Just Watched Red Tails.

[Treetopflyer]

I just returned from watching the movie Red Tails. I thought it was actually pretty good. The Aerial scenes were well done, even if most of them were CGI. I would recommend people to go see it. Anyone else seen it and have some feedback?

 

[DustyUSAF]

Hopefully going this weekend. Looks like a definite "popcorn" movie. I'll try not to take it too seriously. Should be fun, we haven't had a good WWII flying movie in a while. BTW, just saw where Goodwear Leather custom made all the jackets for the movie. They have some pics up on their website.

 

[thecardigankid]

I saw it as well, I enjoyed it, thought some of the lines were a little hokey tho. I really enjoyed the scenes at the air base, looked very top notch. When I got to the theater there were television crews interviewing people who had watched the showing before mine. Apparently the showing before mine had several special VIPs many of whom were original Tuskegee Airmen so that was really cool.

I'd recommend it for the atmosphere of the movie...and of course the flight jackets

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Hopefully going this weekend. Looks like a definite "popcorn" movie. I'll try not to take it too seriously. Should be fun, we haven't had a good WWII flying movie in a while. BTW, just saw where Goodwear Leather custom made all the jackets for the movie. They have some pics up on their website.

GW made the repro A2s for the main charactors. Other repro makers supplied jackets and gear as well.
HD

 

[Treetopflyer]

I like the fact that they focused more on the men and the type of people they were rather than focusing strictly on the racial aspect of it. Not to mention that the dog fight scenes were awesome. Seeing the P-40 and P-51 in action was beautiful. Definitely a must see for any aviation enthusiast.

 

[Blackjack]

A WWII flick is a WWII flick, I want to see it....

 

[Spitfire]

I have only seen the trailer - but still wonders wether pilots in the 40's made speeches like Al Pachino in a NFL locker room. ;-)

 

[ButteMT61]

I have only seen the trailer - but still wonders wether pilots in the 40's made speeches like Al Pachino in a NFL locker room. ;-)

The worst part of the trailers to me was the dialog. It's trying (IMHO) to be modern-hip to attract youngins. I get it - it's a business. But yeah, I'll have to overlook that to get through it myself.

 

[Blackjack]

Yeah, just watched the trailer, it "looks" good but I thought the same. That and for some reason the Mighty Mouse theme song kept going through my head. Not being an expert on this, was there really a problem with the white fighter pilots putting themselves before the safety of the bombers in the war??

 

[Treetopflyer]

Not being an expert on this, was there really a problem with the white fighter pilots putting themselves before the safety of the bombers in the war??

I did think the same thing when I watched the movie. With that said, they do mention in the movie that they didn't really have the tactics down yet and that is why the fighter pilots would pursue the enemy fighters. I presume that the tactics of bomber escort were more developed by the time the red tails starting conducting those types of missions.

 

[archbury918]

The question of the priority of protecting the bombers is a bit ambiguous from the point of command. In the early stages of the war, '42-'43, they took a frightful pounding from the Luftwaffe as well as the flak. With the US fighting in two theatres, it became a point of contention in the War Dept between the Army and Navy for resource priority.
The Casablanca Conference made clear the European theatre would take priority over the Japanese. Initially there just weren't enough aircraft to do the job. Until the introduction of the P-51 in Dec of '43 there just weren't any fighters capable of escorting to and from the target. So escorting bombers was a matter of timing to pick up and cover them. Many factors could and did prevent this "tag team" type coverage.

It was clear to Eisenhower that complete domination of the skies was crucial to the success of the impending continent invasion in June of '44. The bombers were now used as bait in early '44 to draw up the Luftwaffe and in Feb '44, the escorts were ordered released from the bombers to chase them and destroy their airfields and anything of tactical value for the invasion. By June, sufficient numbers of Mustangs made it possible to resume both escort and seek and destroy missions.

Now, by no means do I mean to diminish the sacrifices and contributions made by the 332th FG (Tuskeegee). Bigotry and segregation were the way of the service (and the US) at that time. Because of the attrition to battle of fighter pilots after 2 years, the Tuskeegee argued, and rightfully so, were given the chance to enter the frontlines by escorting the bombers of the 15th AF in Italy. Given that chance, they were tenacious and dedicated to making sure those bombers were protected. They were under heavy scrutiny and had to do twice as well to get half the credit. The military can be slow to accept change and the Tuskeegee did reflect themselves extremely well.

So to answer the original question, it wasn't really that existing fighter groups failed to do their job, there just wasn't enough to go around for all the demands made upon them.

M

 

[ButteMT61]

The CGI was very good - yes, a tad unreal at times, but fun.
Jackets & Patches - superb.
Planes - likewise, superb.
Actors - main cast was very likable - sans the stupid German villain. He simply was laughable, as were most of the German soldiers.
Storyline - standard formulaic Lucas fare - especially given the subject matter.
Direction - pretty bad.
Music - likewise bad.
P!$$ me off factor? All the people in Prague getting paid for jobs Americans could do.

Overall a very enjoyable "popcorn" WWII flick. Not nearly serious enough to do justice to the subject. Fun on the big screen for the fight scenes and gear. Lord, with all that money and potential, it should have been a GREAT movie. Lucas put more soul into the original Star Wars, and the villains were even more dislikable.

 

[Blackjack]

I did do a little reading about them after watching the video and found ( I don't know if this is mentioned in the film) the the "legend" of the red tails that they never lost a bomber in 200 missions was fabricated by the Chicago Reader, a newspaper geared for blacks in the 40's. This story stuck until the 1970's when a few of the airmen were interviewed and relayed that they lost about 25 bombers, one the very day the story came out. People need hero's I guess...

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I did do a little reading about them after watching the video and found ( I don't know if this is mentioned in the film) the the "legend" of the red tails that they never lost a bomber in 200 missions was fabricated by the Chicago Reader, a newspaper geared for blacks in the 40's. This story stuck until the 1970's when a few of the airmen were interviewed and relayed that they lost about 25 bombers, one the very day the story came out. People need hero's I guess...

True. And although the Luftwaffe was beleaguered, they still had hundreds of excellent and very experienced fighter pilots. Some of whom could doubtless pick off a bomber every day.

 

[p51]

I saw it Sunday afternoon. It's pretty much a comic book brought to life.

The good: The sets were incredible. The uniforms and equipment very well done, maybe the best ever done for a WW2 aviation film since the war (I sure hope to see the props and costumes pop up in an auction eventually). All the effects were very well done and most of the CGI airplanes actually moved like real airplanes. The main actors were very good, too.

The not-so-good: Just a shame that the plot read like a comic book. The Germans were so over-the-top evil, people were giggling in the theater every time a German said anything. I truly expected one to pull out the classic, "Zis vill make you talk" needle set! And for the guy who invented surround sound for movies, there sound was deeply unimpressive in regard to the sounds of airplanes and weapons! There is a scene at the start of the movie where I swear they used Star Wars sound effects for a .50 caliber machine gun! And naturally, every German airplane sounds like a diving Stuka in normal flight.
All in all, it was very well-crafted TV movie. If you go to it realizing that, you should enjoy it. I did like the movie (and will surely buy it on DVD when it comes out), but I agree with that reviewer noted earlier that the veterans deserve SO much better than this.

 

[Spitfire]

Gents - thanks to all you very honest posts, I'll drop this one. You just saved me some bucks - and two hours wasted.

 

[Edward]

I might still catch this in the cinema for the spectacle, but it sounds like I shouldn't expect much. Then again, knowing it's a George Lucas picture, my expectations are extremely low anyhow. [huh]

 

[1961MJS]

True. And although the Luftwaffe was beleaguered, they still had hundreds of excellent and very experienced fighter pilots. Some of whom could doubtless pick off a bomber every day.

Hi Nick

Actually yes GERMAN pilots could. Most US pilots especially, only got shot down once. They were over German Territory, over water, or over the jungle in the Pacific. If they were lucky, they went to a prison camp. Japanese pilots had similar problems, fighting over water a lot of the time. RAF pilots during the battle of Britain got shot down, and could got get a beer and catch a ride back to the base. German pilots later in the war had similar opportunities. I think that there are instances of German pilots being shot down twice in a day. I don't know where THAT book is though (Luftwaffe War Diaries).

So, are the combat sequences worth the $ go see on the big screen or can I wait until it comes out on DVD?

Later

 

[Edward]

RAF pilots during the battle of Britain got shot down, and could got get a beer and catch a ride back to the base.

Later

[video=youtube;GEhBnl16zAQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEhBnl16zAQ[/video]

 

[AmateisGal]

A WWII flick is a WWII flick, I want to see it....

Yep. :eusa_clap