Directed by Anthony Hemingway
Produced by Rick McCallum, Charles Floyd Johnson & George Lucas
Cinematography by John Aronson
Released: January 20, 2012 (
Cast
Terrence Howard as Col. A.J. Bullard
Bryan Cranston as Col. William Mortamus
Nate Parker as Martin "Easy" Julian
David Oyelowo as Joe "Lightning" Little
Tristan Wilds as Ray "Ray Gun" Gannon
Daniela Ruah as Sofia
Ryan Early as Captain Bryce
Method Man as Sticks
Kevin Phillips as Leon
Henry Garrett as Hart
Robert Kazinsky as Chester
Rick Otto as Flynt
Lee Tergesen as Col. Jack Tomilson
Andre Royo as Chief "Coffee" Coleman
Ne-Yo as Andrew "Smoky" Salem
Elijah Kelley as Samuel "Joker" George
Marcus T. Paulk as David "Deke" Watkins
Leslie Odom Jr. as Walter "Winky" Hall
Michael B. Jordan as Maurice "Bumps" Wilson
Jazmine Sullivan as Deborah "Love Bunny" Gannett
Edwina Finley as CeCe
Stacie Davis as Mae
Aml Ameen as Bag O'Bones
Gerald McRaney as General Luntz
Summary: 1944. As the war in Europe continues to take its
toll on Allied forces, the Pentagon brass has no recourse but to consider
unorthodox options - including the untried and untested African-American pilots
of the experimental Tuskegee Tuskegee
Review
I’m gonna say upfront that this film has its mad
corny and melodramatic moments, but I still enjoyed it. Obviously the most care
and attention were given to the aerial scenes and no surprise those were done
very well.
You don’t have to wait long to see some aerial fights
because the film starts off with that as it introduces you to the main
characters. As there are almost a dozen characters to follow in the cast (I posted most of them above) not much character
development is given to many beyond the two main characters Martin
"Easy" Julian played by Nate Parker (The Great Debaters) and Joe
"Lightning" Little played by David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the
Apes).
Those two were the heart of the film and gave really great performances.
Nate Parker was really good as “Easy” and David Oyelowo stole the show as “Lightning”.
Stole it!
 |
| Nate Parker |
 |
| David Oyelowo |
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| Tristan Wilds |
Of all the blurbs I read about this film (just blurbs, no
reviews) this reaction sums it up "Eh. It was alright if you like Corny
Audie Murphy type 50's patriotic war propaganda films." Ed R. @
GetGlue.com
I LOL’d at the reaction because that’s exactly what it
seemed like, a war propaganda film with
black folks. You had the standard archetypes the leader, the young kid, the
funny guy and the wild one. If you’re expecting a real deep historical film
this film ain’t it, but it is entertaining.
I know this doesn’t sound like a resounding endorsement of
the film, but I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t be writing
this review if I had not.
Commentary
We all know the producer George Lucas is a history buff. His first big hit (yes he a big hit before Star Wars) American Graffiti (1973) was a nostalgic piece and he is also the producer behind the nostalgic Indiana Jones films. I think the “Corny Audie Murphy type 50's patriotic war propaganda films” nature of Red Tails is due to him. I mean he bankrolled the film himself which hardly ever happens in Hollywood ESPECIALLY to this extent. (Lucas, put up $58 million of his own money toward the film after being turned down by all the major movie houses.) When you bankroll a film like this it’s gonna be made how you like it.
We all know the producer George Lucas is a history buff. His first big hit (yes he a big hit before Star Wars) American Graffiti (1973) was a nostalgic piece and he is also the producer behind the nostalgic Indiana Jones films. I think the “Corny Audie Murphy type 50's patriotic war propaganda films” nature of Red Tails is due to him. I mean he bankrolled the film himself which hardly ever happens in Hollywood ESPECIALLY to this extent. (Lucas, put up $58 million of his own money toward the film after being turned down by all the major movie houses.) When you bankroll a film like this it’s gonna be made how you like it.
Lucas knows HIS target audience better than anyone and this
film wasn’t made only for black people. It was made for everyone, young, old,
black, white, Hispanic etc. Again he made the film he wanted to make and let’s
hope it’s successful. I mean I’ve seen WAAAY more cornier films like Super 8
and Twilight and Twilight is a billion dollar franchise.
Is this film the dictum on the Tuskegee Airmen? No and NO
FILM, narrative or documentary, is going to be. It’s a MOVIE, it’s made to
entertain not be your only basis for history. Historical films like this are
good for just that the entertainment and maybe it’ll spark broader interest
where you can go to your local library or in this day and age Google and
Wikipedia. Even those sources aren’t the authority, but good places to begin
your research.
As far as this film making or breaking future black films in
Hollywood
There’s an intriguing piece at the website Shadow & Act called
“But Does Anyone REALLY Want To See ‘Red Tails’?” stating how emails and such
are going around stating that black folk MUST go see this film out some sort of
obligation. My feelings on the matter, and you know I have one, is if you want
to see the film—see the film. Not out of any obligation. I really wanted to see
Red Tails and I’m glad I did.
If you have any more questions or reaction to the film you
can add them in the comments below, post them on our Facebook or Twitter
accounts and I will respond. I’ll also
be adding more comments, reactions and conversation on those accounts above.
External Links
Wikipedia page on the Tuskegee_Airmen
Redtails: Honoring the Tuskegee Airmen and taking a break from the usual media buffoonery
Redtails: Honoring the Tuskegee Airmen and taking a break from the usual media buffoonery
A REALLY great piece
The piece I spoke of above “But Does Anyone REALLY Want To
See ‘Red Tails’?” with great comments in the comment section. Now that I’ve
seen the film I’ll probably be adding my own eventually.You can read it here
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