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      Flyboys

      2006, History/Drama, 2h 19m

      129 Reviews 50,000+ Ratings

      What to know

      Critics Consensus

      A poorly scripted history-rewriting exercise with mediocre acting and unconvincing CGI battle scenes. Read critic reviews

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      Movie Info

      Before the United States enters World War I, some American youths volunteer for the French military. Subsequently, they become the first U.S. fighter pilots and form a squadron known as the Lafayette Escadrille, whose exploits and heroism become the stuff of legend.

      • Rating: PG-13 (War Action Violence|Some Sexual Content)

      • Genre: History, Drama, Action, War

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Tony Bill

      • Producer: Dean Devlin, Marc Frydman

      • Writer: David S. Ward, Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans

      • Release Date (Theaters):  wide

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Box Office (Gross USA): $13.1M

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

      • Production Co: Electric Entertainment, Skydance Media, Ingenious Film Partners

      • Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS

      • Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

      Cast & Crew

      James Franco
      Jean Reno
      Tyler Labine
      Philip Winchester
      Abdul Salis
      David Ellison
      Keith McErlean
      Todd Boyce
      Tony Bill
      David S. Ward
      Phil Sears
      Blake T. Evans
      Duncan Reid
      James Clayton
      David Brown
      Phillip M. Goldfarb
      Henry Braham
      Ron Rosen
      Trevor Rabin
      Charles Wood
      Ray Chan
      Eliza Solesbury
      Nic Ede

      News & Interviews for Flyboys

      Critic Reviews for Flyboys

      Audience Reviews for Flyboys

      • May 26, 2013

        A stereotypical but well-made war film, Flyboys tells a thrilling tale of daring high-flying adventure. Inspired by real events, the story follows a group of recruits who join the Lafayette Escadrile, a core of voluntary American fighter pilots who serviced in the French Air Service during World War I. The special effects are fairly good, though the CGI is noticeable at times. However, the directing does a great job at capturing the energy and excitement of aerial combat. But the story's weak and is full of cliches, and the acting's not much better. Yet despite its short comes, Flyboys is an entertaining action film about a fascinating chapter of World War I history.

        Super Reviewer
      • Oct 28, 2011

        Jean Reno and James Franco are really great, but this movie suffers in the bad CGI, overly awkward scenes, and some crappy storytelling.

        Super Reviewer
      • May 07, 2011

        Flyboys suffers from a poor script, filled with cheesy clliches and underwritten characters. Though overall its' too CGI filled, it has enough energetic charm and good battle scenes to make it mildly entertaining.

        Super Reviewer
      • Jul 26, 2010

        I was very disappointed with this film, and it held so much promise because of the subject matter. The Lafayette Escadrille was a colorful batch of pilots of dubious background and experience that nevertheless were pretty effective as a combat unit. The real-life people involved certainly were interesting enough to warrant a film like this. I think it was a case of a poor script and lack of budget, and selling a war film is never easy.They opted for fictional-based-on-fact set of characters that reduces them to cliches. I suppose they didn't want to be taken to task by creating a character profile of Raoul Lufbery that didn't jive with historical fanatics. The cast wasn't the problem: They were pretty good, even if they were cardboard cutouts of actual historical members of the famous Lafayette Escadrille. James Franco does a decent job as the central Yankee flyer who joins up to flee his past. His love interest is improbable, but at least it had some awkward realism to it. But even the combat situations were stock Hollywood: Rather than attempting to show a historic fight of the Escadrille, they created generic Germans. I guess that once again it was to make the film interesting to non-war buffs, they skimped on accuracy and detail in favor of flash. The CGI combats were too fast, way too fast. These kind of planes were pretty darn slow. The tactics and maneuver was what could make the combat exciting, but they fought like World War 2 aircraft instead. The mix of planes was very limited, so instead of encountering five models of aircraft it was literally the same Nieuports and Fokkers every dogfight. With CGI, you should be able to throw in an occasional odd plane. This is an untapped era of film: The Knights of the Sky, and the much older 'Blue Max' still stands as one of the better depictions of air combat in World War One.

        Super Reviewer

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