MKopack wrote:
And isn't that the real point of the movie? It's not about B/C vs. D Mustangs, or red borders around the national insignia - if you even notice those things, then you likely already know the Tuskegee Airmen's story and this movie wasn't really aimed at you.
I couldn't agree more. I tried really hard to turn off my brain on so many of the technical flaws, some of which have already been stated, and also including, no B-24s at all, little friends flying inside the bomber formations, 262/P-51 rate of closure in a head on pass, a CBI B model (Polar Bear perhaps?) at the award ceremony and on and on. It was hard to NOT notice those things though!
With that said, it was worth my $7. I knew it was based on a '40s war movie in style, so I wasn't expecting Saving Private Ryan.
At the viewing I went to, I was one of the few non-African Americans in attendance, (and I got some funny looks when I walked out wearing my B-3 coat and B-2 cap...

). There were lots of younger people there too, which is great. There was applause in a few scenes too. On the news here in Chicago, every single day, there is a story about teens in the predominately black areas of the city committing heinous acts. Hopefully one of the effects of this movie is to provide some kind of role model for these young kids who isn't a rapper/thug. The actors in the movie (one of which is also a pop music star) have already stated that the majority of them had never heard of the Tuskegee Airmen. If it gets people talking and interested in WWII history, then only good can come from the movie. And the rest of us can go back to devouring every little detail that we can find on a subject that I'm sure most of us know more about than your average 20-30 something high school teacher.

I enjoyed it for what it was, not what it wasn't or should have been. Think of it as a modern "Black Sheep Squadron" or "Top Gun". Both horribly inaccurate, but both definitely cemented my obsession with aircraft and history.