The latest film to have George Lucas linked to it was Red Tails, the story of the Tuskegee pilots during World War II, and I was lucky enough to go to the gala screening in London.It was a good way to tell a serious story, by making it with the money from a man who loves special effects. The dog fights look amazing and (as you can hear the in audio below) the actors never even sat in a plane during filming.
With about half the film being filled with these amazing effects it's no wonder some reviews I saw on the web say the characters seem a little thin. If you have a whole squadron to get to know in the scenes that aren't effects filled, you're going to struggle to fit it all in. The effects cost us some of the story-telling, but make the same film without the effects and get the message seen by far fewer people.
And what is that message? (Hear what the actors think it is in the audio below.) I left that film thinking the moral was "pick your battles". Whether it's not chasing after a single fighter at the expense of the bomber you're protecting, or not starting a bar fight because it risks the success of the whole Tuskegee program, it's knowing which wins make the difference.
At the red carpet there was Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo, director Anthony Hemingway, and the producer Rick McCallum. Hear what we got talking about when I got to speak to them.
Downloads the mp3 here.
And here's the trailer...
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