What a waste of my time!!!

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Best movie of this year hands down!

As much as I admire James Franco, Jean Reno and the rest of the cast, this storyline is about historically accurate as the Old Testament. H-wood never let the facts get in the way of a good story, right? But rather than fill this space with the truth about La Feyette Espadrille, Google it and see how these brave young men went to war in flying machines that were terribly maintained, notorious for guns that jammed, ammunition that was literally bent and unusuable. But the story illustrates how forward thinking the French were in pilot training and tactics versus the A+B=C forever of their American counterparts who had not yet entered the war. Okay, I'm done.

(Flash Review)Based on a true story, before WWI begins, a bunch of Americans volunteer to be fighter pilots for the French military and learn to master these early aviation machines and battle the Germans. The movie brings a typically eclectic bunch of characters, based on real people to some degree, and create partially flushed out characters from them. The movie shows how the pilots were trained to fly these plans as well as how to prepare for combat. There are several fairly exciting battles in the sky but after a while tend to get a bit redundant. There is also a true romantic story line to compliment the battles. Overall, it was average but the director failed to dramatically engage the viewer with the characters to evoke true emotions for them mostly because the drama is very cliché and been there done that many times before. A better example of this subject can be found almost 100 years earlier with Wings (1922).

Despite the low rating this movie got, I rented a DVD because I love aerial combat films. I went into this movie not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised throughout the entire film. Yes, it is a bit cliché at certain points but it did not take away much from the overall experience. The characters were decently done for their roles although I did not connect with most of them with the exception of the main character, his love interest, and the African American pilot. The acting was well done although not amazing by any standard. Although I rolled my eyes when the film introduced the romantic interest of the main character, it turned out pretty well. The romantic connection between the two characters was cute due to their language differences. Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone as it was very entertaining.

I must have seen a different movie than the one lambasted so harshly on this site. I think FLYBOYS is excellent throughout, with nary a false step along the way. Okay, I'll grant that some of the aerial CGI is unconvincing, but the great majority of it adds exciting action - - and who really cares if a physicist might find fault? Staging is brilliant, treating us to plenty of period detail, and the story is taut, with lots of intriguing characters about whom I truly care. I do not find FLYBOYS excessively clichéd. Indeed, the screenwriters (Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans, and David S. Ward) quite often back off from easy stereotypes. If anything, the fine cast UNDERacts, which is a refreshing change from other films in this genre. Particular praise goes to James Franco as Blaine Rawlings, Jean Reno as a believable Captain Georges Thenault, and Jennifer Decker as a sweet French girl named Lucienne. The love bypath within this film demonstrates how sensitive the writers are to avoiding the typical Hollywood gimmick of throwing in a boy-girl relationship that eventually overpowers the essential plot line (PEARL HARBOR, TITANIC). Here, the characters of Blaine and Lucienne are treated honestly, with the respect they deserve, and not flung into the sack after knowing each other for five minutes. I'm sorry that this film was not successful at the box office, for director Tony Bill and his massive crew do a fabulous job of storytelling, and I am proud and unashamed to add it among my favorite war movies of all time. Please ignore the pseudo-intellectual posturing of the professional and amateur critics, and give FLYBOYS a chance. It is wonderful from beginning to end.