# Red Tails **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441 "2012-01-05T00:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/21 "2012-01-06T04:52:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > On 24 March, 1945 Roscoe C. Brown, Jr., Charles Brantly, and Earl Lane each shot down a Messerschmitt Me-262. > [@UncleRojelio](#): > > The History Channel show _Dogfights_ has a reenactment of the engagement. > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACecpfY\_HA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACecpfY_HA) That always struck me as a very moving engagement. The German pilots know the war is lost (it’s March 1945) and the Red Tail pilots know the war will soon be over and they will return to a segregated society that will not fully acknowledge their heroism. Yet both sides went all-out. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/22 "2012-01-08T00:37:57Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Will it offer anything not already depicted in HBO’s _[The Tuskegee Airmen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114745/)_? Cuba Gooding Jr is in both! I just saw the first commercial for this. It featured annoying, vapid rap music blaring over oh-so-typically uninspired CGI air battle scenes with the black pilots shouting ridiculous 80s-esque ‘street-cred’ nonsense. My first impression- incredibly pedestrian, politically correct, neo-racist crap. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/23 "2012-01-11T06:19:06Z")
George Lucas was promoting this on _The Daily Show_, and I really want to see this now. Apparently, he had to come up with every penny to make the film, as well as the prints and ad budget. The studios didn’t participate in any way because they don’t have a “star” to use to promote it; that they thought that an all-black action movie wouldn’t make any money; that nobody except Tyler Perry’s audience would see it, and this film cost more to make than Perry’s produce in revenue; and they didn’t believe there is any foreign market for it. He described it as “designed to be a film during the war. It’s very patriotic, very jingoistic…very old-fashioned, corny. Just exactly like ‘Flying Leathernecks’ only this one was held up for release from 1942 when it was shot. And I’ve been trying to get it released ever since.” As bizarre as it may sound, Lucas is - and remains - the world’s most successful indie filmmaker. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/24 "2012-01-11T07:08:00Z")
Lucas told John Stewart that _Red Tails_ is "just like _Star Wars."_ “The Fuhrer is not as **forgiving** as I am.” – Darth Himmler ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/25 "2012-01-12T03:02:04Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > George Lucas was promoting this on _The Daily Show_, and I really want to see this now. Apparently, he had to come up with every penny to make the film, as well as the prints and ad budget. Well, given that he is literally a more-than-once-over **[billionaire](http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_George-Lucas_PNOV.html)**, I hardly think Lucas ever has much trouble scraping his pennies together! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/26 "2012-01-12T03:04:21Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > . . . that they thought that an all-black action movie wouldn’t make any money . . . 😕 Isn’t there (or wasn’t there once) a whole [genre](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Blaxploitation) of those? And didn’t they make money? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/27 "2012-01-12T03:19:46Z")
But they didn’t have Nazis! Blaxploitation + Nazis = PROFIT! Or Opal. I don’t have these things entirely clear. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/28 "2012-01-12T03:32:06Z")
BTW, and I’ve probably mentioned it, but I was getting some air at some banquet for some in-laws and passed some guys outside another banquet for a USAAF reunion. One white guy was wearing his stars and I nodded with a “General,” as I had been taught. He stopped me and said something like, “The guy you should be honoring is this guy.” The undecorated Col Charles McGee of the Tuskeegee Airmen. I nodded and said, “Colonel,” as I had been taught, but there might’ve been more of a thrill in my voice than normal. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/29 "2012-01-12T13:33:48Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > As bizarre as it may sound, Lucas is - and remains - the world’s most successful indie filmmaker. It doesn’t sound bizarre if you are measuring success in terms of money. It does sound bizarre if you are measuring success in terms of quality. Not that I’ve seen or decided on Red Tails, yet, but the Star Wars prequels were basically independent and they…are lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/30 "2012-01-12T14:03:01Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Cuba Gooding Jr is in both! > > I just saw the first commercial for this. It featured annoying, vapid rap music blaring over oh-so-typically uninspired CGI air battle scenes with the black pilots shouting ridiculous 80s-esque ‘street-cred’ nonsense. My first impression- incredibly pedestrian, politically correct, neo-racist crap. Well, if you put it _that_ way–I’ll make a point of catching this on the big screen. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/31 "2012-01-12T14:25:07Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > George Lucas was promoting this on _The Daily Show_, and I really want to see this now. Apparently, he had to come up with every penny to make the film, as well as the prints and ad budget. > > The studios didn’t participate in any way because they don’t have a “star” to use to promote it From wiki, _“Lucas held discussions with Samuel L. Jackson regarding Jackson possibly directing and acting in the film. Although Jackson praised the script, he did not commit to either role.”_ Could’ve been interesting. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/32 "2012-01-12T14:37:08Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I just saw the first commercial for this. It featured annoying, vapid rap music blaring over oh-so-typically uninspired CGI air battle scenes with the black pilots shouting ridiculous 80s-esque ‘street-cred’ nonsense. I’d love to see a realistic, historically accurate show but the trailer with this did little to instill confidence that’ll be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/33 "2012-01-12T15:08:48Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I’d love to see a realistic, historically accurate show but the trailer with this did little to instill confidence that’ll be the case. I can see your point. But this does look like a fun movie. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/34 "2012-01-12T16:26:14Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > The trailer is so glurgy that I’m almost completely put off even though I have a soft spot for this subgenre of war movie. I don’t have a soft spot for the movie, but I do sort of want to like it because it sounds like an interesting story and because Andre Royo (Bubbles from The Wire) is in it. But yes, it’s a very glurgy trailer. > [@gaffa](#): > > George Lucas was promoting this on _The Daily Show_, and I really want to see this now. Apparently, he had to come up with every penny to make the film, as well as the prints and ad budget. I was unmoved by this. He’s an extremely rich man, and if the movie succeeds, he’ll be even richer. It worked out pretty well for Mel Gibson. > [@](#): > > He described it as "designed to be a film during the war. It’s very patriotic, very jingoistic…very old-fashioned, corny. And this put me off even more than the trailer. When he said he “wanted to make it inspirational for teenage boys,” I couldn’t help thinking he was saying he’d made a propaganda film. That may not have been what he was trying to say. To a lesser extent it annoyed me that he promised another trilogy of movies. I’d say he should know better, but I’m pretty sure he does it deliberately. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/35 "2012-01-12T16:53:32Z")
I was kind of annoyed at Lucas’s appearance on The Daily Show. He seemed to be excessively patting himself on the back for making the film. And the commercial just makes the movie seem really loud. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/36 "2012-01-12T17:03:22Z")
Did you know that if you hit Lucas’s neck with a wooden stick, it breaks open and spills out candy and toys? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/37 "2012-01-12T17:28:50Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Will it offer anything not already depicted in HBO’s _[The Tuskegee Airmen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114745/)_? The Andre Braugher speech made that movie. I doubt there will be anything that good in this one. And the CGI looks like ass. There is nothing like seeing real warbirds flying. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/38 "2012-01-13T07:42:59Z")
As much as I might dislike fighter jocks, and as much of the true story I might know, I might need to see this picture. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/39 "2012-01-13T07:50:05Z")
ETA: And add in my love of P-40s and how I feel P-51Cs were dissed… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441/40 "2012-01-13T15:02:14Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I just saw the first commercial for this. It featured annoying, vapid rap music blaring over oh-so-typically uninspired CGI air battle scenes with the black pilots shouting ridiculous 80s-esque ‘street-cred’ nonsense. My first impression- incredibly pedestrian, politically correct, neo-racist crap. I think you nailed it. Sad thing is, I can’t imagine much more interesting or exciting than actual aerial combat. To see it all “video-gamey” is really pretty disappointing. The CGI, as somebody else noted, looks like ass. Not even as good as _Dogfight_. Oh well. I don’t think I’ve been to the movies in over a decade. Probably would have given this a pass anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-tails/608441.md?page=3)