When the World War II veterans returned from combat, they were met with gratitude and honor. However, it wasn’t until half a century later that the government actually acknowledged their sacrifices with an official memorial at the capital. The 2012 documentary Honor Flight tells the story of the non-profit organization that provides WWII veterans with a trip to see the memorials built in their honor. With its premiere at Miller Park Stadium, the film recently set the record for largest attendance, yielding 24,882 viewers. Although that figure is staggering, it reflects the organization’s public support rather than the support of the film itself.
WWII, when looked at from a broad perspective, plays out like an action drama. The events that occurred were so surreal, that the topic has never really become tiresome. Unfortunately, Honor Flight pushes the subject to the brink of redundancy and mundaneness. It seems as if director Dan Hayes’ goal is to spread awareness for the organization rather than create a compelling and entertaining documentary. Before the film even reaches its halfway point, Honor Flight ships viewers into a sea of unwanted preachiness. It is indistinguishable from a cheesy informercial so much so that it has you wondering if Marlo Thomas is going to come on screen and plead with us to call her toll free number. Hayes fills his hour and twenty minutes of run time with an excessively boring amount of personal testimony praising the organization’s obviously noble efforts.
The film’s only resource is its raw WWII video footage and the personal testimony of the surviving vets. Unfortunately, those two items see minimal screen time. It seems Hollywood has berated us with so many flimsy WWII reenactments, that the real clips and real stories are now the most compelling piece of media. The film also interviews the veteran whose frail sixty pound body made for one of the most iconic images to come out of the war (second only to the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima). His personal testimony about that photo is the film’s one compelling moment. It is unfortunate, but these small glimmers of light are not enough to relieve the hour and half struggle that is Honor Flight. It seems the noble subject matter paired with the fruitless cinematography leaves dissatisfied viewers feeling very, very, guilty.
Rating: Noble organization but sub-par filmmaking (6/10)
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