Kitch’s Top 5 World War One Movies: #5 – Flyboys

Starring: James Franco, Martin Henderson & Jean Reno  
Release Date: September 22, 2006
Director: Tony Bill

In A Few Words…: Fictionalised, special-effects laden account of the famous Lafayette Escadrille in the early years of World War One.

Kitch's Rating: 7.5/10

 SPOILERS AHEAD!

Chances are, if you blinked, you missed this one when it appeared in Australian cinemas, and it’s a shame because Flyboys, something of a starring vehicle for James Franco (who, at around the same time, was a part of the original Spider-Man franchise), is a very enjoyable film that departs from the usual storyline of Great War movies – trenches, mud, bayonets, machine guns, despair – to tell a somewhat-fictionalised version of the Lafayette Escadrille.

Named for the French patriot who fought alongside George Washington in the American War of Independence, the Escadrille was, for all intents and purposes, a French unit, but it was stacked with Americans, men who had journeyed across the Atlantic to take part in the war long before the sinking of the Lusitania, the event that brought the United States reluctantly into the conflict. Blaine Rawlings (Franco) is the main character, and much of the story is told through his eyes.

The Americans, from various walks of life, are under the command of Captain Georges Thenault (Reno) and learn how to survive in dog fights by another American, Reed Cassidy (Henderson), an ace pilot who enjoys drinking and womanising as much or more than he enjoys flying. He doesn’t say very much, but leads by example in the air. Director Tony Bill incorporated many real-life stories of the Escadrille, whilst using some made-up composite characters.

As far as special effects go, Flyboys is at the top of it’s game. It’s one of those films best seen on the big screen. The dogfighting between American/French and German fighters in primitive planes is spectacular. One particular scene, where the squad has to go up against a German zeppelin, supported by their nemesis ‘The Black Falcon’ – a stand-in, I assume, for The Red Baron – is particularly impressive.

Some people will complain about the lack of historical accuracy, but Flyboys is a Hollywood film, not a documentary, and others about the contrived love story between Rawlings and a Frenchwoman he meets about a third of the way into the film, but I liked that Flyboys shone a light on a different facet of the Great War, one that isn’t always focused on by the major studios. In fact, it took a privately-financed film to tell this story.