Flyboys

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tony Bill directs. Henry Braham behind the camera. Trevor Rabin scores. Chris Blunden cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
• 2Earned back only 30% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 3Released 20 years ago.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
• 5International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
• 6Directed by Tony Bill, shot by Henry Braham. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by Trevor Rabin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Chris Blunden shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9James Franco and David Ellison and Jean Reno carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "When the world first went to war, they were the first to fly.".
• 11IMDB entry: tt0454824 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Henry Braham

Original score

Trevor Rabin

Editing

Chris Blunden

Production design

Charles Wood

Costume design

Nic Ede

Makeup / hair

Laura McIntosh

VFX supervisor

Steve Street

Sound

Andy Kennedy

Stunt coordinator

Steve Dent

Runtime

138 min · 2h 18m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$60,000,000

Box office

$17,858,059

Return

30% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Flyboys (2006) ↗

Also by

Tony Bill

• 
  To Have & to Hold

  1998 · ★ 9.5
• 
  The Princess and the Pea

  1984 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Faerie Tale Theatre

  1982 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Dirty Dancing

  1988 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story

  2002 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Families

  1998 · ★ 8.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Flyboys HD Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2019-11-29
  ★ 7/10

  Americans volunteers become fighter pilots in France during WW1 Before the USA enters WW1, a young Texas cowboy (James Franco) joins the Lafayette Escadrille in France, a squadron of American fighter pilots. The volunteers are trained and soon experience the glory, anxieties and horrors that go with air combat. “Flyboys" (2006) was inspired by real events and comes in the tradition of similar WW1 aviation flicks “The Blue Max” (1966) and “Aces High" (1976). Whilst not great like the exceptional “Blue Max,” the blockbuster-ish “Flyboys” is more compelling than the mundane “Aces High,” albeit a little marred by comic book storytelling (think “Legends of the Fall”). It’s also significantly superior to the curiously unabsorbing “The Red Baron” (2008). The movie’s ambitious and nigh epic, but there are some contrived, unconvincing moments. For instance, the “German spy” part could’ve been cut with no harm done, not to mention make for a more streamlined viewing experience. Yet I’m glad that the film’s not as one-dimensional as the realistic “Aces High” (which, don’t get me wrong, is a quality WW1 fighter pilot flick). For instance, “Flyboys” throws in a good trench sequence involving ‘No Man’s Land’ that LOOKS convincing; too bad it’s not believable at all (the way so-and-so easily saves so-and-so). Eugene Skinner, the black pilot, was based on the real-life Eugene Jacques Bullard (the filmmakers just changed the surname). In real life Eugene hoped to join the Lafayette Escadrille, but they stopped receiving applicants by the summer of 1916 after accepting 38 American pilots. So, a few months later, Eugene joined the Lafayette Flying Corps on November 15, 1916. As far as strafing downed aviators goes, it was considered dishonorable, but the movie suggests that a minority of ignoble pilots did so, which is reasonable. In the film an ignoble German pilot strafes & kills an American, which is what later spurs an honorable German pilot to make amends in a pretty powerful scene. The film runs 2 hours, 20 minutes, and was shot in England (Buckinghamshire, Essex, Bedfordshire & Somerset House, Strand, London, with studio work done in Hertfordshire). PS: The lion, Whisky, was a real mascot for the squad, along with another named Soda. GRADE: B/B+

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Electric Entertainment

  US

• 

  Skydance Media

  US

• 

  Ingenious Media

  GB

Key crew

• AuthorPhil Sears
• AuthorBlake T. Evans
• Executive ProducerJames Clayton
• Executive ProducerPhillip Goldfarb
• Executive ProducerDuncan Reid
• ProducerDean Devlin
• EditorChris Blunden
• ProducerMarc Frydman
• EditorRon Rosen
• Executive ProducerDavid Brown
• Costume DesignNic Ede
• CastingJohn Hubbard
• CastingRos Hubbard
• CastingDan Hubbard
• CGI SupervisorBrian Eyre
• Visual Effects CoordinatorClare Tinsley
• 3D SupervisorDave Rand
• Visual Effects ProducerMark Franco
• Visual Effects ProducerEllen Walder
• Supervising Sound EditorStefan Henrix
• Visual Effects EditorRichard Diver
• Visual Effects SupervisorSteve Street
• Art Department CoordinatorSally Ross
• GafferLarry Randall

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• world war i
• fighter pilot
• based on true story
• biplane

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2006-09-22PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• Flyboys: Héroes del AireES
• Sky Busters - Die HimmelsstürmerDE
• פרחי טייסIL