Red Tails

( 3 )

Overview

The thrilling true story of the Tuskegee Airmen buzzes to the big screen in this epic war adventure from executive producer George Lucas and first-time feature director Anthony Hemingway. In the fire and chaos of World War II, the U.S. military recruits a fearless group of African-American fighter pilots to help reclaim the skies over Europe. Discriminated against both as citizens and as soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen take flight in planes distinguished by distinctive red tails, and fight to defeat the tyranny of ...
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More About This Product

Overview

The thrilling true story of the Tuskegee Airmen buzzes to the big screen in this epic war adventure from executive producer George Lucas and first-time feature director Anthony Hemingway. In the fire and chaos of World War II, the U.S. military recruits a fearless group of African-American fighter pilots to help reclaim the skies over Europe. Discriminated against both as citizens and as soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen take flight in planes distinguished by distinctive red tails, and fight to defeat the tyranny of the Axis powers. As a result of their bravery, the pilots emerge as true heroes, and prove that all men are truly created equal. Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Bryan Cranston star.
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Special Features

Closed Caption; Double victory highlights featurette; Inspiring interviews & stories from the real Tuskegee Airmen!
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Jason Buchanan
It's a soldier's duty to display bravery in the face of great adversity, and as black Americans fighting tyranny in Europe while still wrestling with oppression and ignorance back home, the courage displayed by the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II was nothing short of superhuman. Sadly, the contributions these skilled airmen made to the war effort have often been ignored by the history books. In Red Tails, producer George Lucas and director Anthony Hemingway aim to correct that oversight. Together with screenwriters John Ridley and Aaron McGruder, they do a commendable job of delivering exhilarating dogfights as the pilots take to the skies and earnest drama as they strive to shatter stereotypes. In the fire and chaos of World War II, the U.S. military recruits a fearless group of black fighter pilots to help reclaim the skies over Europe. But as the Tuskegee Airmen dream of blasting "Jerries" out of the skies, Col. William Mortamus Bryan Cranston and the rest of the brass back home keep them far away from the front lines, often forcing them to fly incidental missions that offer little chance of seeing real action. Meanwhile, Col. A.J. Bullard Terrence Howard and Maj. Emanuelle Stance Cuba Gooding Jr., knowing the full potential of the men under their command, lobby tirelessly to give their pilots a shot at true glory. Their efforts eventually pay off handsomely when the Tuskegee Airmen are enlisted to offer support for a crucial beach landing and they perform above and beyond the call of duty. Subsequently rewarded with an increasingly dangerous series of missions, the pilots proudly defend freedom from the clouds while simultaneously defending their honor to a government that previously wrote them off due to nothing more than the color of their skin. Meanwhile, womanizing ace Joe "Lightning" Little David Oyelowo finds a reason to settle down, new arrival Ray "Junior" Gannon Tristan Wilds takes his first steps toward manhood, and air commander Martin "Easy" Julian Nate Parker wrestles with his conscience and the bottle while making the tough decisions that will determine the fates of everyone in his squadron. Dropping us right in the middle of an intense dogfight as the film opens the first line of English dialogue is "Germans! Let's get 'em!", scribes Ridley and McGruder prove right away that they know what viewers want out of a movie about fighter pilots. And with shots of flaming warplanes shredded by bullets and disintegrating midair, Hemingway wastes no time showing us that he's got the talent and vision to deliver an exciting action sequence. Unfortunately, the filmmakers can't seem to pull off a smooth landing, and though the human drama of Red Tails is managed with a fairly even hand, the script strays into too many distracting side plots to keep the story moving at a satisfying pace. A tender romance between Lightning and a pretty Italian woman is ultimately underdeveloped and shoehorned in, and while numerous scenes of comic relief involving the airmen bickering playfully with their cantankerous mechanic succeed in personalizing the characters, they frequently bring the momentum of the film to a grinding halt. Other asides, such as the pilots bonding with a group of white officers after defending their bombers in the sky and Col. Bullard's interactions with his superiors, help demonstrate the social progress that the airmen's heroics inspired, but ultimately feel too abbreviated to have any real dramatic impact. Performances, meanwhile, range from solid Howard, Oyelowo, and Parker in particular stand out to slightly silly someone should have known better than to let Gooding Jr. use a pipe as a prop, though in respect to the actors portraying the young pilots, their relative inexperience in front of the cameras often contributes to the ensemble's youthful charm. But once the fighter pilots take flight and the action begins, the more problematic components of Red Tails often fade into the distance. And thanks to a plot that necessitates numerous dynamic dogfight sequences as the airmen attempt to prove their worth to racist commanders even fighting German jets in the intense climax, the film soars just high enough to avoid the heavy artillery of acute criticism to deliver a thrilling look at an oft-neglected chapter of American history.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 5/22/2012
  • UPC: 024543791980
  • Original Release: 2012

    • Rating:

  • Source: 20th Century Fox
  • Region Code: 1
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
  • Language: English
  • Time: 2:05:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 776

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Terrence Howard Colonel A.J. Bullard
Cuba Gooding Jr. Major Emmanuel Stance
Bryan Cranston Colonel William Mortamus
Nate Parker Marty "Easy" Julian
David Oyelowo Joe "Lightning" Little
Tristan Wilds Ray "Junior" Gannon
Method Man Sticks
Lee Tergesen Colonel Jack Tomlinson
Ne-Yo Andrew "Smokey" Salem
Elijah Kelley Samuel "Joker" George
Andre Royo Antwan "Coffee" Coleman
Kevin L. Phillips Leon "Neon" Edwards
Leslie Odom Jr. Declan "Winky" Hall
Marcus T. Paulk David "Deke" Watkins
Michael B. Jordan Maurice Wilson
Lars Van Riesen Pretty Boy
Technical Credits
Anthony Hemingway Director
John Aronson Cinematographer
Terence Blanchard Score Composer
Ben Burtt Editor
Industrial Light & Magic Animator
Charles Floyd Johnson Producer
George Lucas Executive Producer
Rick McCallum Producer
Aaron McGruder Screenwriter
Michael O'Halloran Editor
Nicholas Palmer Production Designer
John Ridley Original Story, Screenwriter
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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Red Tails
1. Chapter 1 [4:16]
2. Chapter 2 [6:59]
3. Chapter 3 [3:13]
4. Chapter 4 [3:24]
5. Chapter 5 [1:38]
6. Chapter 6 [3:16]
7. Chapter 7 [2:27]
8. Chapter 8 [2:49]
9. Chapter 9 [2:27]
10. Chapter 10 [7:55]
11. Chapter 11 [6:08]
12. Chapter 12 [2:05]
13. Chapter 13 [4:56]
14. Chapter 14 [2:25]
15. Chapter 15 [1:26]
16. Chapter 16 [:53]
17. Chapter 17 [2:15]
18. Chapter 18 [6:27]
19. Chapter 19 [5:40]
20. Chapter 20 [3:59]
21. Chapter 21 [7:48]
22. Chapter 22 [2:43]
23. Chapter 23 [3:16]
24. Chapter 24 [3:24]
25. Chapter 25 [1:36]
26. Chapter 26 [2:00]
27. Chapter 27 [3:11]
28. Chapter 28 [1:24]
29. Chapter 29 [4:10]
30. Chapter 30 [5:32]
31. Chapter 31 [4:52]
32. Chapter 32 [2:12]
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Menu

Disc #1 -- Red Tails
   Play
   Set Up
      Audio
         English 5.1 Dolby Digital
         English Dolby Surround
         English 5.1 Descriptive Audio
         Español Dolby Surround
         Français Québécois Dolby Surround
      Subtitles
         English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
         Español
         Subtitles: Off
      Resume Film
   Scenes
   Extras
      Double Victory Highlights
      Resume Film
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 3 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(1)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Posted December 13, 2012

    Reminds me of the old war movies I used to watch with my dad. I

    Reminds me of the old war movies I used to watch with my dad.

    It’s 1944 and Blacks in the military is an experiment. They are kept in their own unit in Italy and not given any important missions so they can’t really succeed. One black colonel and one white colonel believe in the 532nd and are in the states to convince those in charge that this black unit is capable of serving.

    Though it has the typical language of a war movie, the blood is less than I expected. It is a bit more lighthearted than most war movies, though I suspect this is to expand the viewing audience for more people to learn of the Red Tails story.

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  • Posted September 6, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    *Great acting on the part of all the characters in this story of

    *Great acting on the part of all the characters in this story of WWII Tuskegee Airmen. *Brilliant. *Informative. *Inspirational. *Enjoyed every minute of this DVD. The stories of these young pilots' lives was fascinating and intriguing. *Will encourage viewers to strive for their goal or career aspiration. **Not enough words to praise this work by George Lucas and the director and the cast for a wonderful cinema experience.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted July 21, 2012

    Visually stunning but a bit flat

    Its Lucasfilm... of course its going to be amazing. But, the special effects cannot carry the movie. For all the talent in the film, the acting was a bit flat. As an action film it definitely served its purpose... but i was left wanting a bit more edge to characters. It was also too clean - Hollywoodized. Making it grittier would have gone a long way to making the characters more believable.

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews