Flyboys DVD, 2006

A good old-fashioned historical drama concerning the Lafayette Escadrille, a French regiment of American volunteer airmen serving the allied cause in WWI before the US became officially involved. James Franco plays Blaine, a Texas rancher; he bunks with Eugene (Abdul Salis), an African-American boxer whose been living in Paris to get away from American racism. Other fighters include a pampered New York scion and a lanky, lazy Kansan. They all train under the patient hand of the French commander, played by Jean Reno.

Martin Henderson is good as a jaded flier with a bunch of kills under his belt and an obsession with an ace German fighter; he won't let the new kids drink in the officers' club until they've shot down their first planes. It all unfolds in a no-nonsense linear narrative that reminds one of early films like The Dawn Patrol (1930) and Wings (1927), and there’s a comfortingly familiar orchestral score that's heavy with the cloud-invoking wooden flute. But the CGI-enhanced aerial dogfight scenes are the crux of the feature. There’s plenty of well-researched period detail and even some ooh-la la romance in the form of a good girl gone semi-bad from a nearby brothel (the very charming Jennifer Decker).