Red Tails: Film Review [Hollywood re-writes history again!]

The Hollywood Reporter ^ | 7:53 PM PST 1/18/2012 | Todd McCarthy

[Bender2]

Red Tails: Film Review
7:53 PM PST 1/18/2012 by Todd McCarthy

The Bottom Line: Action-and-effects version of the Tuskegee airmen's story flies only when it's off the ground.

The George Lucas-produced labor of love stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard as Tuskegee airmen in World War II.

The experience of black American aviators in World War II gets a whitewash in Red Tails. The story of the 996 pilots (and some 15,000 ground personnel) who distinguished themselves in the air in the face of institutional racism is a great one and, at least, will come to the attention of more people due to this long-gestating project from Lucasfilm. But every character here is so squeaky clean, and the prejudice as depicted is so toothless and easily overcome, that the film feels like a gingerly fantasy version of what, in real life, was an exceptional example of resilient trail-blazing. The tale's considerable built-in inspirational value will move and impress black audiences of all ages and would do the same to a wider public if sufficiently promoted, but the determinedly simplistic approach will curtail interest among any viewers hungry for some real history. The anticipated low interest level for this material overseas is cited as a major reason the project took so long to get off the ground.

A key signal of how much you can trust any contemporary movie about either of the 20th century's world wars is how, and even if, it depicts smoking; if, like this one, it buckles to current fashion and scarcely depicts soldiers smoking at all in a period when cigarettes were part of ration kits, then it's frankly not to be trusted in any other respect either.

[Junior_G]

The movie looks like a video game.

Given how long CGI has been around, I always thought they'd have improved it by now to the point where it no longer looked like CGI. I was wrong.

[blueunicorn6]

Why, with the timing of this movie, you’d almost suspect we had a black Democrat running for re-election.

[Bringbackthedraft]

It looks like a full length version of the History Channel’s “Dogfights”. I wonder if they will portray the Germans as 20 yr. olds with about 40 hrs of flying time? Would they have survived against Hartmann?

[NavyCanDo]

I was honored to have known one of the Tuskeegee Airmen, who was a member of my VFW lodge. He has now passed away. I think
Doesn't bother me one bit about them making a second movie about them. How many movies did they make about D-day, or Peal Harbor, or many of the other battles of WWII. Some good some bad.
I think I will like the original Tuskeegee Airmen movie better, only because from what I see in the trailer, of this new one it looks a little too CG. Still I will never pass up a good war movie even if the story has been done.

[CFIIIMEIATP737]

“Any movies about the brave men who fought in the Korean War?”

One day I was scrounging around in the bargain video bin at Wal-Mart. I found and bought a Korean War video. It was about artillery spotting aircraft (L17? L19?) My favorite part is where a young impetuous pilot wants to strike back at the enemy. He lashes some bazookas onto the wing strut so he can take out a tank.

The Red Chinese in the movie fly P-51 Mustangs. Can’t remember the title. I’ll have to look it up when I get home.

[bvw]

EVERY REVIEW of this film should include at least a nod to the following troubling event.

A few months after Obama usurped the Office, he ordered a terror attack by Air Force One upon downtown Manhattan.

The purpose? Almost certainly it was related to this film.

See comment from "mm" at Althouse blog: May 10, 2009

[Radagast the Fool]

I saw the trailer for “Red Tails” in the theater, and knowing nothing about the airplanes of the era, I wondered if those types of planes would be capable of the speed and maneuvering depicted in the film.
Other than that, it looked pretty terrible.
Too bad, because those men deserve so much better.

[wbill]

"Thin Red Line" is what you get when a bunch of Anti-American, Military-Hating Leftists make a war movie about what they think the military is really like.

:-)

However, occasionally, Hollywood gets it right.

I was reading about "A Bridge Too Far" (good flick, if you've not seen it). Michael Caine played the Colonel who was leading the initial attack. The scene before the attack had him making this "rah rah, three cheers for the home team, go out and kill some Nazis" chest-thumping type speech to the troops.

Fortunately, the *real* Colonel (Col. J.O.E. Vandeleur) was on set that day, and Caine asked him what he really said before the attack. A plain, straightforward "OK, Let's Go", or somesuch, was the answer. And, that's what made it into the movie.

So, occasionally, Hollywood gets it right. At least, by accident. :-)

[Army Air Corps]

A key signal of how much you can trust any contemporary movie about either of the 20th century's world wars is how, and even if, it depicts smoking; if, like this one, it buckles to current fashion and scarcely depicts soldiers smoking at all in a period when cigarettes were part of ration kits, then it's frankly not to be trusted in any other respect either.

The writer has a valid point.

[GAB-1955]

Racism did exist in the armed forces; it was part of the background of society at the time, though it probably wasn’t malevolent. I know my uncles, who were all vets (Army Ranger, Merchant Marine, and two Army Air Force), had attitudes running that way when I talked to them after the war. It wasn’t intentional; no one knew different then.

[C19fan]

I knew this movie was BS when they had the trailer showing the P-51 Mustangs flying around the B-17s shooting at the Luftwaffe planes. The escort pilots learned quickly that the gunners in the B-17s would shoot at anything so the escorts never went into the actual bomber formations.

[massgopguy]

The Korean War? You mean the one where they drank Martinis and chased Nurses named Hot Lips?

Dad was in the 25th Tropic Lightning at the Yalu River.

[stuartcr]

Is it a hollywood movie produced to generate revenue or a documentary?

[ClearBlueSky]

You have to understand- Lucas is the King of PC. He is also a perpetual 10 year old, mentally, albeit one with billions. The man is pathologically immature and is surrounded by ‘yes’ men . He WON’T grow up and he’s pushing 70. Adult maturity is foreign to him- adult themes are ‘icky’. At least he didn’t WRITE any of this film, did he? If so- it’s doomed.
Oh- Lucas also announced hes retiring from filmmaking. Thank the Maker- hopefully he won’t trash the SW universe anymore!

[ConservativeStatement]

About three years ago, I spoke to someone who told me she was a school teacher who taught American history. I asked her about recent events or even the 20th century. She told me current issues were avoided. WW2 was discussed. WW1, not so much. I asked her about the Korean War and was told “We focus on American history...” Um, got it! From there, I think we spoke of the weather and what a lovely summer day we enjoyed.

[Bender2]

Re: OKSooner's Yeah, and from the teasers on TV those planes don’t look like P-47’s either. svcw's I think they started with P47 but ended flying P51s. and IYAS9YAS's They flew those, but were more closely associated with the P-51.

If my memory serves me correctly, the Tuskegee Airmen started out flying Curtiss P-40 Warhawks...

Then briefly with Bell P-39 Airacobras...

Very briefly with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts...

And finally with North American A-36 Apache (listed in some sources as "Invader") the ground-attack/dive bomber version of the P-51...

And finally with the P-51-D Mustang...

But then again, why quote history... when Hollywood and George Lucas knows best?

[Above My Pay Grade]

I’ll probably wait for the movie to come to Netflix, but the Hollywood Reporter’s issues with historical correctness seem rather nitpicky to me.

There is smoking, but not enough and the wrong kind of smoking? If that is worst historical inaccuracy in the film, it is probably the most accurate film in history.

[dfwgator]

Nowadays the only thing they teach about WWII is Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden.

[Army Air Corps]

What was the conent of the review? I would be interesting in reading it.

[Army Air Corps]

What was the conent of the review? I would be interested in reading it.