refused him for air service in the war, he was much later recognized in 1994 by the U.S. Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant.