“Flyboys” Doesn’t Quite Crash

“Flyboys” is a World War I fighter pilot movie based on the Lafayette Escadrille, a bunch of Americans who decided to fly for France while the Americans sat out the first half of the war. While there hasn’t been a definitive study of the squadron, there are a great many legends. This film tries to do a great deal, and in the end, can only be recommended as an action adventure, not as a serious cinematic work detailing the life of the men who flew in it.

There is much that the filmmakers got right. There was a strong sense of adventure among these kids (and they were kids). They wanted to learn to fly, and war is always such a exciting prospect for young men far from the front. They did have a certain attachment to the cause of France; when President Wilson (safely re-elected promising peace) got America into the wry, Blackjack Persing arrived with his troops saying “Lafayette, we are here.” It is hard to imagine an American feeling that way about France now. A few years later, the same kind of men would join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight fascism before World War II. And indeed, the same desire has kids from Muslim nations wandering into Iraq and Afghanistan now.

As for the squadron, there was a mascot named “Whiskey,” and he really was a lion. There appears to have been a black member of the unit, some claim a sergeant. If so, he would probably have been the first black American in a position to give orders to white Americans in a combat zone (shame on America that it was ever an issue). And the life expectancy really was about 6 weeks – the RAF suffered similar casualties during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

However, rarely did planes burst into smoke and flame after a few shots. The things were mostly canvas on a wooden frame. Bullets usually punched holes in the canvas that were often patched rather than cutting fuel lines. Patrols, more often than not, resulted in no contact with the enemy that was lethal. The high death rate stemmed from many inexperienced pilots dying at first contact due to inadequate training. And no pilot would set down in No-Man’s Land to rescue a buddy – the place between the trenches was far worse than anything anyone had ever fought in previously.

“Flyboys” isn’t the “Great Waldo Pepper,” let alone “The Blue Max.” It has pretensions of being a romance adventure, but the writing doesn’t make it work. The cast is forgettable save for Jean Reno as the French officer in charge of the squadron. Yet the computer generated combat scenes make up for the two-dimensional plot and characters. However, the movie about these "Knight of the Sky," has yet to be made.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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