The Tuskegee Airmen

HBO's 1995 made-for-cable historical drama The Tuskegee Airmen—the story of the black fighter pilots who broke the color barrier in the U.S. Air Force during World War II—makes its Blu-ray debut to coincide with the release of George Lucas's similarly-themed theatrical film Red Tails. Laurence Fishburne stars as Hannibal Lee, a proud and solemn Iowan, with Cuba Gooding Jr. as city-kid hipster Billy Roberts; the two meet en route to Tuskegee Air Force Base, where they're among the recruits for an “experimental” program to “prove” the abilities of African-American men in military services. Fighting prejudice from racist officers and government officials and held to a consistently higher level of performance than their white counterparts, these individuals excel in training and in combat, many dying for their country in the process. Andre Braugher costars as Benjamin O. Davis, a West Point graduate who takes charge of the unit in Africa and in Italy (Davis later became the first African-American general in the Air Force). Although slow starting and episodic, the film is occasionally rousing (Fishburne and Braugher both earned Emmy nominations for their performances), but the drama is periodically undercut by war movie clichés. Packaged with an illustrated booklet with notes on the film, this is noteworthy mainly for its historical perspective. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)