Shared Darkness

Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan to Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated
Letters from Iwo Jima. But what of
the first great battle to end all
wars, World War I? Set against the backdrop of embryonic aerial warfare and
infused with a healthy pinch of cross-cultural romance, Flyboys attempts to remedy that indistinctness in modern-day
filmmaking.

Inspired by the true story of the legendary Lafayette
Escadrille, the movie is set in 1917, when the Allied powers of France, England,
Italy and
others were on the ropes against the German juggernaut. While millions of young
men were dying overseas, the United States
remained, officially at least, out of the fray. Still, some altruistic young
Americans disagreed with this nonintervention, and volunteered to fight
alongside their counterparts in France.
Of these conscripts, a handful decided to learn how to fly, and became part of
the aforementioned air corps.

Offering up a fictionalized ensemble around this juicy non-fiction
tidbit, Flyboys centers around headstrong
cowpuncher Blaine Rawlings (James Franco), who after a brawl leaves behind his
family’s foreclosed ranch a step ahead of the law. In France,
he joins, among others, rural Nebraskan William Jensen (Philip Winchester), New
York blueblood Briggs Lowry (Tyler Labine) and black
expatriate boxer Eugene Skinner (Abdul Salis). All are eager to learn how to
fly, but their romanticized sense of adventure, however, quickly takes a hit when
their war-weary French captain, Monsieur Thenault (Jean Reno), and an equally battle-scarred
American pilot, Reed Cassidy (Martin Henderson), who’s the cynical sole
survivor of his group, show them the grim realities of their equipment and
circumstance.

The new recruits quickly train, and learn what they can on
the fly (no pun intended), but are quickly thrust into the heat of battle. Blaine,
meanwhile, concurrently falls for rural French girl Lucienne (iridescent
newcomer Jennifer Decker). There are good times and bad — including the looming
prospect of a mole in their midst — but in time the young Americans prove
themselves, routing the “Fokker scourge” and learning the true meanings of fraternity,
courage, love and tolerance.

With a variety of replicas and rented vintage aircraft, Flyboys represents the biggest mobilization
and fleet of World War I aircraft since Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels, and over the course of its 138-minute running time
it presents a variety of dogfights, a massive shootout involving a German
zeppelin, all manner of bombed-out locales, rainy weather and a pet lion (don’t
ask). Still, Franco gives the film a human anchor, and provides a rooting
interest in the more intimate dramatic scenes. He and Decker have a nice,
playfully naïve chemistry, and director Tony Bill — who made his mark as a
producer on The Sting in 1973 and has
since juggled a career both in front of the camera and behind it as a director
in film (Untamed Heart), television
movies (Harlan County War) and serial
television (Felicity, Monk) — does a good job of weaving
together all these disparate threads into something that’s greater than merely the
sum of their parts.

Housed in a regular Amray plastic case, Flyboys is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, to preserve
the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition. It also comes with a plethora
of discrete audio options — English language Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound and
5.1 DTS tracks, plus complementary French and Spanish Dolby surround sound
tracks. Nice use is made throughout of both aural shading and effects,
particularly in the aerial battle sequences. Optional English and Spanish subtitles
are also available; Francophiles are on their own, though the native setting
certainly helps in a few scenes, including an awkward-cute flirtation between Blaine
and Lucienne. The transfer is quite solid, with extremely little grain and no
problems whatsoever with artifacting.

Strangely, the only supplemental feature is a feature-length
audio commentary track with Bill and producer Dean Devlin. Given their intimacy
in mounting this $60-million, independently produced project against great
odds, these two are a comfortable pair, and this guided chat benefits from their
familiarity. They talk about everything from the scripting process and the arduous
development track of the film to Trevor Rabin’s sweeping score, done on a
budget. They effortlessly cram in all sorts of fascinating period trivia and
production detail, too, whether it’s on the functionality of those oh-so-dashing
scarves that pilots wore or the insurance necessary for the world’s oldest
functioning plane, a Bolerio used in background scenes in Flyboys. Would-be producers, too, are given some practical advice
regarding foreign shoots; because it was cheaper, Devlin had entire sets built
in Czechoslovakia,
and shipped abroad. The only bummer comes when the duo talks about deleted
scenes — material that isn’t included herein. A gallery of preview trailers for
Copying Beethoven, The Last King of Scotland, Home of the Brave and The Illusionist closes out the disc. B (Movie) C+ (Disc)