Red Tails (2012) on Netflix
PG-1320122h 5mActionAdventureDrama
Italy, 1944. The Tuskegee Airmen, African-American fighter pilots, fly worn P-40s on ground attack and face a resistant military bureaucracy. Reckless Lightning and self-doubting Easy clash.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb5.9/1038,832 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes40%
Trailer
Plot summary
The 332d Fighter Group, the African-American pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, is based in Italy in 1944 after training at Tuskegee, where segregation shaped their recruitment and their flying. The men fly worn Curtiss P-40 Warhawks on ground attack missions, and they worry that they will never be sent against the Luftwaffe. Major Emanuel Stance and Col. A.J. Bullard lead them, and the military bureaucracy around them remains resistant to treating black flyers as equals. Captain Martin "Easy" Julian, prone to self-doubt and drink, and 1st Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little, reckless in the cockpit, pull against each other. Lightning becomes involved with Sofia, an Italian woman.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Red Tails (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- George Lucas paid for the production himself and put up another $35 million for distribution after major studios refused to finance or market a war film with an all-black cast and no major white roles.
- The long-held belief that the Tuskegee Airmen did not lose a single bomber to enemy fire, a statement made by a bomber pilot in the film, has been proven inaccurate: an Air Force report from 2006 showed that at least 25 bombers were lost to enemy fire.
- Lucas discussed having Samuel L. Jackson both direct and act in the film; Jackson liked the script but ultimately did not commit to either job.
- Real Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Lee A. Archer Jr. served as an advisor on the film but died in 2010 while it was still in post-production, and the finished movie carries a tribute to him in its credits.
- To achieve a realistic reaction, actors were flown in actual P-51 Mustangs at the Planes of Fame in Chino, California, so that they could experience the forces involved in dogfighting.
- Red Tails was the first film to use Barco's Auro-3D 11.1 surround sound system, and a vehicle was fitted with a "technical center" so that the production could quickly move between locations.
