Thursday , March 28 2024
A labor of love by producer George Lucas, it flies highest during its thrilling dogfight sequences.

Blu-Ray Review: Red Tails

If George Lucas’ promise early in 2012 holds true, the World War II action movie Red Tails represents his final foray into big budget filmmaking. That’s a particularly bittersweet milestone for anyone who grew up loving Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Lucas produced Red Tails and, judging by the bonus material on the Blu-ray, was quite a hands-on presence throughout the making of the film. Though the Tuskegee Airmen–a group of heroic African American fighter pilots in the United States Army Air Forces–have been the subject of a film already (the 1995 HBO film The Tuskegee Airmen), Lucas had wanted to make this movie long before that earlier production existed.

Loosely based on the actual Tuskegee Airman, Red Tails tells the story of the 332nd Fighter Group. All African-American, the 332nd was stationed in Italy and flew missions to blow up ground vehicles rather than engage in air combat. Racism was rampant and it was widely thought at the time that African Americans couldn’t handle military combat. Their planes are badly outdated at the beginning of the film, often in need of repair. Things change after the Airmen get the chance to support allied troops as they land on the beach at Anzio. Their effective work puts them on the map finally, and they begin flying successful missions as bomber escorts.

The ensemble cast of characters includes Joe “Lightning” Little (David Oyelowo) as a risk-taking, hotshot pilot, Martin “Easy” Julian (Nate Parker) as an alcoholic pilot, and Ray “Junior” Gannon (Tristan Wilds) as an over-eager rookie pilot. All of these, as well as more minor characters, have basically a single trait assigned to each of them. Their superiors are played by actors who bring a little more star power to the proceedings, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Major Emanuel Stance and Terrence Howard as Colonel A.J. Bullard. Howard gets some choice scenes as he encourages his men in an authoritative fashion. Gooding doesn’t seem to do much more than smoke his pipe and squint.

The real stars of Red Tails aren’t really the actors (which all handle their parts capably), but the special effects team. When the Airmen start flying missions, the film becomes thrilling. These scenes are excitingly staged, with effects that are so seamless, we mostly forget we’re watching digital animation. The Airmen are eventually upgraded from their rickety Curtiss P-40 Warhawks to state-of-the-art North American Aviation P-51 Mustangs. These are the aircraft whose tails are painted red. Whenever they engage the German fighters, the movie truly takes flight.

Red Tails was not particularly well-received, either critically or commercially. I don’t know that the poor reception was entirely deserved. The script, by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder (creator of the comic strip The Boondocks), thuds along with dialogue that seems aimed at juveniles. The relationships between the Airmen don’t feel mature. Their verbal exchanges, even during the movie’s weightiest situations, really fall flat. Director Anthony Hemingway, making his feature film debut after many television credits, does a great job of keeping the action moving. It’s hard to assign him any of the blame for the film’s somewhat empty core. Weak writing is the culprit.

Red Tails looks utterly stunning on Blu-ray. The image, framed at 2.40:1, is clean and sharp. The movie was shot digitally, but it still has a reasonably film-like look that keeps it from feeling too “modern” for a World War II picture. Clarity is never an issue, with extraordinary detail during all scenes, regardless of lighting circumstances. The colors are rich and realistic. Whatever one might say about the movie itself, this visual presentation is nearly impossible to fault.

The audio is no less perfect, with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that is unlikely to disappoint anyone. The action scenes, not surprisingly, constitute the audio highlights. No channel goes underused, with realistic, highly directional sound effects during the dogfights that put the viewer right up there in the clouds. The roar of the planes’ engines, explosions as bullets hit their target, and the shouted commands and responses of the pilots–all of it is dynamic and enveloping. Quieter scenes also sound fine, they’re just not as exhilarating, obviously. Terrence Blanchard’s score is richly satisfying as well, with deep, full strings and stinging brass mixed appropriately.

There are some very good supplementary features included on the Blu-ray, with the 65 minute documentary “Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War” leading the pack. This film, narrated by Cuba Gooding Jr., is a superbly produced and informative piece of work. If the heavily fictionalized portrayal of the Airmen in Red Tails leaves you wondering about the real men that inspired the story, this documentary offers the real story.

A series of five shorter featurettes, all presented in 1080p high definition (as is “Double Victory”), is worthwhile in learning more the feature film’s production. The 25 minute “Cast of Red Tails” is the most detailed, with most of the primary cast members interviewed. The remaining featurettes ranges from three to six minutes and focus on producer Lucas, director Hemingway, composer Blanchard, and the special effects. That last one, “Movie Magic,” is pretty jaw-dropping as it succinctly demonstrates just how much work went into creating the awesome effects sequences.

Red Tails was clearly a labor of love for Lucas, who put up millions of his own money to see that production was completed and the film distributed. He was very vocal about the studio resistance he faced while trying to produce and market a big budget film with a primarily African American cast. He should be commended for his efforts. The movie is quite entertaining overall, despite its imperfections. The subject matter is certainly worthy of such lavish treatment and the PG-13 rating makes this, for better or worse, very suitable for family viewing.

About The Other Chad

An old co-worker of mine thought my name was Chad. Since we had two Chads working there at the time, I was "The Other Chad."

Check Also

4K Ultra HD Review: ‘American Graffiti’ – 50th Anniversary Edition

Endless oldies on the soundtrack, a brilliant ensemble cast, and countless poignant moments make this George Lucas' best film.