This film opens with a CGI aerial battle that is literally of the quality I would expect from a direct-to-DVD film by a company like The Asylum. It's shockingly embarrassing for a theatrical release with a $58 million budget. Even the font used in the titles smells like a no budget film. It does get better than this, but not as much as it should. Explosions are all CGI and don't look like they exist in the same plane as the physical objects. Oddly, every German pilot in this film appears to be exactly the same person. Effects aside, this film is intended to play more like a 1950's era war movie than a modern one. That's a valid choice, but it doesn't play like a good one. The story is, on the face of it, an interesting one, but the narrative strokes are so unbelievably broad that the film really doesn't progress after the basic plot setup is done. Some of the actors do a pretty fine job given the one dimensionality of their characters (David Oyelowo is particularly good), but they have precious little to work with.
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rdoyle2913 July 2017
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HelenMary14 January 2013I had high hopes for this; Cuba Gooding Jnr, Terence Howard, David Oyelowo and Bryan Cranston in the same film? Surely this would be a master work of cultural importance highlighting egregious racial slights in WWII which were - clearly - absurd? The topic laid open the opportunity for aerial combat scenes that would make Top Gun look like walk in the park given that it's nearly 30 years on and surely SFX would have improved exponentially - it's LucasFilm for crying out loud - George Lucas knows a bit about SFX, right? Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. WRONG. This was Red Tails, light. The Disney version of the story, if you will.
The acting, with the notable exceptions of Oyelowo, who tried SO hard to carry the film, Gooding Jnr & Howard who given their heavy-weight were woefully under-utilised but still shone in every scene (especially Howard) but who has Terence Howard in a film and only give him about four scenes? Who!? David Oyelowo's maverick-type character "Lightening" was the only character with depth, but even he struggled with the ridiculously poor script and naive plot formation as the film was a staccato of - largely predictable - events. Of course the dogfights and flying scenes were key but there was so much potential that was glossed over. insubordination, alcoholism, unlikely romance, fear and righteous rage at a government scorning them because of the colour of their skin! It could have been mindblowing... it should have been edge of the seat tense but nothing about this hit the nail on the head. It missed on every point. Direction, score, script, acting etc and even the aerial combat scenes were poor. It had no passion, or realism. There were a few good aerial moves but it was without emotional response, consequence or discipline!
For telling a true story, or at least based on true events and the Tuskegee Training program, these airmen were fighting to prove wrong (!) a Government edict that stated that Black people weren't smart, coordinated, skilled, brave or loyal enough to fly a plane in battle and would chicken out, as they were gutless. What a story to take part in!! Woefully disappointing. The moments of bravery, sentient, beauty, faith and camaraderie were glossed over, not enough made of them, and it felt like it dragged; I was convinced it was a three hour film as whilst things happened, they didn't *HAPPEN.* Overall it was too ... vanilla. This film shouldn't have been a 12A. It should have been real and raw and visceral. Oh what a waste. -
It's 1944 Italy. The Tuskegee Airmen are a squadron of black pilots finally given the chance to prove themselves in the sky, even while they're battling discrimination on the ground. The are given the task of protecting bombers sent to destroy Germany.
This stars a large cast of black actors most notably Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The story of these men is a whole lot of cheesy stale clichés. The filmmaker seemed to have concentrated on CG fighter action more than giving these men good story lines. This multi-story line is embarrassingly old school. If they could just do one character, that would be an improvement. And imagine if that character is real. -
Jawsphobia20 January 2012I actually saw a matinée of Red Tails today.
I'm not saying that any paid critic or anyone on this board is a moron, or that people steeped in World War II historical facts will like it, or even that those few who hate the original Star Wars Trilogy will somehow flip their taste and enjoy Red Tails. But. . .
Simply to represent those who actually saw the film, here is my two cents for and have the capacity to appreciate it. This is not the dry historical reportage that some people prefer. It pushes buttons, gets emotional reactions and laughs that it earns, and it was worth the wait. I remember talk of this project from the good old days when there were only great Star Wars features and no Prequel duds.
No disservice had been done to the story of these airmen. Though nothing feels left out and it doesn't feel especially episodic (a curse of most reality-based movies), nothing rings especially false. It is a genre movie: war flick. Racism is touched upon and shown to be ignorant, respect is given to the Red tails, and the tragedy that you expect actually can happen so even when there is fun there is the spectre of danger.
After enjoying this movie, many people may begin to study the historical details with this movie as a sort of primer. Be reassured that none of the characters bump into Young Indiana Jones. But also make no mistake, the pacing is good, the dogfights are cool, and it is a movie. There is no time wasted on languid ambiguous lulls onto which we can impose deep artistic intent. There is one high note that feels a bit forced because it is not explained and its timing seems like too much of a shift within a scene (I won't say where it occurs, but it's the one time I felt the hand of the adaptor squeezing something into the wrong setting). There is one piece of score over one scene, reprised part way into the end credits, that is borderline as to whether it should be included. The percussion feels programmed. The rest of the score is appropriate orchestra stuff generic enough that I didn't notice it, so it must have fit. Critic Richard Crouse said he thought because Lucas was involved, the pilots talk about women during battle instead of having just the task at hand in mind. So I was definitely listening for this. The fact it they do NOT chit-chat about a woman during BATTLE. Only bored on patrol BEFORE spotting a target, and AFTER a battle. I would not take points off for a character touching his girlfriend's photo, or a comic relief character trying to get good mojo from "Black Jesus." I thought those moments were fitting and appropriate, whether or not they are clichés. One character admonishes the believer with a paraphrased Han Solo line and another says that the new fighter looks like it is speeding while standing still (paraphrasing an off-camera Lucas line from Tucker: A Man and His Dream). But other than that the grimy fingerprints of the disgraced post Phantom Menace maverick are not evident. The ILM special effects didn't seem especially fake to me, even though they must have been, and even the non-famous members of the cast are delivered and memorable whether we remember their names or not. Good show. -
For me this movie was a bit of a surprise. After hearing so much bad things about it, I was expecting the absolute worst. However if you simply take this movie as entertainment, like it was meant as, this movie is simply a real good and fun one, to be perfectly honest.
Seems to me that really the foremost reason why most people are hating on this movie is because it takes the historical story of the Tuskegee airmen and turns it into some overblown and over-the-top entertainment. But call me crazy, wouldn't it be exactly the same to hate on "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Inglourious Basterds" or "The Dirty Dozen" for the very same reason that it it turns WW II into entertainment. Or even better said; hate on "The Great Escape" or "Enemy at the Gates" because it takes a true WW II story and turns it into entertainment, instead of into a history lesson. And besides, this movie was never advertised in any way as a serious or historical WW II movie, so I just really don't understand why some people were obviously still expecting that from this movie.
It simply is being a silly, over-the-top, action flick, with an all black cast in it. That means it has a simple story in it, mostly one dimensional characters and lots of silly dialog and crazy, far from realistic, situations, which I believe was all done intentionally, also to give the movie a more old fashioned kind of feeling to it. This is really where all of the movie its fun and entertainment value comes from.
Visually it perhaps is a bit of a mixed bag at times. The one moment the effects for all of the action and dogfights are something truly amazing and spectacular, while at others it's far from convincing. It's almost as if they ran out of time or money at times and simply had to hand things in, in order to get this movie released in time. But overall this obviously really couldn't ruin the whole movie experience for me.
It is also definitely true that the movie is lacking some emotional impact at times. It's because the characters, no matter that some of them are being played by some great actors, aren't that well developed and the story at times isn't buildup that well. So it really all together is not a great movie but the good news still is that the entertainment value really compensates a lot and I can honestly say this was one of the more entertaining, new, movies I have seen in a long while.
So me advise to you is to go into this movie expecting a good and fun time and please don't expect to be educated or get any sort of realism out of this movie. This way you will surely be able the appreciate the movie for what it is and won't feel cheated of offended by it afterward. If you want to know more about the Tuskegee airmen, this movie is not the one to go to and you are really better off reading a book, or watching a documentary about them instead.
7/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/ -
MadTom1 February 2012I'm a former US Air Force F-4 Phantom Weapons Systems Officer (backseater).
You know this movie is crap when you start with a supposed fighter squadron commander who doesn't know the difference between a SQUAD (thirteen infantrymen) and a SQUADRON (48 fighter pilots).
To paraphrase General George S. Patton, George Lucas doesn't know anything more about real aerial warfare than he does about f --- ing! (And George C. Scott may have said "fornicating" in the movie PATTON, but the real Patton used the real F-word!)
Lucas was absolutely the worst person in the movie industry to do this movie. This movie is only the latest of many giant steps down the primrose path which Lucas started the world's movie-viewing public with the first STAR WARS movie in 1977; I distinctly remember the documentary on the making of that movie, in which Lucas patted himself on the back for patterning his battle scenes after what he claimed to be the most realistic dogfight scenes ever filmed, and at the same time in the documentary intercutting his scenes with those from A YANK IN THE RAF which were absolutely THE phoniest looking flying scenes ever filmed! And he hasn't bothered to learn jack about aerial warfare in the last 35 years; he's just conned most of the whole world into thinking his cartoonish creations are reality when they're the farthest thing from it.
The technical fallacies are far too numerous to list. Lucas doesn't know the first thing about physics or aerodynamics, let alone the complexities of basic fighter maneuvering required to put bullets into another airplane and to prevent another airplane from doing that to one's own. He just makes his CGI airplanes do anything he wants them to do to fit his fantasies and fiction. Lucas is welcome to create his own sci-fi universe where he makes the rules. But for an "historical" movie like this claims to be, Chuck Jones could have made cartoon Mustangs imitating the Road Runner and cartoon Messerschmitts imitating Wile E. Coyote and his Acme gadgets, and they wouldn't have been any more technically inaccurate.
But that's just about the technical fallacies and impossibilities. One of the biggest issues I have is that this movie was incapable of making the 332nd Fighter Group look good without taking cheap, lying shots at the other US Army Air Force fighter groups who fought in Europe in World War II. And it once again demonstrates George Lucas's total ignorance of aerial warfare in World War II, if not his blatant disregard for the truth.
Fighters assigned to escort bombers did not fly in and among the bomber formations, and they certainly didn't stay there when enemy fighters attacked. Escorting fighters flew above and to the sides of the bomber formations, weaving in zigzag patterns to maintain their airspeed while staying even with the much slower bombers. To "stay with the bombers" meant disengaging from the enemy fighters and returning to the flanks of the bomber formation AFTER successfully driving off the enemy if not shooting them down within sight of the bomber formations, rather than pursuing the enemy back to their home bases. It was somewhat of an issue in 1943 when the P-51 Mustang had not yet been deployed to the front lines. The older shorter-ranged P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters did not have the capability to stay with the bombers all the way to targets deep in Germany, and the bombers suffered horrendous losses to German fighters past the range limits of the P-38s and P-47s. As more 8th Air Force fighter groups replaced their P-47s and P-38s with P-51s, tasks were rotated among the fighter groups between bomber escort and fighter sweep, the latter meaning that the fighters flew out ahead of the bomber route to intercept the German interceptors before they got within sight of the bombers, and/or destroy them on the ground on their own airfields.
Total abandonment of the bombers was NEVER condoned. The 8th Air Force was primarily a bomber force, and by the Fall of 1943 the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers were endangered species. Jimmy Doolittle, the commanding general of the 8th, was no dummy; his doctrine of employing fighters in both bomber escort and fighter sweeps reduced the bomber losses to 20-25% of what they had been before the arrival of the P-51. The Italian-based 15th Air Force quickly followed suit with that doctrine. The promise in RED TAILS fictionally given by Colonel Bullard (actually a thinly disguised version of the real-life Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.) to reduce bomber losses by 70-80% was in real life fulfilled by all American fighter pilots in the European Theater. They not only reduced the bomber losses to a fourth of what they had been, but effectively eliminated the German Luftwaffe over their own home turf wherever they found them, and not just near the bomber formations.
RED TAILS insinuates throughout the length of the movie that the 332nd was the only fighter group that stayed with the bombers and that the other fighter groups violated operational orders and standing doctrine by abandoning the bombers in pursuit of German fighters for their own personal glory.
The Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd had a more than honorable combat record and a story to be proud of, a story which could be told without trying to make other US Army Air Force fighter units look bad by telling falsehoods about them. The Tuskegee Airmen deserve better than that. -
iadams-329 January 2012When I saw the advertisements for this movie, I was afraid they might make a mockery of this important story by going too over the top (in the style of Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer.) After seeing George Lucas talk about the movie on the Daily Show, however, I definitely wanted to see it. I knew about the Tuskegee Airmen's heroic performance during World War II, and I was very happy to see the story being brought to the big screen by someone like Lucas - I felt that the film might have the budget to really shine.
The movie got off to a shaky start with some truly wooden dialog and dodgy acting which made me fear that the critics might have been correct in their panning of the film. There was, indeed, some very poor acting in the film, but after the first few minutes the primary cast were assembled and they were fortunately much better than some of the secondary actors (bomber pilots' dialog was totally unbelievable for example).
From the first combat scene things pick up and the film becomes rather engaging. There is a surprising level of tension throughout the film, balanced between the struggle between the red tails and the German military (in the air and on the ground), and sadly between the fighter group and their still painfully segregated military back home.
This movie's screenplay has its share of triumphant victory, terrible loss, and unexpected good news at times in the movie when it's very much needed. Anyone familiar with the story will know the historical record, and if that record is something you care about (and it should be), then I would urge you to go see it. I'm glad I did. -
skull-2122 January 2012The Tuskegee Airmen deserved better than this tripe! Their story is a marvelous one but Lucas has ham fisted it into a caricature. I am extremely disappointed by this film. I hope someday Hollywood will finally realize that truth is often...... more entertaining than fiction, particularly when it comes to aviation and history.
These men were HIGHLY educated, technically astute, and physically fit. The USAAC/USAAF was doing everything in its power to disqualify black applicants for flying assignments by setting standards for them that were ridiculously high. The plan backfired, resulting in a Fighter Group composed of truly exceptional men. Yet NONE of this is conveyed in "Red Tails". We have an insubordinate hot shot, an alcoholic, a guy who likes to eat his pipe, and a mush mouth who just tells jokes.
It would have been nice to see a Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, or Clint Eastwood treatment on the topic. Maybe an interview with fighter ace Lee Archer and a few other Red Tails, then a flashback to the TRUE story, not this one dimensional nonsense.
A waste of some talented actors (and, my God, Terrence Howard was horrendous in this film) and special effects work (although some of the aerial choreography completely defied the laws of physics). The dialogue, particularly during the combat scenes is some of the worst I've ever heard. Also, the German "villain" is nothing like the Luftwaffe fighter pilots of World War II. These men were, as a whole, chivalrous and honorable, not to mention highly skilled and served for love of country, not for the fanatics who ran their government. The enemy in this film seems more like the Nazi/Hydra bad guy from "Captain America: The First Avenger" or something. Gag.
The acting is wooden, the writing atrocious, and the scenes disjointed. There is simply no cogent, coherent narrative here. It is basically a film about dogfights with shallow "drama" piecing them together. This film could have been so much better, but alas, George Lucas can't see the forest for the trees and squanders an opportunity to make a truly moving, memorable film that honors these men the way they should be honored.
Final analysis: This movie needs a lot more "Twelve O'Clock High" (a classic starring Gregory Peck, written by men who actually flew B-17s over Germany in combat) and a *lot* *less* "Pearl Harbor". -
blackhawk6621 January 2012RED TAILS, the movie about the Tuskegee Airmen that was produced by George Lucas, premiered today. My wife and I went to an afternoon matinée. We both enjoyed the movie. If the STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES movies were Lucas' attempts to recreate the serials of the 1930s and 1940s, then RED TAILS is his 1945 war movie. It has a very old fashioned feel about it, as if it had been made in 1945 and then stored away until now. I like that but not everyone does. The movie has received a lot of negative reviews from the professional critic class. Many of those reviews dislike RED TAILS because of that old fashioned sensibility. Apparently, war movies made now are only allowed to be cynical and anti-war. RED TAILS is neither anti-war nor pro-war, but it is definitely pro-heroes. There are no anti-heroes in this movie; the pilots and their ground crews are portrayed as real heroes. Some reviews opine that the characters are shallow and not well developed. Again, I did not feel that at all. The characters, including relatively minor supporting characters, seemed well rounded and each one unique enough that it was easy to tell them apart, even when they were in cockpits with helmets and oxygen masks covering much of their faces. Maybe some of the characters were stereotypes that we have seen in war movies many times before, but for me, that added to the period feel of the movie. Another common thread in the professional critics reviews is that they were unhappy that the movie did not devote more time to exploring the discrimination experienced by the Tuskegee pilots. I don't think this is justified, either. The movie does show the pilots experiencing discrimination, both institutionally in the way the Army assigned them missions and equipment, and individually in their interactions with other soldiers. However, it is also true that is not the main focus of the movie. The movie's focus is on the air battles and how that combat effects each of them in different ways. In interviews, Lucas has said that his intent was to show the Tuskegee Airmen as heroes, not victims. I think he succeeded.
Okay, that addresses some of the issues that are clouding this movie. For some of us, the question is; are the air battles done well? The answer, IMHO, is a resounding "yes." In making the movie, they had three P-51 Mustangs, one B-17 Flying Fortress and a C-47 available for filming. Everything else is CGI or full scale mock-ups. As is to be expected for a movie which had its visual effects supervised by Industrial Light and Magic, the CGI is outstanding. Squadrons of B-17s, P-51s, P-40s, Bf 109s and Me 262s fill the sky and look completely real. The dogfights are shot and edited so that it is not difficult to follow the action. There is none of the super fast cutting that is the bane of so many action movies these days. There is plenty of air action, too, though it was not enough to satisfy me. Of course, they could have made the movie nothing but air action and I still would have wanted more.
Is it a perfect movie? No, of course not. It has a couple of subplots (a romance and a prison escape) that are well done but not really necessary to the movie (though my wife would disagree with me about the romance). Some of the dialogue is a bit clunky, but what kind of George Lucas movie would this be if that were not the case? It is filled with beautiful aircraft, though, and for me that makes up for any shortcomings. If you don't mind a war movie that is not cynical but instead is about courage under fire and patriotism, then I think you will enjoy this movie. -
ironhorse_iv17 July 2013I think this movie took a lot of criticize just because the fact is that the executive producer of the film is George Lucas, and fans haven't yet forgive him for the Star Wars prequels movies. This movie is the first Lucasfilm Ltd. production since Radioland Murders (1994) not to be associated with the Indiana Jones or Star Wars franchises. In my opinion, the prequels were pretty alright, and this movie was honestly fun to watch! Directed by Anthony Hemingway, Red Tails is based on the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American combat pilots during World War II. George Lucas has always love the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, that he even interview about their experiences for the film story and use original mission logbooks used by some of the pilots. I think Anthony Hemingway does a great job directing it, but it's really does look like a George Lucas movie. By the way, Samuel L. Jackson almost directed this film. Lucas only took over direction of re-shoots, as Hemingway was busy working on episodes of the HBO series Treme, but it really doesn't look like Hemingway's work. It's definitely George Lucas' broad, meta, pulp comics style. Some of the fade transitions look cheap and rushed, and it would be better with a little film grain. That's all I would change. The characters were memorable and distinctive, and I cared about them. It had some suspenseful moments and it went by fast and entertained. The plane fighting was quite well done. The CGI wasn't distracting and was use for good use. I really got into the film. The story starts out in 1944. World War II rages, the Allies face a problem as more and more bombers planes are lose to German air power. Hoping for a chance to show his superiors, how useful the Tuskegee Airmen can be, Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrance Howard) and Major Emanuel Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr) ask them to give the Tuskegee Airmen a fighting chance against the Luftwaffe in fighter-to-fighter combat. The superiors give them a chance, so now the pilots must courageously waging two wars at once one against enemies overseas, and the other against discrimination within the military and back home. Despite both actor's names getting top billing on the DVD cover and the marketing posters. The film is little about their characters. Most of the film focus on the tight-knit group of pilots lead by Capt. Martin "Easy" Julian (Nate Parker), a secret alcoholic. The group includes Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little (David Oyelowo) an cocky risk taker who has a subplot romantic with a Italian woman name Sofia (Daniela Ruah), the youngest pilot Ray "Ray Gun" (Tristan Wilds) trying to prove to his peers that is worth enough to go on the missions, and other characters such as Andrew "Smoky" Salem (Ne-Yo), and David 'Deke' Watkins (Marcus T. Paulk). Some people didn't like the acting, but I thought it was OK. At less, the movie portray these fictionist African American WW2 vets characters in a positive light, unlike Spike Lee's 2008 war film, Miracle of St. Anna that made similar characters into mindless jerks. I do like the characters, soundtrack, action and story. Still there are faults. I thought the editing was horrible. I thought the whole Stalag 18 scenes could have been taken out. While Red Tails portrays largely fictional events based on the exploits of the Tuskegee airmen, although many viewers were left with the impression that the film was entirely historically accurate. A lot of the claims made in the film such as the number of losses suffered by bomber crews under their escort, the encounters with Luftwaffe jet fighters and the overall record established by the Tuskegee Airmen are not that accurate. In truth, it was very inaccurate. Who cares honestly if this movie is 100% accurate? They don't claim it to be and it certainly isn't a documentary so some critics get over it. Some people got mad about the fact that the film made the Luftwaffe look like buffoons. Not really in my opinion. They were taking out bombers left and right in the film. Overall, sure the Germans had amazing pilots, but all the Germans cared for were kills, by the end of the war most of those aces had been shot down, which is why the Luftwaffe was horribly weak with really inexperienced and poorly trained pilots by the end of the war. Some people hate the film due to its propaganda. Audience have seen these stories a dozen times over that some people got tired of it. Underdog group who happens to be a different race overcomes prejudice and rises to the occasion and we get all the cheesy montages about how 'racism is bad' message. Some people just hate the overbearing patriotism feel of the film. It portray Americans like heroes while the Germans are all faceless, inhuman, and contempt. Lucas doesn't understand that the 'popcorn' war movie is grossly outdated, and audiences won't buy into it anymore. Modern war films depict war as ugly, bloody, tragic, morally complex, and show both sides suffering from the insanity. Lucas made the film as though it was another Star Wars movie. That's fine as far as sci-fi/fantasy is concerned, but falls flat on its face regarding modern war films. I think the biggest reason why it fail was because the studios were reluctant to back the film because white audiences don't really support majority black cast film. Sure there one or two films here or there but not generally. Still, it's a great story about heroic men that don't always get the spotlight and need another look. It's not that bad of a film. I honestly like it. For the vets. I salute you and you are never forgotten. To the Plane, To the last Bullet, To the last Minute, To the last Man we fight.
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spentcasing29 May 2012I figured with names such as George Lucas, Cuba Gooding Jr and Terrence Howard that Red Tails had to be a great movie. I couldn't have been more wrong. To start with the acting was sub-standard, it was as though I was sitting through a high school play. Everyone was very robotic sounding, no heart and soul per se. Gooding's performance was his worse yet and him constantly gnawing away on his unlit pipe, which he was pretending to smoke became an ongoing joke, I think they meant to put CGI smoke in afterwards but perhaps Mr. Lucas forgot or ran out of money to spend. On the bright side it was nice to see the guy that played Rick Simon from the 80's show Simon & Simon was alive and well. The plot was absolutely miserable. Characters that had no place being there, in particular the Italian love interest of one of the pilots. It seemed like the intent was suppose to be a sidelined plot, but if that was the idea, it failed. She had no place in this story. All the white folk are made out to be racists, save a few kind officers who pull for the Tuskegee airmen to get a fail shake, the white fighter pilots come off as over zealot morons who abandon their task at every whim to chase decoys, there is an alcoholic pilot who would have been booted from flying long ago, the reckless one that does what he wants and disobeys orders, who would have been court martialed and discharged in the first 10 minutes of the movie, and the list goes on and on, it was unbearable. Also, in this movie, apparently pilots are not subject to the laws of physics and G-force. The CGI looked cartoonish. The fighter planes were doing stunts and manoeuvres that would be obviously impossible in reality. Trains that explode and derail when shot at by 50 calibre guns, it goes on and on...Look I know it is a movie and not a documentary, but it kills me when at the beginning of the film it boldly states that this movie is based on factual events. The only factual events in Red Tails is that there was an all African American fighter squadron who painted their plane tails red, PERIOD. Bottom line, this flick had B-movie acting, crappy direction, a God-awful script, corny dog fighting scenes, cheap CGI graphics, unrealistic physics defying stunts and a out of place musical score, hip-hop music over the closing credits, please. I wish I never saw this movie.
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jgrimaud1 February 2012As a retired USAF Fighter Pilot, having flown 100 missions as an F-105 Wild Weasel over the hottest areas of North Vietnam, and recipient of the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and ten Air Medals, I found the movie to be excellent. I thought it was realistic in every respect, both in the air and on the ground, in portrayal of the various personalities that would be encountered in a fighter unit in combat, even the love scenes which were realistic but portrayed in good taste. After seeing some of the poor reviews, I almost chose not to go, but I am glad I did. I only wonder about the actual life experiences of the other reviewers. I could put a name on each of the pilots in that unit from my own experiences in combat.
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grahamsj324 August 2012It IS difficult to review this film and NOT compare it with Tuskegee Airmen, but, without that comparison, I think this is a pretty decent film. The film is actually about the same group of airmen, facing the same odds and the same discrimination. But the approach to making this film is different and that's why it should be considered as a separate work. I have seen both films and I enjoyed each about the same as the other. It's good to see a subject from different perspectives sometimes. Occasionally, one film will actually help you understand the other. So I consider this film and Tuskegee Airmen to be complimentary to each other. The acting, direction, cinematography and editing are all very well done. I'd recommend watching both these films back-to-back or on successive evenings. You'll see what I mean.
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FloridaBoy2421 January 2012My biggest problem is that I saw the 1995 film Tuskegee Airman and loved it. I had to compare this current film to that and unfortunately found it extremely lacking.
I don't feel any connection to the characters in this film. Live or die, who knows or cares.
Contrasting that with the Tuskegee Airman, when people died in that film, you felt it. You cared about each single character and were emotionally invested with them.
So my saying, wait for DVD, and if you want a much better film, buy the Tuskegee Airman. You wont be disappointed. -
kgny30924 January 2012For 24 years, George Lucas has been developing a film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the all African American squad of army pilots during World War II. Now, the dream has come true and the final result of "Red Tails" is a too long, tedious, all noise and no heart time killer. It makes one yearn for the memories of Lucas's "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones".
In 1944 Italy, a group of four army pilots has been summoned to protect bombers over Germany. Along the way, they have encounters with friendship, romance, danger and overcoming death.
The film's director, Anthony Hemingway should have stuck to directing TV shows before filming this lackluster effort. John Ridley and Aaron McGruber's script feels third rate and mostly shifts into territories of melodrama and clichés. They should have taken out the bad subplot involving a romance between an Italian girl and one of the pilots and remained focused to expand on the story of the Airmen. The art direction looks like it's been borrowed from too many movies and the action sequences fails to generate any thrills. The visual effects from Industrial Light and Magic add no excitement to the action.
The young actors playing the pilots {David Oyelowo, Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds and Elijah Kelly} and the acting veterans {Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard} feel like they're taking their roles forcefully instead of seriously. Both Gooding Jr. and Howard proved one thing in their respective roles: They were both in the film just for the money.
All in all, this fails both in entertainment and as a history lesson. For the past four decades, Lucas wowed audiences by showing them how movies can take people to brand new worlds with "Star Wars" and "Indy". Now, this time, he has failed. Both Lucas and the Tuskegee Airmen deserved better.
In the end, the best thing to come out of this is the thing before the film itself. The "thing" that I'm talking about is the trailer for the upcoming and hopefully very funny "Three Stooges" movie.
Rating: 1 star -
rmax30482324 November 2012The visual effects are splendid and for a change they're not overdone. They resemble the CGIs in the series "Dogfights", right down to the disconcerting image of a speeding airplane diving right into the camera lens.
I wish the story were as good. It's not as terrible as "Pearl Harbor" but it doesn't stray far from the expected narrative. A group of diverse African-American pilots are stationed in Italy. One has a habit of taking a few belts before a mission; another is reckless and expedient; another is the by-the-book commanding officer; there is the new recruit called "Junior" to whom everyone condescends.. There is a completely dispensable love affair. A white officer calls one of them by the N word and gets punched in the face for his trouble, while the pilot winds up in the slams. All that's missing is the "mail call" scene to turn this into a World War II flag waver with Richard Jaekel somewhere down the cast list. And no one should be forced to utter lines like, "So tuck your tail between your legs and slink back to Harlem!"
At first they face prejudice from the bureaucracy and are assigned to ground attack missions with obsolete P-40s. But when they prove their mettle, they're given bomber escort missions while flying the sleek new P-51s. On a later mission they were credited with downing three Me262s, the first jet fighter to see combat, and it was quite a feat.
Despite the undistinguished plot, the movie succeeds in holding the viewer. The viewer only need wait until the arguments and love affair on the ground end, even if only temporarily, before he's back in the air with those magnificent visual effects. -
joed166722 January 2012Horrible movie which did the same for The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) that Pearl Harbor did for Tora! Tora! Tora! Watching the movie, I felt like I was watching a Playstation game. The computer generated graphics were so unreal looking, unlike past WWII movies like Memphis Bell, Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. I expected far better from George Lucas but he made it look as if I was watching another of his Star Wars movies and his pilots were attacking the Death Star. There was also just too much unrealism like the P-40's appearing far superior to the ME 109's when in reality, it was the other way around. Or the four P-40's attacking the Luftwaffe base and practically destroying the whole base with little damage to themselves. Or the P-51 attacking the German destroyer causing massive explosions all throughout the ship, not to mention that by 1944, German surface ships were pretty much non-existent. And the B-17 bomber was a tough airplane and not brittle like the movie made it to be with wings sawed in half from enemy bullets. I also couldn't buy one of the white POW's who escaped with one of the Tuskegee airman (Junior), showing up at Ramstein air base to give them back Junior's dog tags then later on, Junior appearing back at the base. They were also very heavy with the touchy feely music throughout the movie.
The history of the Tuskegee Airmen is a great story to tell but this movie did a disservice and all too predictable. It's just too bad that movies drawn from historic events cannot be portrayed that way and instead, have to be Hollywoodized! This must've been a major disappointment for Cuba Gooding Jr., who starred in The Tuskegee Airmen. -
Leofwine_draca15 November 2016RED TAILS is George Lucas's throwback to old-fashioned war films where the emphasis is on action over complex storytelling and the like. I know this film was panned on release but I found myself enjoying it regardless, at least on a superficial level. It's not on par with something moving like GLORY but it does tick all of the right boxes and even though parts of the story are clichéd, I was still engaged in the tale.
The script is nothing to write home about, playing out all of the usual characters from the wild man fighter ace to the gruff but proud officer and the rookie. The cast is undistinguished with only Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard standing out as the guys at the top. However, RED TAILS does offer plentiful action, and it's a lot better than I was expecting. Yes, Lucas is still obsessed with CGI, and absolutely everything in this film is a CGI effect (including a football!) but so much money has been spent in post production that the effects look remarkably good. This is a thrilling, old-fashioned adventure and one I had no qualms about enjoying. It's certainly better than the STAR WARS prequels... -
After ten minutes I began to tell myself... this can't be it. I continued watching... it was it. A bad joke, a nightmare, rubbish. You know the constant sensation and the feeling that something is really wrong... I don't have that often with films... but this one managed. How I managed not to break it off and leave it be is something I still can't explain.
From the first to the last dialog... nonsense, flat, cheese, even stupid, not funny at all, even when they searched fun. The characters... why bother to play? How it is possible, that good actors make such movies will always astonish me. The story... there are probably a lot of teenagers writing better stories. An accumulation of stereotypes. Blacks are cool, fun, indisciplined, all buds, unbreakable, superheroes. The white pilots are mean, racists. The Germans are just the incarnation of robotic evil... or something like that. Realism... no way! Nothing was believable... nor the actions, nor the acting...
Lamentably it is not a film to forget easily... horrid films seldom are... because you are constantly reminded how stupid you were to have made the mistakes of believing it was something to see and then actually watching it till the end. -
steve-266-9031327 December 2012Many folks have given this film terrible reviews based on the inaccurate representation of various technical issues; and they're absolutely right. And they've completely missed the point.
They get an A+ on their knowledge of aerial combat and its conduct in the skies of Europe, and an F- on their knowledge of the art, craft, and history of movie-making. George Lucas said plainly that he wanted to give the Tuskegee Airmen the full John Wayne, Hollywood hero movie treatment, and that's what he did to a T. I can only assume that many reviewers simply do not understand the genre AT ALL. It's a fable, a comic book; not a documentary, not a docku- drama, not anything else. If you understand and appreciate the old Hollywood formula for telling the hero's story, you will love this movie. If you don't like old school John Wayne hero movies, don't bother. It's that simple. -
jboothmillard25 September 2013I mostly heard about this film because it was being produced by Star Wars veteran and Indiana Jones creator George Lucas, but also because it was apparently based on a true story from the time it is set, and with a good cast it certainly worth a go. Basically, set in 1944, World War II, a group of African American USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) pilots in the 332d Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen, are sent to combat in Italy face racism and bureaucracy from the white military members, who are resistant and believe black people may not be equals in the face of war. The unified and integrated group consist of Captain Marty 'Easy' Julian (Nate Parker), 1st Lieutenant Joe 'Lightning' Little (The Last King of Scotland's David Oyelowo), 2nd Lieutenant Ray Gannon (Tristan Wilds) nicknamed 'Junior' or 'Ray Gun', 2nd Lieutenant Andrew 'Smokey' Salem (singer Ne-Yo) and 2nd Lieutenant Samuel 'Joker' George (Elijah Kelley), they are under the guidance Major Emanuelle Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard). Slight conflict comes between Easy and Lightning, Easy is dabbling in alcoholism and doubts himself, while Lightning is hotheaded, reckless and takes too many risks, but he is infatuated with pretty Italian girl Sofia (Daniela Ruah), they have a very close relationship. The Tuskegee Airmen get their next mission, battling against ace German pilots, including the one they nickname 'Pretty Boy' (Lars van Riesen), they score a great number of enemy hits, including the destruction of a German airfield, but in the battle Ray Gun suffers impaired vision, he begs Easy to stay on the team, and despite concern he is allowed to continue flying. USAAF Bomber Command are impressed by the Tuskegee Airmen's performance, and they tell Bullard their next mission, the mission is accepted, with the condition of getting new North American P-51 Mustang planes, the team all paint their plane tails red and unofficially become the Red Tails, orders tell them to keep track of the German bombers, this mission too is a success, but Ray Gun is taken down and captured, and Deke nearly died in a crash landing. Deke is discharged due to his severe injuries, while Ray Gun is assumed dead, Easy blames himself for losing Ray Gun and turns to alcohol more heavily, Lightning makes a deal to be less reckless as long as his friend stays sober, and meanwhile the black pilots are respected and allowed to join the white officers, even in their "whites only" club. The group are unaware Ray Gun is in a POW (Prisoner of War) camp, and he helps in a plan to escape, this is successful, but Ray Gun forces the Germans to gain his attention to help the other POWs escape, he is again presumed dead due to this sacrifice. Lightning finally proposes to Sofia, she is first hesitant, but agrees to marry him if he will stay with her in Italy, he agrees, and next the Tuskegee Airmen are ordered to escort American bombers to attack Berlin, but they can only fly the first leg of the journey due to propaganda, the squadron supposed to take over never arrive so Easy tells the others to stay with them all the way, but then Pretty Boy and his flight come in to attack. The Germans may have more advanced planes, with better speed and fire power, but the Tuskegee Airmen manage to get a good target amount, Easy looks to be tailed and destroyed by Pretty Boy, but the villain is taken down and killed by Lightning, but Lightning himself is mortally wounded, and eventually crashes and dies. Easy tells Sofia the tragic news, and he overcomes his alcoholism once and for all, but the group are pleasantly surprised at Lightning's funeral when Ray Gun returns, and ultimately honoured when the Presidential Unit Citation is awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen for their achievements. Also starring Michael B. Jordan as Maurice Wilson, Leslie Odom Jr. as Declan 'Winky' Hall, Andre Royo as Antwan 'Coffee' Coleman, Bryan Cranston as Colonel William Mortamus, Cliff 'Method Man' Smith as Sticks, Marcus T. Paulk as David 'Deke' Watkins, Kevin Phillips as Leon 'Neon' Edwards, Lee Tergesen as Colonel Jack Tomlinson and Rupert Penry-Jones as Campbell. The acting is very good and with well known black faces there are likable characters, I agree they are and the dialogue is perhaps trying a little hard to be serious, but the in air battle, gun and explosion filled sequences are exciting accompanied by impressive special effects, it is a very worthwhile Second World War action adventure. Good!
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donald-r-wilson23 January 2012This is a very unfortunate attempt to tell an important story and is a disservice to the men who lived these historic events. The character development is non-existent and portrays these men in a stereotypical light. The portrayal of the German pilots creates a comic book atmosphere, you can almost see the dialog bubble above their heads saying "Curses! Foiled again!" as they sneer at their adversaries. The flight sequences remind me of those from 1940s and 1950s films where the "planes" are plastic models on cables with the cameras panning the model to depict motion. The only flight sequences which are realistic are the landing and take-off scenes. I am extremely disappointed in this film and expected much more from Lucas.
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JimRaynor5520 January 2012If you like military history or the kind of fighter action seen in the Star Wars series, then Red Tails is the movie for you. But the dogfights are just half of what this film is about. I was pleasantly surprised with the stories that were told when planes and bullets weren't flying through the air.
Red Tails has a sizable ensemble cast of lead actors, who all do an admirable job with their parts. Several characters share the spotlight, and are given time to deal with their own personal stories and issues. They experience prejudice and adversity, but also romance and friendship. The interaction between the cast was terrific and nuanced. I really believed that this was a group of war buddies, who had their differences but nonetheless cared about each other.
Visually, the movie is excellent. Not just the CGI fighter planes, which won't even come across as CGI (blowing up real historical aircraft would've been out of the question). The scenery of the Italian cities and countryside is beautiful.
If I have one complaint, it's that the ending is a bit abrupt. I would've liked to see a "bigger" final battle, but as I understand it this movie didn't get a mega blockbuster budget. Also, though this movie is a fictional one merely "inspired" by true events, the true events still placed a limit on what the movie's heroes could do. They don't singlehandedly wipe out the Luftwaffe or win the war, and are restricted to escorting American bombers as the real Red Tails did.
But still, go see this movie. It's definitely worth it. -
g-bodyl9 July 2013Red Tails is not a great movie but it's not a bad one either. It's an entertaining film that needs more work done to it. First off, this film could have added some more story and by that I meant training scenes in the racist South. They could also take away the useless subplot of the Italian girl since I felt it didn't belong. This movie emphasizes the action, not the romance. Speaking of action, the aerial sequences are top-notch. Just watching the dogfights made my jaw drop in awe.
Anthony Hemingway's film is based on the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen in Italy during World War Two. Led by Bullard, the Airmen are forced to become protectors of the white bombers.
The acting can be improved. Cuba Gooding and Terrence Howard were acceptable in their roles. The rest.....not so much. I felt like they all tried their best but they had corny dialog and acted like cyborgs for the majority of the film.
Overall, this isn't a great film like I hoped but it's still easily entertaining. Maybe it's a good thing George Lucas added Star Wars-like combat scenes or else this film would have been mediocre at the best. It's really rare to see a film that has an all-black cast. If only they had acted better. I rate this film 7/10. -
mideleon23 January 2012Among the many problems I had with Red Tails, I suppose one of the most egregious was the incredibly overbearing and cloying musical score. But in a rather sad way, the score perfectly fits the entirely forced and artificial nature of the movie itself. Now, I know that typically a film's musical score is used to enhance emotion, but in the case of Red Tails, the music is so over-the-top, in-your-face, and cliché ridden that I couldn't help but laugh at times. One example is the music we hear when a soldier drives into an Italian town. Yes, we know we're in Italy, but in case anyone is confused we're treated to a musical cue that sounds like the spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp. And if you can't figure out that the German pilot is a bad guy, why, the music will certainly tell you! Well, that and the GIGANTIC SCAR ON HIS German FACE!
And I'm sure I'll be called a pinko/commie for saying this, but what was up with playing America the Beautiful during the credits? It felt so forced, like the music in one of those "patriotic" animatronic exhibits at Disneyland that gets mocked. And the reason those are mocked is because they are lifeless objects trying to manipulate and force us to feel something without actually LETTING us feel that way on our own. It's cynical trickery. And that's how I feel about the score of Red Tails and pretty much the movie in general.
The men of the 332nd were heroes and patriots. Real ones. But they were also real men, not the cartoon characters in Red Tails. And the Tuskegee Airmen deserve better than the childish fantasy of George Lucas by way of Anthony Hemingway.