Although HBO has already taken its turn at telling the story of the Tuskegee Airman, the new film Red Tails set to be released on Jan. 20th may be the best version out there yet given the fact that it details the history of the 223nd Fighter Group in a way that has not been seen.  The plot and the characters in the film are all fictional, but based on events and stories that are spawned from real events allowing the entire film to be plausible and emotionally accurate in a Tim O’Brien sort of manner.

The plot of Red Tails is mainly focused on the battle of the Tuskegee Airmen to get new aircraft that would allow them to fight as a combat unit in the war.  Previous to the fight for recognition the 332nd was kept out of combat leading then to be criticized by many in the War Department for not actively shooting down more enemy aircraft while they had the chance.  Those on the film and the real Red Tails during WWII thus had to work twice as hard and take more risks in order to gain any respect from their leaders.

Like any other historical movie, those who study history are likely going to be annoyed by the inaccuracies that have been added to the film as a plot vehicle or to help offer a bit more entertainment value to the overall experience.  These additions are also there in Red tails with a plot twist that features a member of the Red Tails getting shot down, held as a POW, and then escaping back to his unit.  It’s a bit said however that they made this story up since the story of Lt. Alexander who actually was captured would have been just as captivating.

Despite a few examples such as this, a lot of the plot is actually based on real events such as the portrayal of a German destroyer that was sunk by the handiwork of two pilots that were piloting P-40s.  As crazy as this story may seem, research reveals that during WWII two P-47s from the 332nd unit were able to take out an Italian destroyer that was used by the Germans in the year 1944.  Of course, that is half of the charm of the film because it’s easy to believe that everything featured did happen, and the discrepancies between what did and what easily could have are so small that it’s easy to get swept away in the emotion of the film.

On a technical level the computer generated imagery can be a bit heavy sometimes, but at least the planes come out looking amazing and for those who have never seen models such as Warhawks, Flying Fortresses, or P-51 Mustangs seeing them on film is still going to be stunning.  The only small detail is the fact that some of the maneuvers the planes do are physically impossible, but this is of course Hollywood so you have to expect a bit of the unreal in any film.