German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe nurse Käte Otersdorf in the film was a real person and she was the nurse who attended to Richthofen after he received the head wound. There were several photographs (probably taken for propaganda purposes) in which she was shown with Richthofen, often together with a large group of other people. There was, however, never any evidence or even suggestion that there was a love affair between them.
- GoofsRoy Brown is shown in a Royal Flying Corps uniform, and describes himself as being in the nonexistent "Royal Canadian Flying Corps". He was in fact a Canadian serving in the British Royal Naval Air Service, and would have worn a naval officer's uniform.
- Quotes
Emperor Wilhelm: We need men like him. I supposed we'll have to give you another promotion, Richthofen. You are a real hero. I take it the ladies are all over you.
Manfred von Richthofen: There aren't many ladies at 10,000 feet, your Majesty.
- SoundtracksOpen Skies
performed by Reamonn
composed by Reamonn
published by b612 publishing / Reamonn Publishing
Featured review
If you're an aviation fan, you're going to love this movie. The aerial scenes of World War I era biplanes in action are truly astounding.
The lead role of the Baron is played by Matthias Schweighöfer whose boyish good looks and magnetic smile are fully exploited to make the Red Baron impossible to dislike. The character of the Baron is portrayed as a young man of high principals who struggles to reconcile his humanity in the completely inhumane circumstances of war. He is torn between his sense of duty to his country and it's megalomaniac leadership and his conscience. Now I don't know if any of that is actually true, but it makes for a touching story nonetheless.
Overwhelmingly I was aware that the makers of this movie wanted to transmit the message that Germans are not the stereotype so often portrayed in war movies as either emotionless auto-bots of death and destruction or blood thirsty hums. Is this done in an effort to raise public opinion of Germans (it is a German production by the way) or because audiences are growing intolerant of stereotyping and it's injurious, evil nature. I can't say, I'd like to believe the latter, but you'll certainly find the Baron and his fellow pilots all endearing characters and you'll be saddened when most of them meet their maker in the course of the story.
The writer director Nikolai Müllerschön isn't very loyal to historical facts in many respects. I was particularly disturbed by the portrayal of the German Emperor (Kaiser Wilhelm) as a warmongering protagonist and Paul Von Hindenburg as a foolish smiling fat man. However, in order for the character of the Baron to shine so brightly the Baron needed dark forces to nobly resist and therefore these men were transformed to serve that purpose. I strongly advise the viewer not to expect to get a history lesson from his movie.
The lead role of the Baron is played by Matthias Schweighöfer whose boyish good looks and magnetic smile are fully exploited to make the Red Baron impossible to dislike. The character of the Baron is portrayed as a young man of high principals who struggles to reconcile his humanity in the completely inhumane circumstances of war. He is torn between his sense of duty to his country and it's megalomaniac leadership and his conscience. Now I don't know if any of that is actually true, but it makes for a touching story nonetheless.
Overwhelmingly I was aware that the makers of this movie wanted to transmit the message that Germans are not the stereotype so often portrayed in war movies as either emotionless auto-bots of death and destruction or blood thirsty hums. Is this done in an effort to raise public opinion of Germans (it is a German production by the way) or because audiences are growing intolerant of stereotyping and it's injurious, evil nature. I can't say, I'd like to believe the latter, but you'll certainly find the Baron and his fellow pilots all endearing characters and you'll be saddened when most of them meet their maker in the course of the story.
The writer director Nikolai Müllerschön isn't very loyal to historical facts in many respects. I was particularly disturbed by the portrayal of the German Emperor (Kaiser Wilhelm) as a warmongering protagonist and Paul Von Hindenburg as a foolish smiling fat man. However, in order for the character of the Baron to shine so brightly the Baron needed dark forces to nobly resist and therefore these men were transformed to serve that purpose. I strongly advise the viewer not to expect to get a history lesson from his movie.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- €18,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $37,189
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,931
- Mar 21, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $2,783,332
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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