Fly Boys was released in 2006 and it was inspired by the true events and stories of the first fighter pilots in the Lafayette Escadrille, a French Air Service unit. The movie took place in the year 1916 before America decided to join in the war. Despite America not being officially involved, there were some Americans who volunteered to fight. The movie followed a group of these volunteers as they learn how to fly and survive.
Character arcs and development were one of the areas that the film did an exceptional job in. After a brief summary as to what the story of the film will be focusing on, and its significance, the main cast of characters: Blaine Rawlings (James Franco), Eugene Skinner (Abdul Salis), William Jensen (Philip Winchester), Eddie Beagle (David Ellison), and Briggs Lowry (Tyler Labine), were introduced. Each of their reasons for joining the Lafayette Escadrille was explored as the movie progressed as well as how it influenced their individual conflicts. There were other pilots who volunteered as well, but the movie used them as plot devices to further the growth of the main cast by having their deaths reveal the brutality and harsh reality of war. That being said, even though the film does take the time to follow the individual characters of the main cast, Blaine Rawlings was most portrayed to be the protagonist. As someone who had no family and was a loner, Rawlings found camaraderie amongst his other pilots and rose up as a leader as well as found love. Found family, leadership role, and a love interest are typical for the main character. The other members of the main cast had to deal with finding the courage to uphold a military tradition (Jensen), being viewed and treated as an equal (Skinner), an estranged relationship with their father (Lowry), and being honest about their past and learning how to shoot (Beagle). The movie does a good job of showing how these characters struggled and overcame these conflicts as well as giving a conclusion to their arcs.
The cinematography for the movie was outstanding. There was the employment of various kinds of shots, such as tracking, pan, establishing, wide, medium, and close-up, paired up with jump cuts, fades, and J-cuts that kept the visual storytelling of the film from becoming bland or repetitive. The most impressive shots of the film were the aerial ones and the POV shots as the pilots fired at enemy planes. This created a thrilling immersive experience. With the use of the sound design, the moods that the scenes were trying to convey were given emphasis. Even though there were a few places where the transitioning between scenes was a bit awkward, overall, the story flowed well.
My major concern with Fly Boys was how much of it was historically accurate. There were scenes such as the dogfights, the romance between Lucienne and Rawlings, and the final battle with the Black Falcon that I felt may have been over-dramatized or exaggerated. Each aerial fight had explosions and/or daring saves just in the nick of time. As for Lucienne and Rawlings, their scenes together were mostly clichés for a love story with comedic misunderstandings and a rescue to go with it. For a fictitious action movie this would work well, but for a war movie based on a true story not so much. While looking for information on the film, I learned there were other inaccuracies such as the wrong technology for the time (i.e., the plane models) and outdated period clothing. I think those who made the movie were more concerned with making the movie as cinematic as they could instead of telling the story of these pilots.
Overall, I found the film Fly Boys entertaining. The cinematography and the character writing helped tell a compelling story and made the movie engaging. Despite the historical inaccuracies, I think Fly Boys was definitely worth the watch. However, if they ever do decide to remake Fly Boys or make another movie based on those who served in the Layfette Escadrille, then I hope that the director and producer stay truer to the story and be more aware of historical details.