Red Tails

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Red Tails

PG-13

Released Jan 20, 2012

2h 5m

History

Drama

War

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Popcornmeter

40%

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134 Reviews

57%

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25,000+ Ratings

During World War II, the Civil Aeronautics Authority selects 13 black cadets to become part of an experimental program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The program aims at training colored personnel to become fighter pilots for the Army. However, discrimination, lack of institutional support and the racist belief that these men lacked the intelligence and aptitude for the job dog their every step. Despite this, the Tuskegee Airmen, as they become known, more than prove their worth.

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Critics Consensus

Despite a worthy fact-based story and obvious good intentions, Red Tails suffers from one-dimensional characters, corny dialogue, and heaps of clichés.

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Ina Diane Archer

Film Comment Magazine

One longs for more scenes between the ensemble on the ground, but the emphasis on aerial (and digital) technology leaves the characters without context.

Nov 5, 2013

Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

This is a proper war film. That's to say one with crazy dogfights and (no, really) Nazis with prominent scars.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 11, 2012

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Phelim O'Neill

Guardian

The true story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a squadron of African-American second world war flying aces, is one of those amazing tales that you just couldn't make up.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 7, 2012

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Reduces a story of triumph over racial prejudice to a standard gung-ho war movie.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 23, 2023

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Jack Fleischer

Battleship Pretension

In the end, this movie is exciting to watch, but it's otherwise exceedingly bland. Red Tails simply doesn't do justice to its source material.

Mar 24, 2021

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

It's a film that deserves an audience and for its story to be heard.

Rated: 2.5/4.0

Sep 21, 2020

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Korra N

It's not the movie it should've been or could've been, but RED TAILS is a thrilling albeit fairly rote depiction of the Tuskegee Airmen, never fully capitalizing on how truly important they were, instead focusing on entertainment over engagement.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/06/25

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Glafira Regina O

The film is decent, but for its genre, it’s pretty standard and doesn’t offer anything new. Surprisingly, it lacks action—odd for a war movie—which makes it feel a bit slow and even boring at times. Still, the story of the “Red Tails” and the Tuskegee Airmen is based on real events, and I hadn’t seen it brought to screen before, so it’s worth a watch for that alone.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/24/25

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Dirk D

I wanted so much to like this movie. But between the sound editing, the editing and the CGI I just could not get through the whole movie. It is so disturbing how bad the sound editing And the CGI. It was just got awful. I could not get through it. I swear,I so wanted to like this movie and story. Whoever put this movie together needs to be ashamed of themselves.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/12/25

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noah R

while it does suffer from lack of historical accuracy it is a entertaining fun movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/25

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alan g

Fair action sequences. Yes they were remarkable men who valiantly served their country. No, they didn't win the war singlehandedly. Cuba Libre still can't act.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/11/25

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Alexander S

Red Tails offers a positive portrayal of the Tuskegee program involving one of its very few African American soldiers of World War 2. However, the film’s direction is uneven, and it shifts towards a more clichéd action-packed and adventure blockbuster. While this shift can be entertaining, it neglects the focus on the African-American veterans and their experiences. Grading: C

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/25

Full Review

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Synopsis

During World War II, the Civil Aeronautics Authority selects 13 black cadets to become part of an experimental program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The program aims at training colored personnel to become fighter pilots for the Army. However, discrimination, lack of institutional support and the racist belief that these men lacked the intelligence and aptitude for the job dog their every step. Despite this, the Tuskegee Airmen, as they become known, more than prove their worth.

Director: Anthony Hemingway
Producer: Rick McCallum, Charles Floyd Johnson
Screenwriter: John Ridley, Aaron McGruder
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Rating: PG-13 (Some Seq. of War Violence)
Genre: History, Drama, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 20, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $49.9M
Runtime: 2h 5m

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