Flyboys (2006)

33% of critics liked it
(127 reviews)
68% of users liked it
(86,262 ratings)

As World War I rages in Europe and Allied forces in France, Italy, and England find their resolve quickly diminishing due to the overwhelming force of the German juggernaut, a handful of brave American soldiers volunteer to join their French counterparts in learning to fly and fighting for freedom… More As World War I rages in Europe and Allied forces in France, Italy, and England find their resolve quickly diminishing due to the overwhelming force of the German juggernaut, a handful of brave American soldiers volunteer to join their French counterparts in learning to fly and fighting for freedom from above as the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille comes to the screen in a breathtaking war adventure from Academy Award-winning director Tony Bill and famed producer Dean Devlin. They have come from all over the United States, ready and willing to put their lives on the line despite their country's initial pledge to not get involved with the all-consuming war that rages throughout Europe. Few could have foreseen the challenges faced by the world's first fighter pilots, however, and upon arriving at their aerodrome in France, the aspiring aviators are assigned to a new squadron under the command of war-ravaged Captain Thenault (Jean Reno) and battle-weary American pilot Reed Cassidy -- the sole survivor of his devastated former air brigade. With little encouragement from their fellow aviators and nothing to drive but their unifying goal of taking to the skies and offering up their lives in the name of freedom, the determined airmen of the Lafayette Escadrille set out to make history by embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. James Franco, Martin Henderson, and David Ellison star in a script penned by Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans, and David S. Ward. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 2 hr. 19 min.
Directed By: Tony Bill
Written By: Blake T. Evans, David S. Ward
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Sep 22, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Jan 30, 2007
Studio: MGM

Critic Reviews

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Aafter a while -- there must be six major fights against unending numbers of German planes -- it feels like special effects run amok.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Why make such a corny and incredibly predictable film?
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
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.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Besides some fine dogfight sequences, it often feels threadbare, just an exercise in recycling.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
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.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
It's watchable, but this was an epic tale deserving of a huge canvas and, frankly, a better director and actors. And a less simplistic script.
Burl Burlingame, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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!
Brian Holcomb, Kinetofilm
It may indeed be inspired by a true story, but what we see onscreen is simply "Star Wars" set in some fantasy French air base circa 1917.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
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.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
WWI pilots make like heroes in bland adventure.
Ryan Cracknell, Calgary Movies
The best of Pearl Harbor meeting the worst of HBO's Band of Brothers.
Anton Bitel, Film4
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.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
This well-produced, engaging film somewhat overreaches itself, trying to turn a crackling adventure into a sweeping emotional epic.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
With great flight sequences and a storyline rooted in facts, Flyboys provides some pretty good entertainment and recreated history.
Bruce Bennett, Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
It's as family-friendly as a war movie can be these days, relying on the daring of its amazing aerial sequences rather than carnage or vulgarity to promote its authenticity.
Brian Tallerico, UGO
Flyboys doesn't just use cliches - it wallows in them, feeling more like a film based on old war movies than actual history.
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
With its meticulous attention to detail and superior production values, the film promises much more than its unseasoned cast and thin plotting deliver.

Read all 17 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

John M

Solid special effects and good acting by Franco make this film good enough to be worth multiple watches. A story about WWI flying aces with todays special effects was long past its due.
Phil H

This is a great movie about flying aces during WW1. A small group of Americans go to France to join the flying corps and battle the German flying aces, alittle cliched in places, alittle smoochy here and there and rather predictable to be honest but this is good boys own Biggles type… More
This is a great movie about flying aces during WW1. A small group of Americans go to France to join the flying corps and battle the German flying aces, alittle cliched in places, alittle smoochy here and there and rather predictable to be honest but this is good boys own Biggles type stuff based on fact. The effects are great and do the job, the dogfights are really excellent and quite tense whilst the acting is ok, not great but worthy enough. The story sucks you in with its brash tale of young aces and romance and its not hard to get behind the heroes and cheer as they bring down the bosh haha. Overall its not really graphic with the bloodshed and not extreme in any way but it does the job of showing how the pilots fought and what they went through, with alittle Hollywood sparkle of course ;) Think 'Memphis Belle' with better effects and abit more realism, good fun with a caring heart to the facts. Scarfs on and chocks away chaps.
Summer W

It really wanted to be good, but it was just too cheesy. The dialogue, acting and plot cliches were just too annoying for me to enjoy the movie as a whole, despite the fact that some of the dogfight scenes were pretty cool.
KJ P

What a wonderful film! Right from start to finish I enjoyed every bit of it!
Derek A

<i>Flyboys</i> is a movie I really wanted to like, but it was too slow and awfully predictable to be enjoyed. The great action and special effects couldn't mask the cheesiness of the plot. The dogfights in the air were entertaining, but too many of the fights looked… More
<i>Flyboys</i> is a movie I really wanted to like, but it was too slow and awfully predictable to be enjoyed. The great action and special effects couldn't mask the cheesiness of the plot. The dogfights in the air were entertaining, but too many of the fights looked the same. It was like 2 hours of the same fight over and over again... it got a little redundant. It wasn't a horrible film, but it was too predictable and was a little too heroicly campy to be totally enjoyable.
Flutie A

Once again, perfect proof that an awesome movie trailer can be made from even the crappiest of movies...The dogfight scenes were decent, but overall, the movie just went way too slow.
danny d

really good flick. had some over the top scenes and some things happen outside of reality, but the acting was great, the action was good when it was believable, and the story was very good.
Bobby H

This movie is truly five-star material. Great actors, great flying scenes, and a historic story that will keep you watching from start to finish. I have not seen a better flying movie ever produced. James Franco did a crazy good job. This movie is classic.
Jose Z

Its an entertaining movie,, it has romanticism, some action aswell and a little bit of humor. Although the story is kinda predictable and the acting is barely good even for Jean Reno who a great actor, its a film worth to watch because its based on real facts
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]Even in its infancy, the military could see the potential of the airplane being used as a killing machine. In "Flyboys," it is 1916, before the United States officially entered World War I, and American men are volunteering for service in Europe to fly… More
[font=Century Gothic]Even in its infancy, the military could see the potential of the airplane being used as a killing machine. In "Flyboys," it is 1916, before the United States officially entered World War I, and American men are volunteering for service in Europe to fly the new fighter planes. Rawlings(James Franco) leaves Aberdeen, Texas one step ahead of the law. Skinner(Abdul Salis) left earlier because of racism, boxes in France and wants to fight for his adopted country. Lowry(Tim Pigott-Smith), a rich kid, has something to prove to his father. All are under the command of Cassidy(Martin Henderson), the sole survivor of a previous group of pilots. Their life spans are now at six weeks, and that's if the lion does not eat them, first And they are advised that if they do crash-land, please do it near a bordello...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Flyboys" is almost a good movie with spectacular action sequences(and I'd like to thank the Germans for flying the distinctive Fokker Triplanes), while at the same time not avoiding the harsh realities of war and the racism of the day. But it lacks a quality cast. I'm not talking famous names here, just performers with enough charisma to carry an action movie and that's certainly not James Franco who also gets trapped in an awkward romantic subplot. It is also one-sided against the Germans(I do suppose I should be grateful that it does not bash the French) and ends badly with some of the more predictable action of the movie.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]I'm going away for the weekend and will return to these pages on Monday, November 5.[/font]
Will T

Jean Reno and James Franco are really great, but this movie suffers in the bad CGI, overly awkward scenes, and some crappy storytelling.
Jeffrey M

Flyboys suffers from a poor script, filled with cheesy clliches and underwritten characters. Though overall its' too CGI filled, it has enough energetic charm and good battle scenes to make it mildly entertaining.
Mark K

I was very disappointed with this film, and it held so much promise because of the subject matter. The Lafayette Escadrille was a colorful batch of pilots of dubious background and experience that nevertheless were pretty effective as a combat unit. The real-life people involved… More
I was very disappointed with this film, and it held so much promise because of the subject matter. The Lafayette Escadrille was a colorful batch of pilots of dubious background and experience that nevertheless were pretty effective as a combat unit. The real-life people involved certainly were interesting enough to warrant a film like this. I think it was a case of a poor script and lack of budget, and selling a war film is never easy.They opted for fictional-based-on-fact set of characters that reduces them to cliches. I suppose they didn't want to be taken to task by creating a character profile of Raoul Lufbery that didn't jive with historical fanatics. The cast wasn't the problem: They were pretty good, even if they were cardboard cutouts of actual historical members of the famous Lafayette Escadrille. James Franco does a decent job as the central Yankee flyer who joins up to flee his past. His love interest is improbable, but at least it had some awkward realism to it. But even the combat situations were stock Hollywood: Rather than attempting to show a historic fight of the Escadrille, they created generic Germans. I guess that once again it was to make the film interesting to non-war buffs, they skimped on accuracy and detail in favor of flash. The CGI combats were too fast, way too fast. These kind of planes were pretty darn slow. The tactics and maneuver was what could make the combat exciting, but they fought like World War 2 aircraft instead. The mix of planes was very limited, so instead of encountering five models of aircraft it was literally the same Nieuports and Fokkers every dogfight. With CGI, you should be able to throw in an occasional odd plane. This is an untapped era of film: The Knights of the Sky, and the much older 'Blue Max' still stands as one of the better depictions of air combat in World War One.
Steven V

Great movie. The story is about the adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots
Joseph E

What a splendid and sweet, heartfelt film!~
Yinalí R

Loved it!
ashley h

Very good movie,and one of the better WW1 films.
Mike T

Simply put, audiences are too cynical for these kinds of films nowadays unless they are extremely well made. Flyboys' potential lurks just below the surface, but its abysmal screenwriting brings the whole thing down. Dull but honest filmmaking.
m h

Great action sequences. And there was great story behind the action. And to think this was based on real events, really makes you thankful that we don't have to go through stuff like this. Really well done. Good acting. The only thing I can't get my head around is how… More
Great action sequences. And there was great story behind the action. And to think this was based on real events, really makes you thankful that we don't have to go through stuff like this. Really well done. Good acting. The only thing I can't get my head around is how Cassidy had a lion as a pet?!?!
Jason R

I love history and I really love movies about history, and this is a really good one. A great cast, and really great effects the dogfights were awesome.