George Lucas on Red Tails

0001 00:00:07:14 00:00:10:15

I'm not a flyer, but I love fast things.

0002 00:00:12:06 00:00:13:21

I'm shaking him!

0003 00:00:13:23 00:00:16:04

This project came about
from a friend of mine

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who was a photographer
who shot for the air force.

0005 00:00:19:04 00:00:21:04

He told me about
the story of the Red Tails.

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I said, "Wow, that's a really good idea
for a movie."

0007 00:00:24:22 00:00:26:03

Action!

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We've made it all the way
from Tuskegee here to Romatelli.

0009 00:00:29:02 00:00:32:23

(Lucas) I started on this 20 years ago
and I just stuck with it.

0010 00:00:33:00 00:00:35:12

It's been a project
that I really wanted to do.

0011 00:00:36:11 00:00:39:03

I never even met a girl
as beautiful as this plane.

0012 00:00:39:05 00:00:42:11

I love P-51s. When I was young,
that was the hottest airplane.

0013 00:00:42:23 00:00:46:02

I can't believe somebody was 19,
flying these things,

0014 00:00:46:04 00:00:49:11

and then going into battle.
It's pretty stunning and amazing.

0015 00:00:49:13 00:00:51:16

- Junior, get out of there!
- Where is he?

0016 00:00:51:18 00:00:53:11

I can't see him. (screams)

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Being able to bring this to reality,

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being able to actually stand there
with the P-51s,

0019 00:00:58:21 00:01:02:20

with the replication of Romatelli,
it's the most exciting thing you can do.

0020 00:01:05:19 00:01:07:11

With digital technology now,

0021 00:01:07:13 00:01:10:01

we can do a real dogfight,
the way it should be done.

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Come on, man, take him out!

0023 00:01:12:12 00:01:15:05

(Lucas) You can follow it
and make it dramatic.

0024 00:01:19:02 00:01:20:08

Alright, you got him.

0025 00:01:20:10 00:01:21:16

Oh, thank you, Lord!

0026 00:01:21:18 00:01:23:24

(Lucas)
The struggle for African-Americans

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to fight during World War II

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is part of the story;
you can't tell the story without it.

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We have a right
to fight for our country,

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the same as every other American.

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(Lucas) I wanted something
more personal,

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about the individual pilots
and what they went through.

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The guys that loved to fly.

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A lot of people wanted to be involved
in this project. We were really lucky.

0035 00:01:44:23 00:01:46:15

- You kept your word.
- How you doing?

0036 00:01:46:17 00:01:47:19

Turned out nice.

0037 00:01:47:21 00:01:49:23

(Lucas) We got a great, fantastic cast.

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I was a big fan of The Wire.

0039 00:01:51:17 00:01:54:11

That's really how I decided
to hire Anthony.

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I've done my 20 years.
I'm handing the ball to you.

0041 00:01:57:08 00:01:58:10

Aye aye, sir.

0042 00:01:58:12 00:02:01:21

(Lucas) Anthony hired a lot of
the kids that were in The Wire

0043 00:02:01:23 00:02:03:24

and that whole little world.

0044 00:02:04:01 00:02:06:12

Rick McCallum and I
worked together for years.

0045 00:02:06:14 00:02:09:21

Charles Johnstone has also been working
on this project for 20 years.

0046 00:02:10:10 00:02:13:07

- I love just walking around.
- So walk me around.

0047 00:02:13:09 00:02:15:19

(Lucas) We had meetings
with the Tuskegee airmen

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to make everything
as accurate as possible.

0049 00:02:18:03 00:02:20:17

- These guys look pretty good.
- (laughs)

0050 00:02:20:19 00:02:22:13

We had a lot of sessions.

0051 00:02:22:15 00:02:25:12

We brought all the Tuskegee airmen
and the cast together.

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They had these weekends and they'd talk
to each other and tell stories

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so that the actors could get into
the real guys, who they are.

0054 00:02:32:14 00:02:36:09

Do you feel the responsibility to be
somebody for kids to look up to?

0055 00:02:36:11 00:02:40:04

We were the local rock stars
of the black community.

0056 00:02:40:06 00:02:44:09

The story of the Tuskegee airmen
is a big story. It's an amazing story.

0057 00:02:48:14 00:02:51:02

Just like Star Wars,
it's a big action picture,

0058 00:02:51:04 00:02:53:04

lots of dogfights, lots of excitement.

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But it's basically about a bunch of kids
that went through an amazing journey

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and all came out heroes.

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- To the last man, we fight!
- We fight.

0062 00:03:01:13 00:03:02:19

- We fight!
- We fight!

0063 00:03:02:21 00:03:06:23

(Lucas) They're the knights
of the contemporary age.

0064 00:03:07:00 00:03:11:08

I'm hoping that this film is
an inspiration to young people today.

 

David Oyelowo interview

0001 00:00:00:08 00:00:02:11

One more pass.

0002 00:00:05:08 00:00:08:13

(laughs) How do you like that,
Mr Hitler?

0003 00:00:09:06 00:00:11:13

My name is David Oyelowo.

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I play Lightning in Red Tails.

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My character is a bit of an outsider.

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- Where are you?
- Taking the train from the front.

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(Oyelowo)
He sort of swims against the flow.

0008 00:00:22:06 00:00:23:06

Gotcha!

0009 00:00:23:21 00:00:25:02

I like a good scrap.

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Not in real life, but on screen.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Mr David Oyelowo!

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Thank you.

0013 00:00:36:13 00:00:40:22

The first three days of this shoot
were mind-blowing.

0014 00:00:40:24 00:00:44:17

It felt more like I was involved
in a space launch

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than actually doing a film.

0016 00:00:46:08 00:00:50:05

When Easy comes to my left,
was I looking in the right places?

0017 00:00:50:07 00:00:52:15

We've been shooting
a lot of the gimbal stuff.

0018 00:00:52:17 00:00:55:07

This is us in planes, the green screen.

0019 00:00:55:09 00:00:57:21

The CGI people are going to drop

0020 00:00:57:23 00:01:00:10

weird and wonderful things
into the background.

0021 00:01:00:12 00:01:02:13

Brand-new 109s.

0022 00:01:04:14 00:01:06:07

Boom!

0023 00:01:06:09 00:01:08:16

Not-so-brand-new 109s.

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(Oyelowo) George Lucas has done things
no one else has, really.

0025 00:01:12:06 00:01:15:17

If there's anyone you want to be in
charge of that, it would be Lucasfilm.

0026 00:01:15:19 00:01:19:00

This is actually really
for my action figure, isn't it?

0027 00:01:19:02 00:01:21:24

I think every actor has this notion
that one day,

0028 00:01:22:01 00:01:25:19

all they'll need to do is take a picture
of you and you can go home.

0029 00:01:26:13 00:01:28:00

Of course, that's not true,

0030 00:01:28:02 00:01:32:08

but this technology is so outside
of my comprehension,

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seeing the film is going to be as
exciting for those of us who did it

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as it will be for the audience.

0033 00:01:40:19 00:01:43:03

We went up in some P-51 Mustangs.

0034 00:01:43:05 00:01:46:17

- Are you ready for this experience?
- No. But I'm going to do it anyway.

0035 00:01:46:19 00:01:49:08

It's all about not throwing up.

0036 00:01:49:10 00:01:52:00

The speed at which these things go

0037 00:01:52:02 00:01:55:11

and the physical ability you need
to fly these things

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let alone doing that while being shot at
is just incredible.

0039 00:01:59:20 00:02:04:04

My respect for just what
we're trying to show is crazy.

0040 00:02:04:06 00:02:05:06

Yeah.

0041 00:02:05:08 00:02:08:20

With the highest and utmost respect,

0042 00:02:08:22 00:02:12:04

Colonel Archer has come here
to lend us his services.

0043 00:02:12:06 00:02:14:05

I'm being you now, you see.

0044 00:02:14:07 00:02:18:16

Meeting actual Red Tails, Lee Archer,
Bill Holloman and Roscoe Brown

0045 00:02:18:18 00:02:21:21

was invaluable
from an authenticity point of view.

0046 00:02:21:23 00:02:26:13

Hi, David. You're the man who flashed
his peepee getting into a jet plane.

0047 00:02:26:15 00:02:28:08

How you going to get out of that?

0048 00:02:29:24 00:02:32:01

(Oyelowo) Roscoe Brown
walked onto the base

0049 00:02:32:03 00:02:36:01

and said, "That's where that was.
That's what that looked like."

0050 00:02:36:03 00:02:38:04

"You guys look a bit like what we did."

0051 00:02:38:06 00:02:40:17

Good replicas. Good replicas.

0052 00:02:40:19 00:02:42:14

(Oyelowo) You can't play a hero.

0053 00:02:42:16 00:02:47:07

In life, it was about a genuine threat
to mankind.

0054 00:02:47:09 00:02:48:21

And they stepped up.

0055 00:02:48:23 00:02:50:02

I'm away!

0056 00:02:50:04 00:02:53:04

Easy, you got Pretty Boy on your tail.
Dive right now! Dive.

 

The Tuskegee Airmen - part 1

0001 00:00:06:11 00:00:09:24

(man 1) In the air, there's no black
or white or green or whatever.

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You're a pilot.

0003 00:00:11:07 00:00:13:19

(man 2) The country's in trouble.
You work.

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You do what you have to do.

0005 00:00:15:10 00:00:17:12

You can't turn your back
on your own country.

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(man 4) Bombers wanted the Red Tails.

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They felt comfortable

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because they could see
the Red Tails above them.

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(man 5) You take the Negro
and you give him training

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and an opportunity

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to exercise that training,

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they will do extraordinary things.

 

The Tuskegee Airmen - part 2

0001 00:00:06:21 00:00:10:23

(man 1) The 99th came eyeball to eyeball
in air-to-air combat

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with the German Luftwaffe.

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Bombers would be here.
We'd be above the bombers

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to provide sort of a net against
the German planes coming down.

0005 00:00:19:14 00:00:22:13

(man 3) We said we'd better get
a real name and identification

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so that the bombers and the Germans
would know when we were on a mission.

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It was decided jointly

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that we would paint the tails red,
and we became known as the Red Tails.