Plot:
Red Tails is based on actual events that took place during World War II about a group of Negro airmen from the Tuskegee Flight Academy, whose fight with segregation amongst the United States Army was more crucial than the fight against the Germans, with Colonel A.J. Bullard (Howard) leading the helm to see that his men get equal rights to serve and fight for their country just like their white counter parts. Despite threats of their program getting shut down the squadron under the command of Major Stance (Gooding) and Airmen Captain Martin ‘Easy’ Julian (Parker) they get one chance to prove themselves by escorting bomber planes into hostile territory. Having shown that they are just as good in battle as white pilots, they begin to get requested for other major assignments and to show their distinction they paint the tails of their planes bright red in order that everyone would know that they were an all Negro, dog fighting squadron.
Reel Talk:
This movie is the reel deal! It is always good to be informed and incited about the opposition and struggles that Negro’s had to overcome just to make a mark in this country. And George Lucas should be applauded for taking this project under his company Lucasfilms and even personally funding it because no other film studio would touch it because of its all black cast consisting of Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, Ne-Yo just to name a few. This story was told before in the 1995 HBO special "The Tuskegee Airmen" which starred Gooding as well, but not on a national cinematic scale but just as equally entertaining. The acting is good not great, but the action is fast and intense which means that you will keep interest in this film. But the story alone about what they went through just to get noticed is powerful enough. This is a must see movie not only because of the past history but also to preserve the longevity and existence of black films in Hollywood.
Please also check out the 1995 HBO version and compare it to this one. Feel free to give feedback.
Starring: Terrance Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo, David Oyelowo, Marcus T. Paulk and Method Man
Directed by: Anthony Hemingway
PG-13
I give it 4 corn dogs.
By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler
The dogfights are fun but everything else is filled with corniness, lame acting, predictable story arc, and moments where the film feels like a video-game rather than based on a true story. A great story to be told, but told in a very poor way. Good review. Check out mine when you get the chance.
ReplyDeleteI saw the Tuskegee Airmen years ago. I do understand the support, but yet another re~make! I'm just not excited at all.
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