Red Tails (2012)

Red Tails (2012)
Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Bryan Cranston, Terrence Howard
Director: Anthony Hemingway
Producer: George Lucas
Studio: 20 Century Fox [5/22/12]
Video: anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9
Audio: English DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Length: 125 minutes
Rating: ****
A good film which is based on the actual story of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were organized as segregated black fighter pilots in WWII, and ended up gaining exceptional recognition for their efforts in Europe battling the Nazis in the air. This is actually the middle of three films which will be made—the other two coming before and after this one, and dealing with the serious racism that was dealt with on the ground in forming the group and the serious racism which the veteran pilots faced when they returned to civilian life after the war. Spike Lee is slated to direct those films.
Red Tails deals mostly with the exciting dog fights and air battles the Tuskegee Airman faced in Europe when they finally were allowed to fly the current P-51 fighters instead of hand-me-downs, and to fly protection for the bombers that were flying into Germany. There are four main pilot characters with nicknames almost too fitting: Lightning, Easy, Junior and Joker. The struggles of the men to prove themselves and the awful treatment of the white soldiers until they did is a major part of the story. There’s a rather obvious plot point of a flight leader who drinks too much and his best friend who often ignores orders to carry out amazing missions on his own. And another who finds an Italian girlfriend but dies after destroying a Nazi fighter.  The in-the-air segments are fairly well done and exciting, but the cockpit closeups always look so fakey – even with all the cgi possibilities today.
George Lucas is to be congratulated for bringing this story to the big screen, even though it’s not a five-star movie.  People need to know about these brave men who fought with honor and dignity against extreme odds—not just the Nazi bullets. The only way I knew about it at all was having a friend whose uncle was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.
—John Sunier