The Red Baron

(Spoilers ahead.) Five stars for the costumes and scenery. Three stars for the film itself. This film really had so much potential to be a great movie on the highest scoring ace of World War I. In the end, it degenerated into a tale about a young man who only wants peace and an end to war, his heart turned by a love affair with his nurse. WHAT?? This was Baron Manfred von Richthofen? The truth: he was a Prussian aristocrat who was a cavalry officer before he joined the air corps. His father was a Prussian aristocrat and an army officer. The Red Baron was the poster boy for the war effort and lionized by the public. The fact and fiction are put together so that the truth becomes blurred. I am the first to say film is art, and art can go into abstraction, but this is abstraction to the extreme. They have turned the fighting ace--the Red Battle Flyer--into a loverboy and peacenik. Many things are delightfully recognizable: there is ace pilot Verner Voss, a close friend of Richthofen, but he is not portayed as Jewish. (It it often held that Verner Voss was Jewish.) The role of the Jewish pilot is given off to some other minor character who is killed off. (Voss, BTW, was killed in his triplane and not an Albatros--with a mustached face painted on the cowling.) There is Richthofen's family: the father and mother (Baron Albrecht--unbearded--and Baroness Kunegunde), the sister Ilse as an army nurse, and (I think) the youngest brother Karl Bolko. Even the Baron's dog Moritz makes an appearance, albeit as a German Wirehaired Pointer and not a Great Dane. Would it have been that hard to hire a trained Great Dane for the movie? The middle brother Lothar, also an ace in his own right, is given script prominence as a blood-thirsty combat pilot strutting about with his riding crop. Matthias Schweighofer does an admirable job playing the Baron with conviction, but he is far too tall to be a convincing Richthofen with his statuesque height and tousled blond hair. (The real Baron was quite short; photos show him almost the same height as nurse Katie.) The costuming and sets show marvelous research and detail: the uniforms and flying kit of the combat pilots on both the Allied and Central sides, for instance. Exact photos can be referenced to some scenes: an Albatros biplane with a white Edelweiss flower (actually the plane of ace/dentist Paul Baumer, who does not appear in the film), the Baron's turtleneck sweaters, and even the Geschwaderstock, the squadron walking stick. The Baron, after his head injury, is shown with his jaw wired shut and nursed by Katie Odersdorf (the real nurse Katie is spun into his love interest, eventually being seduced in an aerodrome tent, of all places!); in truth, it was Lothar who had his jaw wired shut after he was injured in a flying accident. The flying scenes in CG images is engaging and entertaining. With all of the painstaking research given to this film, why the melodrama? I guess this is an entertaining film, but for fans of history and Manfred von Richthofen, the man, it's a disappointment. So much more could have been made of this pioneer of air combat. Some of his ideas are still taught at dogfighting schools such as Top Gun. He was also an innovator in combat aircraft design, working with engineers on a three-wing design after a captured Sopwith triplane. (Both Fokker and Pfalz were in the running.) I kept waiting for aeronautical engineer Anthony Fokker to show up.

I first watched this movie on Redbox and loved it! Weeks later, I watched it on Netflix and loved it! Then I decided to buy it, watched it when it came in the mail yesterday, and still loved it! The story goes into who Baron Manfred von Richthofen really was--a man of mystery which some called him. I first heard about the Red Baron as a kid reading "Peanuts" comic strips and wondering what that dog Snoopy was imitating while sitting on his doghouse and in an outdated flying outfit. Then I heard the mentions of a great German ace, one of the best in WW1 with over 80 kills before his own plane went down in flames in the spring of 1918. When I first watched it, I found out what kind of man that the Baron really was, a respectful one. Apparently, he made little notice of his reputation until 1916, which is where the movie begins. The first scene is of the Baron and his German flying squadron soaring over the mourners at the funeral of a fallen British pilot-officer, and as the stunned Allied troops look on with surprise, the Baron drops a bunch of flowers directly into the freshly-dug grave from overhead, getting chewed out for it by a German superior later on. As the number of kills increase to his name, you see him confirm his kills by ripping off the flying insignia from each destroyed Allied plane, and finally get promoted to commanding his own squadron, which his younger brother even joins. But what really makes a name for himself is when he downs a British major, a flying ace that no one thought he had a chance at defeating. von Richthofen believes in fighting a war the "gentleman" way. "We down planes, not pilots." he says, giving his enemies the chance to land their wrecked plane safely. He is outraged during a scene in the movie when his cocky brother is seen directly over the airfield, gunning down a helpless British plane and murdering the pilot when it was already apparent that the British plane was going down anyway. The German ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm II, is impressed with him, telling him in one scene, "The ladies must be all over you." "Not many ladies are up at 10,000 feet." the Baron says, drawing laughter from the surprised Kaiser and his staff. But finally, an attractive nurse named Kate, who even tends to the Baron as well when he is injured, opens his eyes and shows him what the war really has to offer. So many hospitals, that they all have to be numbered, and full to the brim with wounded men, most of which will soon die. The war soon goes into the massive German spring offensive of 1918. You see the Baron and his planes chewing up the entire British air fleet overhead, but the war is different on the ground, where the Baron can easily see advancing German infantry being cut into ribbons by British machine guns. He even tells a German general before the offensive that he thinks Germany must surrender. "You know how I became the victor of 63 aerial battles? Every time I got into a fight that I could not win, I flew away." He tells the same to his own pilots, to disengage from battles that they clearly have no advantage of over the enemy, but the Generals are not impressed. Even though the enemy respects and fears him, the Baron seems to sense that his own end is near, and flies on his final mission. His death is credited to Captain Roy Brown of the Canadian Flying Corps, a pilot he had encountered twice earlier in the war and in the movie, where he helps the wounded Captain Brown out of a wrecked plane, and then when both men face each other in battle and force each other down, where both men have a respectful chat before the Baron points him to where his lines will be. Such a sad end to the Baron's life and flying career, but also a great movie to span his achievements all within 2 hours! This movie was excellent and is recommended to anyone who liked watching "Flyboys." Aerial combat movie fans must have this on their shelves!

The leads were well cast and the grinding pace of the war was well-portayed. This isn't a movie about air battles, this is a film about the war from the supposed perspective of Von Richthofen himself. The real Von Richthofen is an enigma; there are his letters home and an Autobiography which was heavily edited by Wartime Propagandists. Not many of his friends survived the war, and his brother Lothar died within a few years of the War's end in a flying accident while working for the fledgling airmail service in Weimar Germany. Those who knew him best simply didn't live long enough to tell their stories, and I think that is why his story resonates so well. That all said, I think that this movie did a fine job of explaining the situation he and his fellow aviators were in (on both sides). Without giving any spoilers, the second scene perfectly explained one of the problems these men faced; this issue was particularly true of British and German aristocrats. The movie is not particularly bloody or gory, but still manages to touch upon the horrors of trench warfare, and the risks of aerial combat. I was a little disappointed that Von Richthofen's early flying was not touched on. His early flying and aerial missions on the Eastern Front might have painted a more complex picture of him. Also touched on but not explored were problems with the planes themselves; that they flew at all was a minor miracle. I didn't like how they portrayed Anthony Fokker as a rude profiteer; as a designer, he worked very closely with the pilots to make good planes. To be sure, there were faults with the Triplanes, but they were discovered and corrected quickly. In all, a poignant and enjoyable movie.

Many reviewers missed the point in my opinion. On the one hand, you have those who say it's not accurate enough, others complain that it is "too corny" and still others who think it is worse than "Flyboys", the WW1 film starring James Franco et al., In some ways both are similarly successful but getting right to the point on this film the balance is actually extremely impressive in that, while the creators do take some liberties with the facts, they do it for a very useful reason----they made the decision to bring the most important aspects of the German aces to life and in this they have succeeded marvelously and here is why you should buy this film, even before Flyboys (get them both ultimately). In fact for knowledgable pilots and historians of German Aces of WW1, this film is far more accurate than any other film on the subject to date and to prove it, one only needs to look at the incredible attention to detail. Just a few---notice the "side slip" Voss uses (along with Josef Jacobs, this was one of the "secret weapons" of the German pilots and it worked fabulously in both Albatross and Fokker), where only rudder is used to turn quickly. Notice the "washed out" crosses on MvR's Albatross. Notice it's a DV, while many others still fly the more slab sided DIIIs. Note that although many of the individual markings indicate A/C from units other than J's 4,6,10 or 11, a study of history tells us they did switch places not infrequently for a variety of reasons. There are wonderful representations of Jacob's smoke blowing devil, Kirchstein's Zebra (or Udet's since he borrowed K's later, LvR's red-yellow bird, Voss and Kissenberth's and Graf von GK---many represented for the first time in film. Catch the OAW manufacturer on MvR's early DIII? Look for the radiator shutter controls where they were and the open valve tappets on the Mercedes inline---rotary, not radial on the Dr1's. And consider how much history is jam packed into this film and you will be amazed. LvR's much greater PC (in Germany at the time) attitude compared with later MvR, the interesting and skillful development of best friend Voss' character wonderfully brought to life by Germany's most talented and popular actor Til Schweiger, and the amazing casting---(that's pretty much what Hindenburg looked and acted like!). Okay, you can nitpick details--probably a Clerget not a Bentley in Voss' Dr1 but how many young people have heard of a Clerget? Yet a Bentley thanks to current pop culture is well-known by those under 25, so a wider appeal is the result. And do we really know it was not a Bentley? New facts are emerging all the time. Recent medical records show MvR was wounded by a "newbie" in the Circus, not by the two seater he was battling when he received his head wound. So hold your "facts" for now and enjoy the massive history. Sure it's a Curtiss Jenny on the home estate, but you have to admit, it's about as close to a Rumpler C1 or CII as you'll see in film. Sure Hawker should have been in a DH2, but an Se5a is prettier. In the end, this is a love story and Lena Heady makes Kate believable. Fiennes plays a useful role as Roy Brown complete with accent and of course the liberties with history are off, but the bottom line is, the characters are very useful and interesting and unless we want WW 1 films about aces to only be shown at EAA conventions, we should be a little more open-minded. The more you read, the more you will appreciate that this is not corny for WW 1 Germany, nor is it lacking in dialogue if you listen carefully. It is a love story between a man and a woman and between men and men and the real characters are wonderfully represented as skillfully as the flying, the aircraft, the life, the scenes. Bodenshatz really was like that, per interviews and diaries and so was Hoeppner. I love the way they wove in the closeness of the combatants----RB's comment....you are all related in Europe....and the way the fighting in the air was so much different from the other military arms. If you watch this film more than once you will see it is actually a love story with incredible action to keep it moving along with subtle dialogue (Voss' comment....."Trust me I had to argue a little with the chap" about the stolen Bentley (clerget) and fabulous relationships. MvR actually did all those things and more---he was at the surrender meetings and met future bolshevik leaders--true story. He was truly one of the most caring leaders who grew up at lightning speed. So here is a movie that will actually age like fine wine. For me, it is up there with some of the romantic classics like Casablanca because it shows tragic romance in the worst possible settings amid a brutal war. So many touching moments----Sterni waving goodbye to Voss, MvR's grief right after giving him the harmonica (notice one other accurate detail.....in Berlin, three beautiful women walk by and what does MvR notice? An ad for a Seidel harmonica--two facts are revealed---MvR hardly noticed women (other than Kate) and his pilot comrades were more important to him than almost anything else and second, his incredible attention to noticing everything, which was remarked about by many who were there---he "saw Sterni lose it" and he noticed that Roy Brown unsnapped his holster---there are many stories of how he "saw everything". These are just a few of the incredible number of details that make up a "cliff notes" of real history and the history is better than hollywood. Speaking of that, I wonder what people don't like about Flyboys? One cool thing is there again---the coordination of aircraft timing is off, but do we really care? How many Bristol F2's have you seen in the movies lately? I admit, that Cassidy's character borrows a lot from MvR's real-life character, but I'm willing to bet Hawker was a lot like that or at least there is a composite of British leaders that were. So if you are a flier like me, enjoy the really fun details like a whirling rotary rather than a radial (about time!), the "ladies landing" (almost) by MvR (true event), and the love stories in the midst of incredible brutality. If you put aside your biases, what you will have in almost every detail, some representative fact of true events and you will be far more informed and entertained that way. Watch the movie more than twice and you will come to appreciate this masterpiece for what it is.

Allow me to say, I've anxiously awaited the release of this DVD in U.S. format as I'm an extreme military history enthusiast, especially in the fields of WWI and WWII aviation and armor. I've watched clips of this movie and the trailers for it on youtube for well over a year and expected it to have the fluffy love story others have complained about, but, that is just one of the movie's many problems. Once again, movie makers have proven they have NO IDEA who the audience is for HISTORICALLY THEMED MOVIES! I'm starting to get really amazed at how consistently movie makers miss the mark - and waste magnificent opportunities to make a great movie in the process. First off, everything was here for them to make the end-all fantastic movie about the life of Manfred Von Richtofen. They built 23 Albatros and Fokker airplanes for this film for pity's sake! Then, all of the flying, apparently, is done using green screen and CG technology - there is no "real" flying in the movie. Watch the extra features, they show how this was done - I was stunned. On the plus side, this movie is far better than "Flyboys" which was just horrible. On the downside, I have no idea who this movie's about, because it darn sure isn't about Manfred Von Richthofen. The only things they got right here are that he was German and he had a red airplane - other than that, they made everything else up from scratch. His friendship with Werner Voss is touched upon, but only because they use Voss (shamefully) to push along the pointless and fictional love story between Richthofen and a nurse who seems to be everywhere. The actual careers of the pilots themselves is entirely glossed over. Voss's phenomenal last flight isn't shown and if you don't pay attention, you won't even realize when Richtofen finds out he's been killed. Likewise, Von Richtofen's last flight isn't shown at all. There's actually very little flying in this movie - almost all the flight scenes are up on youtube. If you're going to make a movie about Manfred Von Richtofen, it should've started when Oswald Boelke picked him out to join Jasta 2, and show him learning from the master to forge his skills. This movie starts months after Boelke's death just before MvR is awarded his Blue Max - a downright pointless place to start I thought. Believe it or not, in this movie, MvR and Captain Roy Brown ARE CLOSE FRIENDS! WHAT?!!! In fact, Manfred shoots Brown down in early 1917, Brown escapes from a POW camp, they meet again later after having both been shot down, share drinks and notes on the SAME nurse, then they just pal around! WHAT A CROCK! You really have to struggle to write history this badly. Then, all the German troops in the trenches look like they just got back from the dry cleaners. The only reason I give this movie any props at all is because the actors did great with the terrible script they were given - the acting is quite good. The aerial scenes are spectacular and look quite real, even though there aren't enough of them. And, they got the uniform details right, even though they went a little too floppy on the caps. Perhaps someday, someone will do a GOOD movie on this legendary figure and do so without having to insert 80% fictional fluff and filler. Richtofen, Voss, and Roy Brown deserved a much better telling of their story than this.

Beautiful item and fast delivery. Thank you.

I'm much more of a WWII buff, but have recently become fascinated by the Red Baron's role in WWI. This movie does a creditable job of telling his story, though with a fair amount of literary license and embellishment. However, for great biplane flying and WWI aerial action sequences there is absolutely nothing that tops this film. My only complaint is that this film does not show how the Red Baron was eventually shot down, though that does not detract from this movie's five stars. If you are interested in this movie, then you will also want to check out: -- Flyboys, a historical story which comes close to the Red Baron in tone and flying action, and includes a couple circling combat scenes that are top-notch. -- The Blue Max, a purely fictional account that nevertheless offers great flying action (that is surprisingly good for a 1966 film) and a compelling story. -- Aces High, the poorest of this bunch with downright bad flying action but notable in accurately capturing the despair of the short-lived German pilots at the end of WWI.

Let me start off by saying, I have seen just about every movie on World War One aviation. The Red Baron and Flyboys are the ones I enjoyed the most. I waited for this for nearly 4 years but it was well worth the wait. It starts off when he was kid and sees an airplane for the first time then takes off from there. It showed the relationship he had with his squadron and the people around him. The dogfights scenes are spectacular, especially the night flying scene. It was nice to see flying the red Albatros and Fokker DR1 airplanes. There can always be more of them though, you can never have too many ww1 aerial duels. The romance between him nurse Kate was a little overboard but not too bad. Manfred did have sense of humor, which was in the film. He also rode a bike from time to time. There is a picture of him doing so in the book Under The Guns Of The Red Baron. I don't think he ever met Roy Brown, but who knows? He probably didn't tell people everything he did either. It should have shown his last flight but with all the contreversey surrounding his death, it probably would have cost too much. With all the documentries such as: Who Killed The Red Baron, Red Baron and the Wings Of Death, Death of The Red Baron etc its all good. Like all history and biography movies it has it's flaws, but all in all a great film. I have alot of Red Baron and WWI stuff so this is a great addition. If you are a WWI buff add it to your collection, it goes great with the ones I mentioned above, as well as Wings(1927),The Dawn Patrol, The Blue Max and others. Check it out! It's definately worth it especially on bluray.