VAN NOVACK:Flyboys, in living color

Films depicting World War I aerial combat have an honored history in cinema. The very first Academy Award for Outstanding Picture was awarded to “Wings,” starring Buddy Rogers, Clara Bow and a very young Gary Cooper in 1929. In 1930, Howard Hughes’ “Hell’s Angels” thrilled audiences with innovatively filmed aerial dogfights. Hughes’ obsession with the realism of these scenes was depicted in 2004’s “The Aviator.”

Not surprisingly perhaps, it has been more than 40 years since a film was made about WWI pilots and their role in the war. It has been more than 90 years since WWI began, and there have been numerous conflagrations since, not to mention the advent of science fiction. Accordingly, filmmakers have plentiful subject matter if they wish to depict mechanized warfare. Nonetheless, the producers of the recently released “Flyboys” are gambling that a story about brave Americans flying against the Germans in France in 1917 will appeal to modern audiences.

Prior to the United States’ entry into WWI, 38 Americans found their way to France to fly in combat for the legendary Lafayette Escadrille. At this time, the Allied powers of France, England and Italy were in danger of being overrun by the marauding German forces. The Germans also controlled the skies and had the most advanced fighting planes of the day that protected their bombers and zeppelins. Allied pilots had a lifespan of only a few weeks, so any able-bodied volunteers were welcome.

Sports and war movies are usually rife with clichés, and “Flyboys” is certainly no exception. This predictability begins with the cast of characters.

James Franco stars as Blaine Rawlings, the son of a failed Texas rancher who left town to avoid arrest after beating up the banker who repossessed the family farm. Of course, there’s the war hero’s son searching for his own glory, the rich man’s son trying to finally make his father proud, the expatriate black man trying to repay his adopted and less judgmental country, and the mysterious loner who might be a spy. Also, no aerial warfare film would be complete without the haunted and brooding ace (Martin Henderson) who has outlived his friends and doesn’t know why. Finally, there is the beautiful French girl (Jennifer Decker) who needs rescuing by our hero.

While there is plenty of back story, the raison d’être of this type of film is the aerial combat scenes themselves. Gone forever are the days when such scenes would be filmed from the air as real planes reenacted dog fights and the close-up work took place on a sound stage. “Flyboys” uses the latest computer-generated special effects to give the viewer a feeling of “being there” not possible with the old techniques. The screen virtually comes alive with action during these scenes as the rickety planes engage each other over the beautiful French countryside.

“Flyboys” takes place barely a decade after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers, and it says something about human nature that this wonderful innovation was so soon used to wage war. The delicate planes were made of wood and cloth, and simply flying them was exceedingly dangerous, much less trying to dodge a hail of bullets. Something else well depicted by the film was the “up close and personal” nature of the combat. The slow speeds, visual sighting and personal markings on the planes rendered the opponents immediately identifiable. While the fighting was deadly, a certain camaraderie existed that is absent in the push-button video- game style of war we wage today.

“Flyboys” is rated PG-13 due to the combat action and mild sexual content. The latter consists of the presence of fully clothed prostitutes, I suppose. “Flyboys” is therefore suitable for older children and is such a combination of male-bonding, romance and action there is really something for everyone. While not a great film, the aerial combat scenes alone are worth seeing on the big screen.