Red Tails Review

History often crafts better stories than most Hollywood writers. Red Tails, though a mixture of historic facts and cinematic make believe turns out to be a good combination.

About the 332nd Fighter Group, an all black division of aviator pilots, Red Tails chronicles their rise from flying hand-me-down planes over afterthought routes miles behind the front lines of World War II to a premier squadron, famous for having not lost a single bomber during the war.

Meanwhile, on the front lines of something of a more civil war, Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrance Howard) wrestles with the powers that be over issues of racism and discrimination to give the Tuskegee Airmen a chance to prove their worth to the United States, fighting for more meaningful bomber escort runs. Eventually, after the U.S. continues to lose entire fleets of bombers, the 477th Bombardment Group is given a chance, and succeed they do (don't call it a spoiler, call it history), with brand new planes, which they take to painting the tails red, giving both the group and movie their names. By making it their to return every bomber safely home, the famed pilots gain respect from the pilots of the bombers themselves.

From the mouth of Executive Producer George Lucas, who funded the movie, though it was not popular across Hollywood offices, he chose to take up this project to inspire young black males. But what this movie can easily do is inspire anyone to overcome obstacles in their own lives because, in the bigger picture, these men were not fighting for a chance at a hero's honor, but rather for a chance to possibly die for the people of the U.S.A.

The film has a few notable actors, including the above mentioned Terence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, etc., who all give solid performances.

Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects company noted for their work on the Star Wars series and others like Transformers, did a good job on the battle sequences here. I was personally left wanting more after each skirmish was done.

Red Tails is a good movie that does not go over board in an attempt to preach at the world against racism, though it does not sweep it underneath the rug, either. It tells the story how it was meant to be told, which turns out to be very entertaining.

—ThomasGrand