Flyboys ****/5

Finding the purpose in whatever you do.

The story in brief:

Young American boys volunteered to fight side by side with the French against the German war machine during WWI (before America stepped into the war). They came for different reasons - finding a purpose in life, bringing glory to the family name, paying a "debt" and being shamed by a disciplinarian patriarch. Whatever the reasons, they found true friendship and courage and purpose in their lives during this short stint with the legendary Lafayette Escadrille - the French squadron of American volunteer pilots.

The verdict:
I had read quite abit of negative comments about this movie before watching it and hence didn't really had high hopes for it. But to my surprise, it ain't that bad, really! Superb aerial fightings aside, I didn't find the film long or draggy at all. But I must agree that the lame part is the (superficial) romance, whereby our young hero managed to hook up with a french babe even though they spoke different languages. It's just not convincing enough.

But I feel that this movie had managed to portray the essence of aerial fighting during a war. You don't know where your enemy will be coming from and you certainly do not know for sure which of your buddies are still around (and alive) to cover your back.

Coming back to the aerial fighting, it's quite cool to see all the different types of aerial war machines during the WWI era, especially from the German camp. The movie seems like a video game whereby the enemy "king" was of a different colour and much superior than the usual ones.

Wow, I didn't know that the blimp was invented back then and that motorbikes are used by the Allies. Looks suspicious. And why are the German Infantry soldiers near the last part of the show dressed up like WWII Nazi Infantryman? I thought all the Germans have a spear on top of their helmets during WWI? Were GPMG-like machine guns invented then? These planes were armed too "high-tech" I feel. Really skeptical about these bits...

Best part is at the ending, where our hero gave a brand new definition of aerial combat. Not by the plane itself, but by the good old traditional method. I'm not telling here. Go watch it! =)

If not for the lame romance, the helmets and guns, I would give it 5 stars. It is still an entertaining and exciting 140 minutes! Definitely worth the time and money (for guys especially)!

Oh! And yes, the rain finally stopped for me to go out and play. =P

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