Flyboys

But as familiar as the storyline is, what makes it fascinating is the era itself and the men who became the first air war heroes. Bill and screenwriters Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans, and David S. Ward had the good sense to stay close to the facts, and so it's hard not to warm to a film when you know it's based on a true story--or rather, a number of true stories. "Flyboys" is rated PG-13 for action violence and some sexual content.

Video:
"Flyboys" looks great in Blu-ray. Though there's a slight graininess in hazy-light scenes, Blu-ray handles the film's slightly yellow-orange cast well. The film was transferred to a 50-gig dual-layer disc using MPEG-2 technology at 24MPBS, preserving the original theatrical aspect of 2.35:1.

Audio:
The audio is also strong, with the featured option a DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless and additional options in Spanish and French (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround). Subtitles are in English (CC) and Spanish. My only complaint is that I kept having to turn the volume down during battle scenes and up again when there was dialogue. The gap is huge, but then again it's that way in the theaters too. At home, though, it seems more noticeable.

Extras:
What a nice package of extras this has. Director Tony Bill and producer Dean Devlin team up on a commentary track that starts out hesitant ("I don't know if we should share our secrets") but then picks up steam. The pair tells us how they got certain shots, and they point out the seams in the CGI/reality blend. The squadron's mascot, an African lion, turns out to be one of the filmmaker's highlights--or rather, the fact that they actually got to pet it. They talk about Internet flak they got from "people who weren't knowledgeable" and assure us that it was a historical fact that every fourth bullet was a tracer to help pilots gauge their shots. There are also plenty of behind-the-scenes anecdotes, the most amazing a close call involving the steadi-cam operator. In the scene where The Black Falcon guns down the American pilot on the ground, the plane flew so low that it missed the cameraman's head by only inches. And that was the day the man's wife was visiting the set. Bill tells how the woman got immediately in his face and threatened to kill him if he ever put her husband at risk like that again. That's the most extreme anecdote, but others are just as fascinating.

I also really liked the trivia track, which named actual names of pilots who inspired the characters in the film and gave some background on them, as well. Some trivia tracks are just plane silly and pop up every second to tell you something inane. This one has fewer pop-ups, but it's all good stuff--no filler. The deleted scenes are pretty average, as is the theatrical trailer (in HD), but a couple of behind-the-scenes and historical features will satisfy the curious.

Bottom Line:
More than twice as many special effects shots were used in "Flyboys" than in the film that Tony Bill previously directed, "Independence Day." The good news is, you don't notice. With great flight sequences and a storyline rooted in facts, "Flyboys" provides some pretty good entertainment and recreated history.

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