World War I aviation action gets an impressive digital upgrade in Flyboys, a welcome addition to the "dogfight" sub-genre that includes such previous war-in-the-air films like Hell's Angels, Wings, and The Blue Max. While those earlier films had the advantage of real and genuinely dangerous flight scenes (resulting, in some cases, in fatal accidents during production), Flyboys takes full (and safe) advantage of the digital revolution, with intensely photo-realistic recreations of WWI aircraft, authentic period structures, and CGI environments requiring a total of 850 digital effects shots, resulting in an abundance of amazing images, many of them virtually indistinguishable from reality. Unfortunately, the film's technical achievement is more impressive than its screenplay, which conventionally and predictably tells the fact-based story, set in France in 1916, of the daring young pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, a pioneering French air-combat unit that welcomed American enlistees prior to the United States' entry into the war.

There's a familiar cliche to match every thrilling scene of aerial combat, but director Tony Bill manages to keep it all interesting, from the romance between a young American maverick (James Franco) and a pretty French girl (newcomer Jennifer Decker) to the exciting action in the air, which includes a stock variety of heroes (many of them composites of real-life WWI pilots) and an intimidating villain known only as "The Black Falcon," whose Fokker Dr-1 triplane (one of many in the film) recalls the exploits of German "ace of aces" Manfred von Richtofen, the dreaded "Red Baron" of legend. With impeccable production values that will impress even the most nit-picking aviation buffs, Flyboys (like Superman Returns and Apocalypto, also released in 2006) was also one of the first feature films to be shot with Panavision's state-of-the-art Genesis digital cameras, resulting in beautiful images that meet or exceed the visual nuance of film. Flyboys also benefits from painstaking attention to physical detail, making it easier to forgive its shortcomings as a generic and formulaic slice of romanticized history. So while some viewers may have wished for a more realistic and grown-up depiction of the Lafayette Escadrille, it's safe to say that Flyboys will be thrilling its target audience for many years to come. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVDs
If you're an aviation buff, the two-disc collectors edition of Flyboys is a must-have DVD. Disc 1 includes a full-length audio commentary by Tony Bill (whose directorial career began with the 1980 sleeper hit My Bodyguard) and producer Dean Devlin (Independence Day), who spend most of the film singing the praises of all things digital, from the use of Panavision's all-digital Genesis cameras to the film's impressive tally of 850 digital effects shots. They also discuss many of the technical challenges of making such an ambitious (and independently financed) film on a relatively modest budget of $65 million, and reveal many of the secrets behind some of the film's most impressive special effects. Disc 2 is where things get really interesting, beginning with the featurette "The Real Heroes of the Lafayette Escadrille," a profile of the pioneering French aerial combat unit depicted in Flyboys, with details about Henry Bullard, the first African American fighter pilot in history (the inspiration for "Eugene Skinner," the Flyboys character played by Abdul Salis) and the factual pilots who were made into composite characters for the film. "Diary of a Miniature Stunt Pilot" is a humorous, home-movie tour of Flyboys special-effects techniques; "Whiskey & Soda" is a profile of the lions who became the beloved mascots of the Lafayette Escadrille; and "Taking Flight" details the combinations of digital airplanes, models, and CGI environments that were used in the making of aerial battle sequences. "The Real Planes of Flyboys" is a treat for aviation buffs, since it shows many of the full-scale and 7/8th-scale vintage airplanes (some of them one-of-a-kind) that were either used in the film or completely digitized to safeguard their priceless historical value. The deleted scenes are above average (i.e. they're not just throwaways, but good scenes that were reluctantly cut for time), and another brief featurette shows cast members James Franco and David Ellison (respectively) enjoying promotional flights with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Disc 2 also includes a Flyboys Squadron DVD-ROM game for those equipped with compatible computers. --Jeff Shannon

Extras from Flyboys

Director Tony Bill on Filming Dogfight Sequences

...On throwing away the script for pilot training

...On the real-life stunt pilot who stars in the film

Beyond Flyboys

More "War in the Sky" Films

SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1

More "Military and War" Films