According to the story of a group of courageous Americans, who during the First World War, volunteered to join the French military and become the first American fight pilots.
Yearning for a time when warfare seemed so much simpler and more honourable, Flyboys is a thrilling, spectacular ride - but only when its dull characters get off the ground.
Each air battle has been scripted as a set piece that not only shows off the capabilities of the pilots and their machines, but also advances the plot. Bring your Dramamine!
Flyboys has computer imaging and a fleet of vintage aircraft on its side, but it remains considerably less convincing than Wings (1927), and less exciting.
ColeSmithey.com
April 25, 2009
The characters, although based on real life people, are one-dimensional stereotypes that exist for the sole purpose of presenting indistinguishable flesh-and-blood pilots for superabundant air battles.
This is old-school moviemaking, for better or worse, which means rat-a-tat dogfights in the sky combined with overripe romantic and social clichés on the ground.