QUARTERFINALS

Here is a summary of the first round:

Red Tails (9) 30 Dark Blue World (8) 29
Aces High (11) 34 Tuskegee Airmen (6) 28
Hunters (7) 30 Flyboys (10) 29
Blue Max (5) 32 Red Baron (12) 25
Hell's Angels (4) 29 Top Gun (13) 26
Von Richthofen and Brown (14) Dawn Patrol (3) 29
Angel's Wing (15) 32 Wings (2) 29
Battle of Britain (1) 36 Flying Leathernecks (16) 32

Four lower seeds triumphed which proves critics are not a good way to seed dogfighting films. Some of the upsets were shocking, but not if you watch the movies with a concentration on dogfighting.

The second round is about to begin. Here are the matchups:

Battle of Britain vs. Red Tails
Blue Max vs. Hell's Angels
Aces High vs. Von Richthofen and Brown
Hunters vs. Angel's Wing


#1 BATTLE OF BRITAIN vs. #9 RED TAILS

vs.

FIRST QUARTER:  Dialogue

                The dialogue in “Battle of Britain” is pretty good, if a bit tame. It is after all an Old School epic.  It uses some quotes from real historical persons.  A good example was when Goring asks Falke (channeling Adolf Galland) what he needs, Falke asks for some Spitfires.  The cockpit chatter is good and includes the memorable “tacka-tacka-tacka” used by Skipper (Robert Shaw) to simulate machine gun fire.  B

                “Red Tails” has some of the most laughable dialogue and chatter of any air combat movie.  The ground scenes are full of platitudes.  Almost everything the core group says is corny.  It gets worse when they are in the air.  “Die you Nazi dogs!”  “How you like that, Mr. Hitler”  The topper is when Pretty Boy actually says “Die, you African fool”.  F

FIRST QUARTER SCORE:

Battle of Britain                   8

Red Tails                                5

SECOND QUARTER:  Effects

                BoB has lots of exploding planes and it becomes a bit redundant.  There are some good interiors of German bombers.  Although the movie is famous for its battle scenes, some of the special effects are dated and it is obvious that sometimes models were used and the bombers were faked.  B

                No two movies could be more dissimilar in effects than these two.  RT is totally reliant on CGI and although it is pristine, it does separate my generation of war movie fans from the audience it was aimed at.  The dogfighting looks video gamish and defies reality.  Planes do things they were physically incapable of then (and now).  The sound effects are below average.  D

HALF TIME SCORE:

Battle of Britain                   16

Red Tails                                11

THIRD QUARTER:  Aircraft

                BoB used a total of 100 aircraft.  This included three air worthy Hurricanes and twelve Spitfires.  For the Germans, the producers used Spanish versions of the He-111 and Bf-109s.  A+

                RT faithfully reproduces P-40s, P-51s, Bf-109s, Me-262s, and B-17s.  It is a shame it has them do things that are unrealistic.  Why no FW-190s?  No CGI available?  Credit to getting the 99^th Pursuit Squadron’s planes accurate. One strange thing is the B-`17s alternate between being camouflaged and silver.  B

THIRD QUARTER SCORE:

Battle of Britain                   26

Red Tails                                19

FOURTH QUARTER:  Dogfighting Quality

                BoB set the gold standard for WWII dogfighting reenactments.  The planes were filmed using a modified B-25 as the camera platform.  The action tends to be chaotic at times and it is not easy to follow the characters.  The crashes look real.  The movie gets the swirling nature of a big dogfight spot on.  B

                The biggest problem with the air combat in RT is it defies reality.  Of course, this would be news to anyone who plays air combat video games.  The planes do maneuvers that are impossible.  You do get a lot of action, however.  C

FINAL SCORE:

Battle of Britain           34

Red Tails                      26 

POST-MATCH ANALYSIS:

                This was  not even close.  BoB is highly regarded in the war movie community and RT is usually sneered at.  It was an interesting match-up between the Old School real planes versus the New School CGI effects.  Someday CGI will do it better, but that day has not arrived yet.

#7  THE HUNTERS vs. #15 ANGEL’S WING

FIRST QUARTER:  Dialogue

                The dialogue in “The Hunters” is surprisingly good.  There are some nice lines that have a crisp cynicism to them.  Some of the best lines are given to the alcoholic, low self-esteem Abbott.  But the real key to the movie’s uniqueness is the beatnik slang delivered by Pell.  It was meant to draw a young audience, but instead comes off as hilariously out of place.  The chatter is terse.  A

                The dialogue in “Angel’s Wing” is fine, but the subtitles are sloppy.  The discussions between Henri and Ernest are thought-provoking.  There is no cockpit chatter.  B

FIRST QUARTER:

The Hunters          9

Angel’s Wing         8

SECOND QUARTER:  Effects

                “The Hunters” is your standard filming fighters chasing each other while being filmed from another aircraft type of production.  There is some reliance of actors in front of screens which is also standard for that era.  The sound effects are excellent when they are not being drowned out by pompous music.  The main effect is seeing the beautiful F-86s zooming around.  This manages to overcome the terrible crash effects.  In one of the lowest moments in disregard for the intelligence of a war movie audience, the movie uses footage of a F-100 standing in for a F-86!  C

                “Angel’s Wing” is not a big budget film and it shows.  However, it does not use CGI.  Instead it uses the same methods as “The Hunters” sans footage, of course.  For a WWI movie, there is a welcome lack of facial views and no screen frontages.  You will not be awed by the effects, but you won’t cringe either.  B

HALF TIME SCORE:

Angel’s Wing         16

The Hunters          16

THIRD QUARTER:  Aircraft

                The best actor in “The Hunters” is the Super Sabre and it is dynamite.  What a sweet plane!  Unfortunately, the movie is forced to use F-84s as stand-ins for MiGs.  This is unavoidable and acceptable.  In this case the F-84 is equivalent to the T-6 Texans playing Zeros in WWII films.  B

                “Angel’s Wing” has an amazing collection of WWI planes.  You get a rare look at Moranes, Farmans, and a Spad replica.  The Germans include a Rumpler and a Fokker DR1.  A

THIRD QUARTER SCORE:

Angel’s Wing         25

The Hunters          24

FOURTH QUARTER:  Dogfight Quality

                The dogfights in “The Hunters” are choreographed so they look too pristine.  The climactic duel with Casey Jones is blah.  The dogfights seem like an afterthought as the plot is more soap opera / adventure story than air combat.  C

                The air combat in “L’Instinct de L’Ange” is simple, but reflects the actual dogfighting in the early stages of the war.  There are no swirling melees ala “Hell’s Angels”.  Mostly, Henri is a lone wolf.  The acrobatics are outstanding and unlike CGI (which I did not see any of) seem authentic.  The stunt pilots must have been very good.  B

FINAL SCORE:

Angel’s Wing   33

The Hunters    31

POST-MATCH ANALYSIS:

                I was expecting “The Hunters” to come out on top in this match-up.  It just seemed that “Angel’s Wing” should have just been happy to get this far.  But it moves on.  This is a movie I had never heard of before this tournament.   And a movie that I did not like at first.  It has a certain simple charm to it and the use of period aircraft, simple but effective dogfights, and a different story line has it moving on. 

#6 Tuskegee Airmen vs. #11 Aces High

VS.

THE MATCH-UP:  “The Tuskegee Airmen” was an HBO production about the all-black 99^th Pursuit Squadron that trained at Tuskegee Institute, then served in North Africa and Italy in WWII.  It is a small unit dynamics movie that focuses on several fictional members of the unit from training through combat missions.  The movie highlights the racism that the unit faced and the battle with a racist Senator.  Another theme is the gaining of respect from the white bomber crews the unit is eventually allowed to escort.

“Aces High” is set at a RAF air base in France during WWI.  The squadron leader is war-worn and alcohol fueled.  He has to deal with difficult missions, loss of veteran pilots, and shepherding of green replacements.  His cynicism is challenged by the arrival of his fiancé's brother who idolizes him.  There are a variety of missions that are depicted.

 

FIRST QUARTER:  Dogfighting Quantity

                Tuskegee Airmen  =  8 minutes

                Aces High  =  15 minutes

FIRST QUARTER SCORE:

Tuskegee Airmen        6

Aces High                       9

SECOND QUARTER:  Plot

                “Tuskegee Airmen” starts with training under a cartoonishly racist flight instructor. Once that hurdle is cleared, they run into a cartoonishly racist Senator who wants to shut down the “experiment” of colored flyers.  Col. Benjamin Davis has to defend the record of the unit.  This hurdle cleared, the Tuskegee Airmen then have to deal with the cartoonishly racist white bomber crews.  They do this by doggedly staying with their charges.  As you can infer, the plot is simplistic and predictable.  It connects the dots in its historical tutorial of the famous unit and does it in a TV movie sort of way.  Other than the over the top characters, the plot is suitable for the subject and the budget.  B

                “Aces High” is based on the play “Journey’s End”.  The film moves the setting to an air base instead of the trenches.  The plot is pretty standard for WWI, especially if you have seen a lot of WWI movies.  The cynicism is thick, but warranted.  It follows the usual template for a WWI squadron.  The drinking, the singing (the movie has a lot of singalongs), the seeming lack of mourning, the inhuman higher ups.  The movie aims at a lot of targets and I’m not talking about the air combat.  It is also a typical “who will survive?” movie.   B

HALF TIME SCORE:

Aces High                               17

Tuskegee Airmen                                14

THIRD QUARTER:  Realism and Accuracy

                There is no question the Tuskegee Airmen were faced with racism and although Southern racism was seldom subtle, this movie bludgeons you with it.  The flight instructor and Senator characters were Hollywood creations that defy reality.  The unit was never in any danger of being disbanded.  This arc allows Davis to make some of the arguments he undoubtedly made under different circumstances than a Congressional hearing.  The bigger problem is with the unrealistic combat.  The run-ins with the same bomber crew are hard to swallow.  Kudos for the attack on the destroyer which actually occurred.  C

                “Aces High” is not based on a true story, but it gets the pilot life and attitudes right.  You could see all of the main characters existing in a typical squadron in the latter stages of the war.  It is realistic, for instance, for one pilot to be suffering from “neuralgia”.  The combat missions are realistic.  You get a good tutorial on shooting down an observation balloon and doing a photo recon mission.  A

THIRD QUARTER SCORE:

Aces High                              26

Tuskegee Airmen                 21

FOURTH QUARTER:  Cliches

                “Tuskegee Airmen” leads with a main character seeing a biplane and dreaming of being a pilot.  The crew chief is gruff and considers the planes to belong to him.  One of the pilots breaks formation to rush in and get himself killed.  The main character loses his best buddy.  The movie actually has a refreshing lack of clichés.  B

                “Aces High” spends just a week with a fighter squadron, but manages to get in several classic WWI air combat clichés.  The pilots party hard, especially when they are hosting a downed enemy pilot.  Pilots drive into town in a motorcycle with side-car.  The squadron commander’s best friend dies.  A character dies in a head-on crash.  It does include the uniquely WWI air combat cliché of having the men seemingly uncaring about the deaths of mates.  Only the insane guy questions the feting of a German who had killed one of their members.  C

FINAL SCORE:

Aces High                              34

Tuskegee Airmen                 28

POST-MATCH ANALYSIS:

                “Tuskegee Airmen” is a noteworthy addition to the air combat subgenre and brings to light a fighter unit that was not particularly well known at the time it was made.  It and its sister “Red Tails” have done wonders for recognition of the 99^th Pursuit Squadron.  Unfortunately, TA is not a very good dogfighting movie.  Part is due to the low budget and the rest is due to the movie spending most of its time getting the group to combat and not much on the combat itself.  “Aces High” is an underrated air combat film.  It adds some excellent aerial combat to a solid plot based on a famous play.  It deserved to move on.

DUELING MOVIES: “The Tuskegee Airmen vs. Red Tails”

      My recent review of "Red Tails" reminded me that it was not the first attempt to bring recognition to the 99th Fighter Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Others have commented on which version is better so I decided to rewatch “The Tuskegee Airmen” to weigh in on this debate.


      “The Tuskegee Airmen” begins with the claim that it is “based on a true story”. The opening scene of a young African-American boy playing with a toy plane and then running after a crop duster sets the tone of clichéd sincerity. Unlike “Red Tails”, TA covers the training at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. On the way there, Hannibal (Lawrence Fishburne), Billy (Cuba Gooding), and Walter (Allen Payne) encounter Southern racism as Nazi prisoners of war are seated on the better part of the train.  This was sadly based on fact.

    
        The heterogeneous cast of fighter jocks (the hot shot, the steady hand, the pompous overachiever, the one with low self esteem, etc.) is introduced and soon we are wondering who will make it to the end of the movie. We are also introduced to the requisite racist trainer (Maj. Joy) who wears a pencil thin mustache to go with his sneer. You know, the kind of guy who if you met him on the street for the first time you would punch him in the face. He does not agree with this experiment with "nigger fliers" and does his best to sabotage it. In contrast to him is black Lt. Glynn (Courtney Vance), a veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, who has their back. Vance is his usual smoldering ball of second-rate Denzel (see “Hamburger Hill”).

       Scratch one main character when the pompous Walter intentionally crashes and burns after washing out for buzzing the field. A training montage gets the rest of the cast through basic. A highlight is a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt who is taken for a ride by Hannibal. Meanwhile, back in Washington, the dastardly Senator Beach (John Lithgow) is attempting to disband the unit due to the physical inferiority of Negroes. They don’t specify, but I’m pretty sure he is a Southerner. Score one for Eleanor as they are posted to North Africa where they are given P-51s. They are limited to ground support missions, however. If you hate CGI, no worries. We are treated to actual gun camera footage which unfortunately usually does not match the actions of the pilots and is far from seamlessly edited in. Too bad the producers did not have actual radio chatter because what Hollywood puts in their mouths is ridiculous (but not as ridiculous as in “Red Tails”). “Take that you Nazi bastard” is typical.

       The first time they encounter German fighters, Cappy (Malcolm Jamal Warner) disobeys orders and goes charging off to his melodramatic death. This incident gives fuel to the fact-searching Sen. Beach when he visits. He recounts all the criticisms of the unit which include poor flight discipline. Later, back in Washington, he has them on the ropes when Col. Benjamin Davis (Andre Braugher) gives an impassioned speech about fairness. That shuts up that son of a Beach (sorry, but you have to admit that’s an accurate description).

      The 22nd Bombing Group is getting hammered. “Where the Hell are our escorts!” Lucky for this one incredibly unlucky bomber, the 332nd Fighter Group is posted to Ramitelli and assigned close escort duty. Sure enough, Hannibal and Billy come to the rescue of the very same bomber by shooting down two German fighters. “Give my regards to the Fuhrer”. (Top that, George Lucas! Well played, sir.) Would you believe the Texan bomber commander refuses to credit Niggers for saving his white ass?! Would you believe he later has a change of heart and demands that the 332nd escort them to Berlin? How did you know that - have you seen a movie?

       I had forgotten that this movie has the destroyer incident with Hannibal and Billy sinking a German destroyer. In this case, the movie uses gun footage of a Japanese warship. Close enough – it was an Axis ship. Good thing I looked this up and found it to be based on a true event or else I would have accused both movies of the most egregiously ridiculous plagiarism in war movie history.

      The final mission. The only bomber apparently in the 22nd Bomber Group is rescued again by the only two fighters in the 332nd. Small sky. Someone who is not Laurence Fishburne does not make it back, but does make it into the montage of the dead guys at the end. If you like to read, you can find out some heroic facts about the Tuskegee Airmen including that they never lost a bomber they escorted (actually, don’t believe that one).

        This is a good movie to watch during Black History Month. It’s hard to be harsh with it. It is sooo sincere. It gets the point across and this makes “Red Tails” treading of the same ground (but more piously) hard to stomach. I definitely think George Lucas thought we did not know about this movie. Hell, maybe he did not know about it. How do you explain the dialogue and stereotyping in “Red Tails” being worse than this $8.5 million made for TV movie? Probably because Lucas spent his money on CGI effects so video gamers would go see it.

        Its accuracy is commendable. It is similar to “Red Tails” in that respect. Both movies use composite characters, but kudos to TA for having Benjamin Davis in it. (Making RT’s exclusion of him even more perplexing.) TA does a better job on the racist obstacles the pilots had to overcome. Each has a ridiculous villain, but Major Joy is less laughable than “Pretty Boy”.

        I suggest you watch TA until they reach Ramitelli and then switch to RT. That way you will get complete coverage of the Tuskegee Airmen. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to avoid the dialogue, clichés , stereotypes, and unrealistic situations.

COMPARISONS

Acting – Tuskegee Airmen


Action - Red Tails


Accuracy – tie


Plot - TA


Realism - tie


Dialogue - TA


Dogfights - RT

Overall -  Tuskegee Airmen

NOW SHOWING: Red Tails

      “Red Tails” has everything that is wrong with a Hollywood history movie. It takes a story it claims is “inspired by true events” and uses those true events to structure an edifice of sappitude. In the tradition of atrocities like “Wind Talkers”, you can check off all the aspects that depress war movie lovers like me. Trite musical score – check. Sappy dialogue – check. Cliches – check. Stereotype characters – check. Gross exaggeration of historical events – check. Ridiculously over the top explosions – check. Pious moralizing – check. Evil Nazi antagonist – check. Tacked in romance - check


      The movie begins with the unit limited to ground missions which at least allows them to blow up a train with lots of pyrotechnics. We are introduced to the usual stereotypes. The two main characters are “Lighting” Little (David Oyelowo) hot shot pilot, ladies man, disobedient (you know the type) and “Easy” Julian (Nate Parker) – bottle-hitter with daddy issues. Not to mention the super religious guy (Black Jesus fan), the field hand (for comic relief), the rookie, the grumpy crew chief, etc. We bounce back and forth from the air base to the Pentagon where the racists are trying to disband the unit because they do not shoot down German fighters. How can they when they aren’t given a chance?! (“Glory” be!)

      When they are given a chance we are treated to set pieces that include their incredibly successful first dogfight (reminiscent of “Fly Boys” CGI whirling chaos), the strafe-destruction of an air field, the strafe-destruction of a German destroyer by “Lightning”, and a tangle with German jet fighters (which includes a duel between Lightning and Pretty Boy!). You get to catch your breath in between with the requisite romance between “Lightning” and a white Italian woman named Sophia (Daniella Ruah), Pentagon racism versus simmering give-us-a-chance-you-racist-bastard posturing, conflict between the hot shot and the rule-follower, and trite airmen banter.

      The big breakthrough comes when the 332nd Fighter Group volunteers to provide close escort for the white bomber crews. Do you think they will gain the respect of the white crews? Will there be a scene where one of the blacks is refused admittance to an officers’ club followed later by a scene where the blacks are bonhommed at the same club? Guess.

      If you took a shot every time someone says something cringe-inducing in this movie, you would be drunk very soon. Here’s a very limited sampler:

“They done shot down the whole Luftwaffer.”

“Lightning, when are you going to learn this is not a game?”

“How you like that, Mr. Hitler?”

“Die, you foolish African” (spoken by the Nazi “Pretty Boy”)

      Surprisingly, the “true events” are ball-park true. They were limited to just ground missions which resulted in talk of disbanding based on lack of kills. They did participate in ground support for the invasion of Pantelleria (Operation Shingle in the movie). They did sink a destroyer. They did earn a reputation for disciplined escorting of bombers. They did successfully take on ME-262’s in a raid on a tank parts factory outside Berlin. The problem is all of these are grossly exaggerated in the movie.

      The Tuskegee Airmen deserve a good movie. Now they have two strikes against them and it is highly unlikely they will ever get their just reward. George Lucas’ “Red Tails” is the second strike (the first was HBOs “Tuskegee Airmen”). I had eagerly waited for this movie because I teach about the Tuskegee Airmen, but the commercials gave me an inkling of my disappointment (although the CGI was not that bad in the movie) and then there was a pre-movie trailer for the new 3D “The Phantom Menace” to remind me of the damage Lucas is capable of. Premonition confirmed.

FACT OR FICTION?


1. None of the characters are real. Howard’s character, Col. Bullard, is obviously based on Benjamin Davis, Jr. The personification is pretty close to Davis.  He did insist the unit not leave the bombers when they got the escort job.

2. The painting of the tails red began with the P-47s (this stage was skipped in the movie). I found no evidence that the color was foisted on them as a racial slur. It makes more sense that they chose it for the flamboyance.

3. They were assigned ground support duties that avoided air combat. The lack of kills did provide fodder for opponents in Washington who wanted the unit disbanded. The conversations in the movie get the basics right, but the unit was never on the edge of being disbanded.

4. Their first combat mission was in support of the landing on Pantelleria. It was successful, but not nearly as exciting as in the movie since there was no enemy contact in the air.

5. Surprisingly, the destroyer incident was fairly accurate. The incident involved eight planes, with two of the pilots making a second pass. They did heavily damage a German destroyer through strafing. (They sincerely thought that it sank.)  It was the only incident of its type in the war. They were flying P-47s, by the way.

6. Although the movie does not make a big deal of it, the unit did not have a spotless record of never losing an escorted bomber as legend holds it. Recent scholarship sets the number at around 25 lost.  The unit was well-respected by the bomber units.

7. They did have a mission against a tank parts factory outside Berlin where they ended up going all the way. They did encounter German jets and shot down three. They got the Distinguished Unit Citation for this mission.

8. The romance is unrealistic because Italian women were discouraged from hooking up with African-Americans.

After researching the real story, I have to admit the movie was accurate enough to be commended.  If only the dialogue had been better and the actual facts had not been exaggerrated so much.

Rating - 6