6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Inspired by the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, this action-packed epic tells the tale of America's first fighter pilots. These courageous young men distinguish themselves in a manner that none before them had dared, becoming true heroes who experience triumph, tragedy, love, and loss amid the chaos of World War I. Hang on for the ride of your life!
Starring: James Franco, Martin Henderson, David Ellison (II), Jennifer Decker, Jean RenoAction | 100% |
War | 60% |
History | 48% |
Adventure | 46% |
Period | 20% |
Drama | 8% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
As a fan of war movies, I've been scratching my head over the years wondering where the World War I movies are. This is a conflict ripe for a true to life, no holds barred, gritty war film. If any war ever showed just how brutal combat can be, it was the War to End All Wars. Several months ago I saw a clip of a short film directed by Peter Jackson entitled Crossing the Line that looked to be astonishing. It whetted my appetite all the more for a true to life WWI film. While such a film would likely be in the vein of All Quiet on the Western Front with a subtle anti-war message, a well done adaptation could potentially stand toe to toe with the likes of the all time war movie greats such as Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, and Black Hawk Down. When I first heard that Flyboys was coming out, I was excited. My only fear with this project after seeing the trailer was that it would be more of a popcorn movie rather than the hard hitting and gritty World War I film I've been waiting for.
Who's your daddy?!?
Flyboys is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and in 1080p high definition. The overall image is very, very good with a few annoying issues I had with the transfer. My biggest complaint is that the black levels oftentimes looked very washed out to the point that scenes with quite a bit of black appeared to have a light mist covering the entirety of the image. I am not sure if this is a result of the way the film was shot (all digital) or not. I'm not one to bash the artistic intentions of the filmmakers, and I would never lower a video score based on original intent (see my review of 28 Days Later) so I am not going to lower my final score as a result, especially considering that the image on the whole is stunning. Detail is good from start to finish. There is a lot of color here, notably the blue of the uniforms, and it's eye popping and bright with a natural and accurate reproduction. I would say this transfer offers the most vibrant use of color this side of High School Musical 2, except that it looks natural in Flyboys whereas in HSM2 colors looked pumped up and too bright. Flesh tones looked great, the image sported tremendous depth, and the result was an astonishingly real and three dimensional picture.
Something funny happened on the way to the audio review. I watched the movie with the
"core" 1.5 Mbps DTS track on my Playstation 3, but by the end of the same day I found myself
with a brand new
Panasonic DMP-BD30K that allows me to send the lossless DTS-HD MA track to my Denon 3808
(OK
so now I am just dropping names!). Anyway, I took my notes on this film while listening to the
"core" track, but I went back and sampled about 1/4 of the movie again, both action scenes and
"calmer" scenes, for comparison's sake. While everything below still applies, the lossless track
was
a clear and discernible upgrade. The track was most impressive at 1.5Mbps, but believe me, I felt
completely engulfed in the track with the lossless audio running. While I felt an observer to the
action with the lossy track, I felt as a part of the action with the lossless version. The bass and
realism of planes whizzing in all directions, the sound of flak exploding in the air, and the hard
hitting rat-a-tat-tat of the machine gun fire felt like a punch to the stomach. I was completely
impressed. It's also worth noting that Trevor Rabin's score is magnificent, so much so that I am
considering purchasing the soundtrack. The main theme of the movie is eerily reminiscent to a
score I have heard before, and while I am not sure, I think it is similar to James Horner's score
for
Glory (a film I desperately want to see on Blu-ray soon).
The only complaint I had with this track, and one that was still evident with the lossless track,
was that some of the music, especially near the beginning, sounded a little underwhelming,
undefined, and unclear. Dialogue was, at times, lost under the music and seemed to be recorded
at a very low level. I noticed both in the first few minutes of the movie only and the problem
seemed to dissipate as the movie wore on. Nevertheless, I am sorely tempted to give this track a
5 star rating, but I don't want to let the initial excitement of finally hearing DTS-HD MA to
completely cloud my judgement. 4.5 out of 5 is still as close to perfect as you can get, and if
someone wants to tell me I'm wrong and that this is a 5 star track, you won't get any complaints
from me.
I was
pleased with both the quantity and quality of these extras. First up is a commentary track with
director Tony Bill and producer Dean Devlin. This is a mostly nuts and bolts track that offers the
basics you would expect to hear from filming locations to discussions of World War I. It's worth a
listen for fans, but it's nothing spectacular. Six featurettes are included (1080p, 1:04:16). This
is more of a documentary broken up into segments and for both history and movie buffs (me and
me), this is a very worthwhile watch. Segments include Real Heroes: The Lafayette
Escadrille (my favorite), The Diary of a Miniature Stunt Pilot, Whiskey and Soda:
The Lion Mascots, The Real Planes of 'Flyboys', Taking Flight: The Making of
Aerial Battle Sequences, and The Flyboys Ride With the Air Force Thunderbirds & the
Navy Blue Angels.
Next are half a dozen deleted scenes (1080p, 16:51). They are interesting, (especially the
scenes taking place in the trenches), but ultimately it's probably a good thing that they were
trimmed.
'Flyboys' Aerial Guide Track is, as you could probably guess, a pop-up box with some
interesting and some not so interesting factoids surrounding the movie and the history behind it.
Finally, 1080p trailers for Flyboys, The Usual Suspects, Windtalkers, Rocky, Bulletproof Monk, and Hart's War finish off this nice set of extras.
This movie has been on my mind all day, and the more I think about it the more I like it. While Flyboys wasn't the WWI movie I've been waiting for, it was good enough to tide me over until we see a more serious and legitimate look into this conflict on the silver (or Blu) screen. The action was well choreographed but repetitive, the characters well fleshed out and acted, and the love interest angle proved a pleasant surprise. This is a nice looking disc with video quality that is nearly perfect, and the audio is nothing short of arousing and astounding. A very good set of supplements make Flyboys a strong disc. Even though it's a tame movie compared to what we've seen since the explosion of the gritty and ultra realistic war films that began in 1998 with Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Saving Private Ryan, war movie fans will probably still enjoy Flyboys. I know I did. Recommended.
2012
Director's Cut
2005
2014
2016
Ultimate Edition
2002
2003
2018
2001
2001
2010
2002
Commemorative 20th Anniversary Edition
1998
1969
2010
2000
2008
Director's Cut
2004
1977
2-Disc Special Edition
2006
2019