Red Tails...

[dogbongo]

Just got back from the movie - I thought that the flying sequences were great and the rest was tolerable to enjoyable in places.

Some scenes are little more than animated aviation art - but I'm okay with that, it looked fantastic! Off the top of the head, can't think of another movie with this much WWII aviation going on, maybe "Battle of Britain".

If you're into the planes, I think this is worth seeing on the big screen.
Cheers!

[sdcc73]

if you want more WW2 movies to start popping up, this movie needs to do well.

it could spawn more movies about WW2.

I believe there's a lot riding on this film.

If it reaches $20 or $30 million opening weekend Lucasfilm said there WILL be a SEQUEL and a PREQUEL! That said, regardless of the flaws (inherent in any film) if there's just enough people to watch this; then the flaws can be improved upon in a seqeul or prequel.

As an added bonus, there are plans for 2 different Flying Tigers films. Of which can only be encouraged to finally go into production. But to see it happen - Red Tails becoming 3 movies and Flying Tigers get 2 movies - it does depend a little on this 1 opening weekend. That's possibly 4 more movies if this 1 opening weekend does well. Attracting millions to such movies can definitely attract customers to the 1:18 hobby.

So if you will see it, or going to see it once more, let all know to watch it this opening weekend.

[CW4USARMY]

We plan to go see it. Most of the hollywood reviews dont like it because they say there is not enough character background and too much action. Sounds good to me! (I'm sure if there was a green message, drugs, and a few homosexual characters it would be praised) or maybe 'Im just cynical

[EnemyAce]

Saw it last night - quick info is about HALF of the whole movie is aerial combat and action! And that part is fantastically done! The other parts are hit and miss, I didn't find most of it too painful, but the film does not disappoint in the action, which is as good as anything I've seen, and is just spectacular on the big screen. I'll probably go again sometime just for the combat.

[MG-42]

* Think I'll give it a sh@t now



- MG

[YT]

Just got back from the movie - I thought that the flying sequences were great and the rest was tolerable to enjoyable in places.

That about sums it up, the dialogue was pretty bad. The opening was the worst part, I felt a lot of panic, but it grew on me as it went on. Lucas really has become a hack.

[aferguson]

alright, well after these reviews i'll go see it. Goody.

[[CAT]CplSlade]

I remain unconvinced.

[Buckyroo]

Saw it today. I would recomend seeing it on the big screen. If you want a documentary look for Ken Burns and not George Lucas, but for entertainment centered around a topic near our hearts - it does the trick. Great action scenes. I did find the movie enjoyable and not a complete waste. I am OK with paying to see it in the theater. My wife even enjoyed it and got more and more involved as it went on.

The only pisser to the whole deal was that the rear axle of my truck grenaded, and also took out the drive shaft on the way home.

[MG-42]

* Saw it w/ a friend of mine this afternoon for the 4:15 PM matinee . Glad I went. ... I thought it was actually pretty good. Better than I thought it was going to be when I was skeptical at first.


......... tough break Buckyroo


- MG

[Threetoughtrucks]

I have been looking forward to seeing the movie and so was Mrs. TTT, until that is, a network interview, with the grandson of one of the pilots at the pilots funeral early this week and the grandson read a prepared statement, saying that WW2 would not have been won without these "Red Tails".

Mrs. TTT said.... "Say what???". No talking head said a word. We were amazed. Mrs. TTT said "See it yourself, my BS meter is full up".

I'm still looking forward to the movie, poor actors and all. By myself.

TTT

[cjg476]

TTT I will be your date

[gburch]

Saw it last night with the wife. Bullet point review:

-- Accuracy of things: Over the top. A WWII nerds paradise in terms of the lovingly rendered and photographed aircraft, uniforms and setting. Score: 10.

-- Accuracy of air action: For the general public, very good. For a flight nerd, not so much. Flight performance of the aircraft was often exaggerated or just downright impossible as a matter of aerodynamics. Air tactics WERE OK in schematic form, but as actually depicted, cartoonish. On the plus side there is a LOT of flying and fighting in the movie. Score: 6

-- Accuracy of history: Again, for the general public, pretty good. For the WWII history nerd, the history ranges from pretty good (settings, general chronology) to the teeth-gritting (262s falling in droves in high altitude, full-speed combat with Mustangs -- in reality only one fell to the TA, and that in the usual way, while landing; other specifics of the TA's history somewhat distorted by compression and exaggeration). Score: 7

-- Accuracy of "sociology:" Pretty darned good: While struggling with the "compression" of a script too full of characters and events, the general depiction of race relations and the issues presented to the general USAAF by the TA was actually thoughtful and fair. Score: 8

-- Plot: At the large scale, pretty good (the general arc of problems with the TA moving toward acceptance and success). At the small scale, too many notes. But there was a lot of story to tell in two hours. Regarding the romance subplot, given that this was a "date movie" for me and many of the people in the audience, I accept its necessity, and it was a success for that purpose. Score: 7

-- Characters: For an homage to classic WWII hero flicks, very good. As a modern drama, cartoonish. I rate it a success, because it should be judged on a scale that includes Twelve O'Clock High and the Indiana Jones movies. Score: 7

-- Over-all: Well worth seeing for the WWII aviation buff if for nothing else but the planes and the "straight" flying scenes. For the general public, an exciting action flick that addresses an important chapter in American history fairly and in an engaging way. Score: 45/60 = 75%

[Threetoughtrucks]

Super review. Thanks.

TTT

[Axis Nightmare]

Good to hear about the amount of flying/action time. Sometimes the previews show about 3/4 of the action in a movie and the rest is boring ho-hum. If you didn't get to see "Double Victory" on the Military Channel, that is the real deal and would be a good follow-up to the movie. Hopefully they will replay it again. I personally know two of the people in the documentary as they are locals here in Cincinnati and have been our honored guests at the Museum. Hope the movie is a success and inspires more models of all the plane types in the film.

[flyboy_fx]

The german plane schemes are AWFUL!

[mikeg]

yeah, what's up with the yellow band on the tails of the 109's and the 262's?

[Dauntless]

yeah, what's up with the yellow band on the tails of the 109's and the 262's?

Would that be the tails or the tail end of the fuselage?

I read somewhere that the yellow stripes or band on the fuselage behind the insignia stood for homeland defense of the Reich. I don't know about the tails themselves though many had a yellow rudder.

Plenty of Luftwaffe experts here could tell us for sure though.

[aferguson]

i don't know what's up with the yellow tail markings on the german planes. My guess is that they were trying to make the german planes stand out more for the uniformed general public...the yellow being both distinctive and highlighting the swastika. It's like in Flyboys where every triplane was red.

The yellow markings for defense of the reich were under the nose only. Yellow fuselage bands and wingtips were for russian front/mediterranean theatres. Defense of the Reich fuselage bands were a variety of colours, such as black/white/black or green/white/green. Not like in the Redtails movie.

By the by, this thing with the 'the fighters not staying with the bombers' but the Redtails did. Has this got any basis in reality? I've never heard of this problem before, where US fighters were not sticking with the bombers they were escorting but chasing german fighters and leaving the bombers unprotected. It's very hard to properly protect bombers if you just stick beside them. The Germans tried that during the battle of britain (under Goering's orders) and both bombers and fighters got cut to pieces. What's the deal?

[EnemyAce]

Well, in the movie it seemed like they were only to fight off German fighters that were trying to engage the bombers, then break off and return to the bombers instead of trying to finish the Germans off. I think the point was, if the escorts dogfought for too long with the Germans, the bomber stream would keep going and leave them behind, unable to resume escort duties for the next wave of German interceptors.

I don't know if this was the real cause of the Red Tails' success, but it seems plausible.

I'm also with thinking the yellow markings were to help us keep track of who's who in all the trailing and dogfight sequences.

One more thing, there's alot of really nice ground equipment on display. from German 20mm flak in closeup action, to a Stuka on the ground in a couple shots, with Command Cars, Opel trucks, Kubels, Deuces, 251/C's, 88s, and a plethora of US vehicle types, it was worth the movie for me just for that kind of scenery!

[456THBG]

Saw it today...Theater was packed, which was really cool!
Action scenes (over half the movie) were awesome, and planes generally looked great, with or without accurate markings! The technology, to me, is fantastic! Good mix of real and CGI aircraft.
Acting good to tolerable, but in line with somewhat recent warbird movie "Flyboys"...A few veterens & a bunch of young up and comers.
Get this - At the end of the movie a few people started clapping and within minute or so, the theater was thundering with applause!
Great for future warbird movies, the "sky's" the limit!

[flyboy_fx]

Oh, there's also a 3rd panzer division shield on the ME109s.

[EnemyAce]

Saw it today...Theater was packed, which was really cool!
Action scenes (over half the movie) were awesome, and planes generally looked great, with or without accurate markings! The technology, to me, is fantastic! Good mix of real and CGI aircraft.
Acting good to tolerable, but in line with somewhat recent warbird movie "Flyboys"...A few veterens & a bunch of young up and comers.
Get this - At the end of the movie a few people started clapping and within minute or so, the theater was thundering with applause!
Great for future warbird movies, the "sky's" the limit!

There was applause at my theatre as well. First time I've ever seen that happen. It was pretty cool!

[Jnewboy]

It looks to be pretty cool, I will go see it but I doubt it will beat Iron sky for historic accuracy which will come out this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4DW1uv ... creen&NR=1

As many good historians know it was well documented that the Nazis did go to the moon....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNDaOFQ6 ... r_embedded

Should be a good time

[gburch]

There was applause at my theatre as well. First time I've ever seen that happen. It was pretty cool!

... same in Houston Saturday night. Very cool. The demographics in our audience was also pretty neat: Lots of black couples ranging in age from teenagers to old folks, but also lots and lots of white kids. There were a couple of white kids sitting next to us that looked like they were 12 or 13 who were clearly enjoying the heck out of the movie and clapped like crazy at the end. Just what I'd hoped for in terms of audience and reaction.

It looks to be pretty cool, I will go see it but I doubt it will beat Iron sky for historic accuracy which will come out this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4DW1uv ... creen&NR=1

As many good historians know it was well documented that the Nazis did go to the moon....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNDaOFQ6 ... r_embedded

Should be a good time

Well, if von Braun and Speer had had their way . . . .