Flyboys is a 2006 war drama film starring James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, David Ellison, Abdul Salis, Philip Winchester, and Tyler Labine.

Set during World War I, the film follows the enlistment, training, and combat experiences of a group of young Americans who volunteered to become fighter pilots in the Lafayette Escadrille, the 124th air squadron formed by the French in 1916.

In 1916, a group of Americans go to France to serve in the French Air Service, L'Aéronautique militaire, in World War I.

They are placed under the command of Captain Georges Thenault, with veteran flying ace Reed Cassidy as their mentor.

[7] The casting of Franco in an action feature at the time was considered a "stepping stone" to his rise as marquee player and movie star.

[8] The film was shot on location in the United Kingdom primarily in Spring 2005, although principal photography continued on into the summer.

[9] The trench scenes were shot in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the same location used for Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan.

The airfield and aerial shots were filmed on and above RAF Halton (near Aylesbury) where hangars, mess rooms, and officers quarters were built adjacent to Splash Covert Woods.

[10] The film was privately financed outside the standard Hollywood studio circuit by a group of filmmakers and investors, including producer Dean Devlin and pilot David Ellison, son of Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison; both spent more than $60 million of their own money to make and market "Flyboys".

The Nieuport 17s featured in the film included four replicas built by Airdrome Aeroplanes, an aircraft company based outside of Kansas City, Missouri.

All the other main actors, except Jean Reno, were filmed in actual aircraft in anticipation of using the aerial footage in final scenes.

The spinning of the cylinders improved cooling and allowed for fewer parts, making the engine simpler and lighter.

This detail can be briefly seen in the final combat when the black Fokker is taking off after Rawling's ground attack at the German airfield.

On the director/producer commentary track for the DVD release, Producer Dean Devlin noted that they were aware the predominant use of red triplanes was historically inaccurate, but wanted to give clear visual signals to the audience to enable them to easily distinguish friend from foe in the aerial sequences.

His claims of service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands conflict and that he was a curator of The Imperial War Museum were not true.

[citation needed] In the film, the RMS Aquitania is depicted as a luxury liner; however, in early 1914, she was converted to use as an armed merchant cruiser, and by 1915 had been put into use as a troop transport ship, painted with dazzle style camouflage; however, the film might have used it to demonstrate the style of transport ships during the war.

The site's critics' consensus reads: "A poorly scripted history-rewriting exercise with mediocre acting and unconvincing CGI battle scenes.