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Red Tails: Difference between revisions
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* [[Desk Jockey]]: Major Stance and Colonel Bullard, what with them running the squadron's operations and [[Benevolent Boss|dealing with the higher-ups]].
* [[Do a Barrel Roll]]: Inevitable. The rolls they performed above the base after a successful mission were "victory rolls." Victory Rolls is the title of one background music track on the soundtrack. And then there was the tight loop that Pretty Boy used against Lightning, and that Lightning later used against a Luftwaffe mook in the final battle.
* [[Development Hell]]: George Lucas originally developed the idea in 1988, with a scheduled release for 1992. A number of writers worked on the project until John Ridley was hired in 2007 to write the final screenplay, which was then subsequently revised by [[The Boondocks|Aaron McGruder]]. If what Lucas said on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' is true, another reason it took long to produce was because [[Executive Veto|Hollywood executives]] [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|did not think a movie with a mostly black cast would be successful or make money.]]
* [[Dies Wide Open]]: {{spoiler|Lightning, in the film's climax.}}
* [[Divine Race Lift]]: Deke always makes sure to pray to "Black Jesus."
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* [[Faceless Goons]]: The only German pilot's face you see is "Pretty Boy," the main antagonist, who never seems to wear his goggles. Could also be [[Helmets Are Hardly Heroic]].
* {{spoiler|[[Fatal Family Photo]]: Lightning's photo of Sofia.}} Averted with {{spoiler|Junior}}. It's only after the heroes find out that [[He Didn't Make It]] that it is mentioned that he had a wife and two kids.
* [[Five
** [[The Hero]] / [[The Leader]] (type II) - Easy
** [[The Lancer]] - Lightning
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* [[Hot Blooded]]: Lightning, gets chewed out for it after starting a bar fight.
* [[Huddle Power]]: "[[Dare to Be Badass|Nothing's difficult! Everything's a challenge! Through adversity to the stars!]] [[Determinator|From the last plane to the last bullet to the last minute to the last man we fight! We fight!]]"
* [[In
** [[Embarrassing Nickname]]: Ray Gun hates being called Junior.
** [[Ironic Nickname]]: Pretty Boy sports a nasty scar on his face. Easy is the most tightly wound of the bunch, with Lightning concerned that he is going to [[Heroic Fatigue|burn himself out]].
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* [[Language of Love]]: Lightning/Sofia
* [[Live Action Escort Mission]]: The Red Tails' preferred ''modus operandi''.
* [[Mid
** Pretty Boy and his squadron trade up from their Messerschmidt Me-109s for Me-262s, the first operational jet fighters in history.
* [[Mildly Military]]: [[Hot Blooded]] Lightning, who can't avoid disobeying orders and getting into brawls. The only thing keeping Colonel Bullard from kicking him out is the fact that he has the most raw flying talent of anyone in the squadron.
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* [[More Dakka]]: The American fighters mount six .50 cal machine guns each. The German fighters carry 20 millimeter cannons amongst their loadout.
** The B-17s carry as many as 12 heavy machine guns firing in all directions, hence their name: "Flying Fortresses". It doesn't do them much good against the [[Lightning Bruiser|fast, agile German fighters, which carry half as much firepower themselves.]]
* [[
* [[Mutual Kill]]: {{spoiler|Lightning and Pretty Boy.}}
* [[Nobody Ever Complained Before]]: Evidently, it never occurred to at least one member of the white bomber crews that black people took offense to the expression "Colored People."
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*** And Pretty Boy [[Ace Custom|has his]] [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|yellow-nosed]] Messerschmidts.
** A more subtle example, both the B-17s and the P-40s at the beginning of the film bear the drab olive-green paint scheme common of US Army Air Forces aircraft for much of the war. Towards the end, the Americans have all transitioned to the striking ([[Bling of War|and very shiny]]) bare metal paint jobs used by the Army Air Forces towards the end.
* [[N
* [[Only a Flesh Wound]]: A joint vehicular and human version when Lightning's plane goes head to head with an M-262 jet fighter. M262s were armed with 4 × 30 mm MK 108 cannons which are exploding rounds; Lightning and his plane are hit several times and should have been obliterated instantly with that kind of firepower. {{spoiler|He dies and crashes soon after, however.}}
* [[Operation Blank]]: Operation Shingle, providing air cover for an amphibious assault in Italy.
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** The [[Fighter Launching Sequence]] barely has a chance to get started before the American pilots lay waste to the place. Two planes [[Sitting Duck|barely make it into the air]] before getting shot down.
* [[Red Baron]]: Pretty Boy.
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Easy is Blue to Lightning's Red
** Interestingly, while Easy is much more level-headed (and higher-ranking), Lightning is much more often ''right'' about what tactics they should use, which is the cause of much of their tension.
* [[Retirony]]: {{spoiler|Lightning proposes to Sofia and keeps a picture of her in his cockpit. He dies in the very next mission.}}
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{{quote| '''Lightning:''' War is hell, but what we're doing is ''boring'' as hell.}}
* [[We Have Reserves]]: Escort pilots are explicitly encouraged to think of themselves as this in relation to bombers. The commander of the bomber forces comes to Bullard looking for escort pilots who'll put the bombers over themselves, and Bullard tells his men "At all costs, protect the heavies."
* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Easy
* [[What Could Have Been]]: Lucas held discussions with [[Samuel L Jackson]] regarding Jackson possibly directing and acting in the film. Although Jackson praised the script, he did not commit to either role.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Lightning towards Easy after he realizes that {{spoiler|Easy has been flying while drunk.}}
** And later on, Major Stance towards Easy for allowing himself {{spoiler|to wallow in his self pity. He has to accept that not every choice he makes as a commander will be correct.}}
* [[Where Da White Women At?]]: Lightning is implied to be quite the ladies' man while stationed in Italy. After the film's first battle, he spots a beautiful Italian woman hanging laundry as he flies overhead, and proceeds to seek her out on ground later.
** Actually a subversion, as his skin color has surprisingly little effect on how their relationship develops, and even her ''mother'' doesn't seem dismayed by it.
* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: The {{spoiler|Black Jesus picture}} being recovered from {{spoiler|Deacon's}} burning plane.
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