Matrix Games Forums

Has anyone seen Flyboys yet. I have only seen one short preview. However I did read a magazine article on it about 4 months ago. It sounded interesting.

Looks like complete crap. Anyone notice that black pilot? Yeah, quite the creative stretching of historical fact. Bound to be a chick oriented date flick.

Ron, I have seen little to nothing as advertising for this movie. If the studio is not supporting it, is it a stinker?

I just saw the trailers and it looks like rubbish. Considering the trash Hollywood is releasing the last five or so years it is a lock to be sad. I'll wait until it is on the History Channel, seeing as there will be little historical content it must surely qualify.

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

Looks like complete crap. Anyone notice that black pilot? Yeah, quite the creative stretching of historical fact. Bound to be a chick oriented date flick.

Hate to burst your bubble Ron, but Eugene Bullard was the first black aviator in history, and flew with the Lafayette Flying Corps in 1917.

He joined the French Foriegn legion in 1914, and after being wounded at Verdun in 1916 transferred to the Aéronautique Militaire. The fact he had the Croix de Guerre probably helped.

He was assigned to 93 Spad Squadron from August 1917-January 1918, where he claimed two aircraft shot down.

After a fight with a superior, he was transferred back to the Infantry until the Armistice.

He was not allowed to fight or fly for the United States army (even though he applied when the U.S. entered the war), and thus served with the French.

The Black pilot in the movie is loosely based on him.


Of note, he died on October 12, 1961. On August 23, 1994, seventy-seven years to the day after his rejection for U.S. military service, he was posthumously commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in te U.S. Air Force.

The most famous squadron is Escadrille 124, or the Escadrille Lafayette. But so many Americans volunteered that an entire Lafayette Flying Corps was formed to handle the recruits.


So you really can't fault the movie there....

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

Looks like complete crap. Anyone notice that black pilot? Yeah, quite the creative stretching of historical fact. Bound to be a chick oriented date flick.

I thought the same and did a little research - in fact, the world's first black fighter pilot was in the Lafayette Esquadrille.

Eugene Bullard - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Bullard

The movie may still be rubbish, but at least that isn't pure fiction.

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Ron, I have seen little to nothing as advertising for this movie. If the studio is not supporting it, is it a stinker?

Considering that most action/war movies I have seen the last few years have stunk, this may be a good thing.

I can't think of one decent war movie made in the last five, maybe even ten years, with the exception of Band of Brothers (great series).

ORIGINAL: Tankerace
So you really can't fault the movie there....

Come on, Tanker... Birds gotta fly, pigs gotta roll around in the mud, and Ron's gotta whine like a circular saw going through hardwood. Even though his whining's normally as meaningless as Paris Hilton singing...[8|]

ORIGINAL: Terminus
meaningless as Paris Hilton singing...[8|]

Paris Hilton sings [X(]

Not in the universally accepted sense, no. But she does have an album out; hence, "meaningless"...

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

ORIGINAL: Terminus
meaningless as Paris Hilton singing...[8|]

Paris Hilton sings [X(]

To quote Terminus from a post about a month ago, " oh the horror, the horror."

To all who are reading this thread, Ron Saueracker is a semi-regular poster to the thread and he knows us. He knows we are kidding when we give him a hard time and he gives it right back to us.

That being said, any and all comments about the movie are appreciated (as long as they meet Matrix forum rules, of course). This movie is not playing in the city where I live. I would have to drive 40 minutes to get to a theatre showing it. Before I commit that kind of time, I would like to know what fellow gamers think.

And yes, I do appreciate Ron's comments.[:)]

And thanks to Tankerace and Duke. I did not know that about Eugene Bullard.

Bruce,

I saw it this past weekend.

There were the typical hollywood largess but overall I liked the movie. Anyone can pick out some of the inaccuracies in the movie but I liked the story and IMO it showed some of the bravery and crazyness you had to have to fly an oversized kite. One thing I really liked is it showed that not all the Germans were bad. Of course the main villian was VERY bad and German. One thing I really wish people would show in movies is that the Allies in alot of ways were just as bad or worse then the people we were fighting.

Just my .02 worth.

Another factor for movies - here in Florida movies in the evening are $8.50 and matinees are $6.00.

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

Looks like complete crap. Anyone notice that black pilot? Yeah, quite the creative stretching of historical fact. Bound to be a chick oriented date flick.

Hate to burst your bubble Ron, but Eugene Bullard was the first black aviator in history, and flew with the Lafayette Flying Corps in 1917.

He joined the French Foriegn legion in 1914, and after being wounded at Verdun in 1916 transferred to the Aéronautique Militaire. The fact he had the Croix de Guerre probably helped.

He was assigned to 93 Spad Squadron from August 1917-January 1918, where he claimed two aircraft shot down.

After a fight with a superior, he was transferred back to the Infantry until the Armistice.

He was not allowed to fight or fly for the United States army (even though he applied when the U.S. entered the war), and thus served with the French.

The Black pilot in the movie is loosely based on him.

Yah, you can still fault the movie - it was a piece of complete Hollywood CRAP.
And they did not bother to say "this is Eugene Bullard - the World's first African American Pilot...who was instrumental in defeating yet more evil Germans" but the point is ...Ron is dead on right - it was C-R-A-P.

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Ron, I have seen little to nothing as advertising for this movie. If the studio is not supporting it, is it a stinker?

Considering that most action/war movies I have seen the last few years have stunk, this may be a good thing.

I can't think of one decent war movie made in the last five, maybe even ten years, with the exception of Band of Brothers (great series).

Thats very true, aside from Private Ryan I just cant recal any good ones. Thin Red Line stunk to high heaven. I dont know if you can even qualify it as a war movie. Enemy at the Gates had about 5 minutes worth of watchable footage and the rest was either crap, hollywood, or some sort of Cold War propaganda regurgitation of stuff that never happened. Pearl Harbor? I cant even remember any of the other ones.

ORIGINAL: Terminus
as meaningless as Paris Hilton singing...[8|]

I'm glad you let her off so easy....[:)]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Not in the universally accepted sense, no. But she does have an album out; hence, "meaningless"...

Is that the album title?

I stand corrected on the Black Pilot, I did not know this. Interesting that this was the case in WWI considering all the discrimination the blacks endured prior to and after WWI. I still bet it is soooo far off the mark historically and is more a chick flick than anything.

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

I stand corrected on the Black Pilot, I did not know this. Interesting that this was the case in WWI considering all the discrimination the blacks endured prior to and after WWI. I still bet it is soooo far off the mark historically and is more a chick flick than anything.

It was awful! Every German plane was a Red Fokker Triplane, except the Red Baron- who flew a Black Fokker Triplane!

And the Germans' Fokkers are escorting Zepplins on bombing raids like P-51's escorting the 8th Air Force!

Not only that, but all of the aircraft look Computer generated. They couldn't even match Hollywood's Blue Max of 1966 for good airiel warfare scenes...