The Tuskegee Airmen (1995)
During the Second World War, a special project is begun by the US Army Air Corps to integrate African American pilots into the Fighter Pilot Program. Known as the "Tuskegee Airman" for the name of the airbase at which they were trained, these men were forced to constantly endure harassement, prejudice, and much behind the scenes politics until at last they were able to prove themselves in combat.
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Excellent, a Must See
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
I watched this film in preparation for a historical presentation by the Major General Irene Trowell - Harris Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, located at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York. It's being given next week at my local library in Florida, New York and it's something I'm looking forward to. I've heard of the Tuskegee Airmen of course, and this film was a good introduction, though not as expansive as I thought it would be regarding the history of the unit. It primarily focuses on a handful of individuals and as such, plays more as a story about how a small group of potential black Army Air Corps flyers overcame overt racism to become combat pilots during World War II. The caliber of actors selected was a good choice, including Laurence Fishburne, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Courtney Vance and Andre Braugher. Each in their own way depicted how they persevered throughout their training and eventual assignment during the War. Fishburne and Braugher in particular displayed the singular type of attitude and behavior required to overcome the racism directed at them, thereby gaining a grudging respect from white officers and fellow flyers who they had to interact with. Andre Braugher portrayed the real Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, the only black line officer in the entire U.S. Army at the time (besides his own father), but one comes away from the film not knowing if the characters portrayed by Fishburne and the rest were also based on real heroes of the World War II. That will be a pertinent question for the military spokesmen at next week's presentation, and one I'll be looking forward to asking.
Living in Britain it is hard to appreciate how much deeper the racial divide was in the United States especially during the time from when they entered the 1939-45 war. I lost a father unnecessarily during that war so was emotionally angry by the time it ended and would have liked to have known what happened to all the key personnel whether they stayed in the Army Air Corp or returned to civilian life and how they got on. The record that the Tuskagee 400 or so airmen achieved of not losing a single Flying Fortress during bombing missions to Berlin and elsewhere wasn't just impressive bearing in mind so much racial abuse and restrictions compared to the lack of problems that even Polish, Czech, Canadian, Australian and Free French Fighter pilots had in the Battle of Britain but was admirably portrayed by Laurence Fishbourne and others.
Good movie, Laurence Fishborne is pretty damn good. My brother pointed out that he plays alongside Cuba Gooding in Boys in the Hood. Almost forgot. Anyways...I can't for the life of me find a US Senator named Conyers...is John Lithgow's character based on another Senator? I've looked up the US Congressional Biographical Database and nothing...zilch. Does anyone have any clue who he's portraying...or was it a fictional character. Just wondering. Was it instigated by that character's real life family members. OK now I'm just writing to fill in the blanks. Since this damn thing says it needs a minimum lenght of 10 lines. Now I'm regretting that I even started to write. But I'm curious. Very curious. Kinda mad, but curious...wait, now I'm furious.
I believe that this movie tells the story of the brave, the proud and the true, no matter their race. When the men were shot down, I cried, both because it was an emotional thing, and because I knew the real men these actors portrayed died fighting for our country, and their country, despite what others said.I don't know if the part when Peoples killed himself was true, but I know that he wanted to fight for his country more than anything, and they wouldn't let him. They took away his life. He just finished the job.When that white bomber pilot REQUESTED the 332nd, even after he spat at their feet(figuratively speaking of course), that made my heart soar. He was the best man in the tent, just because he didn't care if blacks were escorting them, as long as they were escorting them safely.If I sound cheesy, I don't care, because this movie made my day.