Red Tails

[cdnpilot77]

Just watched this movie in the theatre....well worth the admission!!!

I Was expecting a great story line to be tainted with a stupid love story like paschendale but to my enjoyment, it was a great movie with some very well done flying sequences (for a movie anyways).

Funny Line: when asked if he preferred to be called "coloured" or a "Negro".... "Y'all turn red when your mad or embarrassed, green when your sick, and yellow when your a coward...and you want to call us colored"

Highly recommended....except that 2 admissions, 2 popcorn and 2 pops....$43.00

[Colonel Sanders]

Was the flying all cheesy CGI, or did they use real airplanes for any/much of it?

People like to make fun of Top Gun, but when it was released, the air-to-air
sequences blew me away. It wasn't Atari. They were really well done.

Is this movie in the same league?

[cdnpilot77]

Some cheesy but most of it was really well done. Obviously a lot of it was computer animated but same league, yeah I think so....they did use the same shot of a B-17 losing its wing a few times, but the shots of p-40's and p-51's were great!

[robertsailor1]

I just can't do CGI in aviation movies. I've been spoiled by real planes piloted by real pilots who are often exceptional. Red Tails was just that CGI and any decent pilot with some variation in experience can pick it up immediately...no fun!

[cdnpilot77]

So because I enjoyed it and thought the flight scenes were drastically better than the cgi used in say "Fly Boys", I am not a decent pilot and have no varying experience? I don't follow that logic??

[Meatservo]

How does it compare to 1995's "Tuskegee Airmen"? I rather enjoyed that one, it had a few real aeroplanes in it. Like many war movies it was jingoistic and corny but I enjoyed it nonetheless. When I was let's see, I guess in 1995 I was 23, I remember thinking that the racism was a bit overdone, surely people weren't that miserable and ignorant in real life? Now I am older I realise that if anything many people were even worse than in most movies, and it makes the whole story of a squadron of black pilots in that era even more exciting. Of course as a pilot myself I tend to regard being a pilot to be a worthy discipline for any person.

Interestingly, Cuba Gooding Jr is in both movies.

[GGCC]

Was the flying all cheesy CGI, or did they use real airplanes for any/much of it?

People like to make fun of Top Gun, but when it was released, the air-to-air
sequences blew me away. It wasn't Atari. They were really well done.

Is this movie in the same league?

I'm a fan of Top Gun Col. ....my Nephew Bill a pilot, as well as myself, sometimes play that on the big TV with the surround sound cranked to the max....the flying is great.

To me movies are supposed to entertain you and Top Gun does just that....

[cdnpilot77]

Meat, I liked this one significantly more. But, it has been a long time since I last saw the 1995 Tuskeegee Airmen

[Colonel Sanders]

1995 Tuskeegee Airmen

I remember that movie - I thought it was worth seeing. Gosh, is that 17 years ago?! If "Red Tails" is better than that, I'll probably go see it.

[TG]

Since Hollywood's film studios wouldn't finance and market an all black movie with no main "white star" cast in it, I've read that Georges Lucas had to fund the movie and distribution all by himself.

Just for this and the effort put by Mr Lucas, I will go and see it to the theater.

Colonel Sanders, Skyfighters (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421974/
is containing the same kind of cheesy story as Top Gun but got best (real, no CGI) aerial sequences I ever saw in a movie

[DHC-1 Jockey]

I have seen a great deal of movies where flying is a central theme, but for those of you who are looking for some of the best air to air scenes ever shot for a movie, check out The Battle of Britain (1969). Although it's an old one, there is no CGI, and aside from the Stukas (of which there were no airworthy examples at the time of filming, so they used large flyable models) everything else was real. A must see for those who love great dogfight scenes (and we're talking 15-30 REAL airplanes in the same shots at the same time).

[Beefitarian]

I wanted to see it but maybe I'll wait for the offbroaway production in Germany with live ammo and real flying because the CGI flying looks like it was animated on a computer or something and a real pilot would notice ...

[cdnpilot77]

Of course a real pilot would notice....any person that understands you wont have a couple hundred B-17's and dozen of P-51's, ME-109's Me262's etc etc in the air and on the ground will know this...jebus...it was a good movie

[robertsailor1]

Wasn't meaning real pilots were the only ones who could pick up CGI. Should have said older pilots because the younger generation was raised on CGI in the movies. Watch a movie like the Great Waldo Pepper and you'll never want to see a CGI flying movie again for the simple reason that one is real (with superb flying skills portrayed) and the other is fake, not real. Even some of the older flying movies with lousy plots are OK to put up with if the flying scenes are well done.

[CL-Skadoo!]

I just can't do CGI in aviation movies. I've been spoiled by real planes piloted by real pilots who are often exceptional. Red Tails was just that CGI and any decent pilot with some variation in experience can pick it up immediately...no fun!

I'm with you, stay home, rent Tuskeegee Airmen and enjoy. I swear that stuff was starting to look like Pixar put the animation together. I was wondering when the aircraft were going to start to talk to one another. I got hosed by "Flyboys" too. Lousy film.

[Beefitarian]

Robert, luv ya bunches but.. It's kind of like saying, "You can't ever enjoy popcorn if you've had a steak dinner." Sure I love steak and don't like popcorn as much as the rest of my family. For them, both are a great treat.

I don't bother critiquing the flying scenes with the Millenium Falcon in them myself. I watch things like that as a different type of movie.

There is a lot of great actual flying on YouTube but very little about the red tails.

[cdnpilot77]

Wasn't meaning real pilots were the only ones who could pick up CGI. Should have said older pilots because the younger generation was raised on CGI in the movies.

Fair enough, sorry I was tired when I was reading that last night

[Driving Rain]

The Best CGI flying ever was done in the movie AVITAR. Best to watch it at an IMAX in 3D simply incredible.

[robertsailor1]

You know I have to agree I liked that movie too but when I see WW2 stuff or the old biplanes of WW1 roaring around the sky via CGI then my interest level just drops. And Beef no problem with everyone else enjoying the movies and the popcorn as there are some CGI shows I like as well...just not flying ones

[Beefitarian]

Robert my internet friend you and I have the same problem flying P-51s as the movies on a slightly smaller scale. Budget.

[robertsailor1]

No argument there, always wanted to fly one but never got the opportunity. Lots of smaller warbird stuff but never the Mustang, maybe one day!

[Colonel Sanders]

I flew the P-51D (actually, I think it's a TF-51 Cavalier) in Kissimmee. It was actually something of a disappointment. I suppose it's difficult for anything to live up to that much hype.

Mustang is actually a maintenance hog. I'm not a real big fan of the liquid-cooled V-12 (more hype). Give me a big radial, any day. Like a Corsair, or Sea Fury.

Anyways, the P-51 was unbelievably loud, which was nice. You could almost feel it in your chest, it was so loud. I am sure that your airport neighbours would quickly shut you down, if you ever tried to base one at your airport.

It was fast. Hadn't flown aerobatics in an ex-military jet back then, so it was a real pleasure to aim at a distant cloud, and do a roll over the top of it. It's neat to be inverted, looking up at the top of a cumulus cloud beneath you. We were in a MOA so we could exceed 250 knots. I liked the speed of the Mustang.

I really didn't like how the Mustang's flight controls stiffened up as you got faster, though. Enormous stick forces required to budge the ailerons at speed. I don't know why they didn't put servo tabs on it, to reduce the stick forces to something reasonable. Very crude, and I'm sure tiring as hell if you're going to try to maneuver onto someone's tail.

Speaking of maneuvering, I was disappointed that it didn't like to pull G. You could, but it bleed speed rapidly. NOT a turning airplane! It has a thin, fast wing but you would not want something armed and maneuverable on your tail. You would be very dead, very quickly.

On the whole, rather disappointing. Easy enough to take off and land, btw. Think of an overloaded 185 with a thousand horsepower, and you get the idea. A nine-year old could fly it.

Very interesting (and unforgiving) stall characteristics. Pronounced secondary stall. Again, not very friendly behaviour if you want to do the white-scarf Knights Of The Sky thing.

There are airplanes that are much more fun to fly than the P-51. You should fly it once yourself - don't believe what I say - but really, you aren't missing much. If someone gave me one, I would sell it. They're terribly over-priced these days.

If you want to have fun, do this:



No WWII warbird could ever do that.

[Beefitarian]

I'm getting to the point where P-51s, F-35s, GXRs and the waitress from lunch today are things I'd rather have access to for a couple of hours instead of putting in the effort to try and keep up with them all the time. Should have looked after myself better I suppose. I could go for the overloaded 185 as a daily driver sort of plane though.

[Meatservo]

I could go for the overloaded 185 as a daily driver sort of plane though.

I dunno, having been there I would advise at the very least a commercial pilot's license and some time flying one at certified weights before committing yourself to this plan. They aren't for everyone.

[robertsailor1]

Ron Holland is a hell of a flyer but I'll stick with my little bipe, not a monowing fan for sport flying. Of course the downside is I don't get the chicks.