Prova de Fogo

Consider this scenario: The powers-that-be (ostensibly with every good intention), having offered a select group of talented African-Americans the vehicle by which they could prove themselves, then proceed to undermine the laudable efforts of those very same African-Americans. What I have described is one of the major underpinnings of The Tuskegee Airmen.

Sadly, I have also described what occurred in said film's creation and production process.

Thwarted and hobbled by truncated events, a rather thin, basic script, embarrassingly cartoonish air combat dialogue, pedestrian direction, dicey editing, some poor continuity, and a woefully anemic budget, this HBO attempt never reaches the lofty heights that it otherwise could have attained, never realizes what should have been - and what history deserved. The acting notwithstanding, the end result of this unpolished affair amounted to nothing more than an errand list being checked off; such was the quality of the production value. Apart from the "live" air-to-air action, the battle scenes are populated by enough unrestored and colorized WWII stock footage to have temporarily drained the National Archives. Adding further insult, the production elves carelessly managed to drop in approximately five seconds of Vietnam carpet-bombing footage; no excuse here could ever suffice.

Only the impassioned performances of key cast members truly propel this film - at least getting it off the sticky tarmac, but not far enough to fully complete its mission. Noteworthy, though, is Laurence Fishburne as the crazy-for-flying Hannibel Lee Jr., Christopher McDonald as the racist major, dubiously named Sherman Joy, Courtney B. Vance as the pragmatic Lt. Jeffrey Glenn, and - most noteworthy of all - Andre Braugher as Lt. Col. Benjamin O. Davis. I dare anyone to ignore Mr. Braugher when he is running at full-throttle. He is, arguably, this country's best actor, and it is impossible to take your eyes off of him. What a waste of talent!

This tragic squandering is compounded by the fact that a feature drama - anything other than a documentary - was 50 years in coming; now that it has been made, its very existence may defer a proper telling for a long time to come. The significance and gravity of the subject matter deserved a rousing, blockbuster treatment - which broaches this question: why would an unmitigated disaster (both historically and in film content) such as 2001's Pearl Harbor warrant such a great influx of attention and funding, while a story of victory on all levels be denied so much? Anyone interested in answers should look to Hollywood, the almighty marketing and demographics gods, and maybe the other Maj. Joys still out there.

My personal peccadillos aside, in first approaching The Tuskegee Airmen, I feared my penchant for military aviation and historical fairness would pervert my (hopefully) objective critique and unduly merit this HBO effort. On both points, my fears were far off-target. Performances? Within effective range! A good hit! 9 out of 10. Production? A dud! Call out the bomb squad! 3 out of 10. Overall Rating: 6.0

HBO is by far the best at making original movies and shows. Tuskeegee Airmen is no exception, in fact it's my favorite movie from HBO pictures to date. Stunning acting and a fantastic script. My praise goes out to all involved in this film and I definately hope HBO continues it's long trend of fantastic films and series.

I am an American History teacher and I really appreciate this film. While for me, I prefer some of the documentaries featuring the actual airmen, this is a great movie for teens and adults (despite the LARGE amount of swearing you'll hear throughout the film). It takes the true story of these pilots and creates a a fictionalized story--changing names as well as taking a bit of a creative license in telling the story. However, in spirit it is very accurate and is an excellent history lesson. What I particularly like is how blunt and directly it deals with prejudice--it doesn't pull punches or take the politically correct route.

The movie itself is well-written, directed and acted. In fact the film has an excellent ensemble cast--complete with some famous names (such as Lawrence Fishburn and Cuba Gooding) and lots of faces you'll recognize from TV and movies.

Another HBO Production about the Black-American experience that I STRONGLY recommend is MISS EVERS' BOYS. Once again, top-notch production values and an important film for our history.

NOTE: The DVD for this film is pretty poor. While all the content of the movie is there, there is little else. A documentary about the pilots and other background information is conspicuously absent. It's a real shame.

I enjoyed this film a lot, both for the drama and the action. I watched it on the History Channel where scenes from the film were intercut with commentary from surviving Tuskegee airmen. It made the film that much more fascinating.

As one of the other reviewers mentioned, there is one scene where a pilot sinks a German destroyer using only this guns. This is a true event. From the "Tuskegee Airmen" site: "The 332nd Fighter Group also distinguished themselves in June 1944 when two of its pilots flying P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft discovered a German destroyer in the harbor at Trieste, Italy. One of the pilots, Lieutenant Gynne Pierson of the 302nd Fighter Squadron, using only the aircraft's 50-caliber machine guns, strafed the destroyer, causing it to explode and sink."

The statement that the 332nd did not lose a single bomber to enemy action is also true. To qualify that, some of the bombers were lost in other ways, but never to enemy planes. In fact, under Benjamin O. Davis' command, the group flew more than 15,000 sorties against the Luftwaffe, shot down 111 enemy aircraft, and destroyed another 150 on the ground, while losing only 66 of their own aircraft to all causes.

I am not sure they shot down the FIRST German jet, but they did receive a citation after shooting down some German jets. Again, from the TA website: "The 332nd Fighter Group received the Presidential Unit Citation for its longest bomber escort mission to Berlin, Germany, March 24, 1945. They destroyed three German ME-262 jet fighters and damaged five additional jet fighters without losing any of the bombers or any of its own fighter aircraft to enemy aircraft."

Although there were no "aces" that came from the 332nd, this was probably because pilots were told not to pursue German planes for the kill once the planes were far enough away that they no longer posed a danger to the bombers.

The Tuskegee airmen who commented on this film said that the racism they encountered in real life was much worse than was depicted in the film, but much of the rest of the film was realistic.

I found it especially interesting that Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (played by Andre Braugher) was depicted in this movie. He was a real person who was one of only two black line officers in the U.S. Army at the time--the other was his father. He was one of the first recruits trained at Tuskegee and received his wings in March 1942, after becoming the first black officer to solo an Army Air Corps aircraft. After flying in the Mediterranean, he returned to the US, and took command of the 332d Fighter Group. Eventually, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Following the War, he commanded the 477th Composite Group and the 332d Fighter Wing. In 1953 he again saw combat when he assumed command of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing and flew the F-86 in Korea. With his promotion to brigadier general, Davis became the first black man to earn a star in the US Air Force. He retired as a lieutenant general in 1970, and died in 2002, ironically on July 4, at age 89.

This is a movie that should be viewed by all Americans interested in seeing a slice of Americana which has for so long been ignored. Most will identify with the raw emotion evoked by the plight of these brave and talented men. Black Americans will be moved to tears as we are reminded of what those trailblazers overcame so that future Black soldiers, airmen and every day citizens could take their rightful place in American society, proud of their past and heritage. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Tuskegee Airmen. This movie makes it clear why.