The Red Baron (2008, Germany)

[slick1ru2]

Just released June 1. A German film about the #1 Ace of WWI. According to the Wiki article it stirred a little controversy in Germany when released because movies that show their side of the war in a heroic light are frowned upon and unusual. It does have an anti-war message. It is based on true events, but has some criticism for not being historically accurate. The air scenes look at least as good as Flyboys. Tom Cruise, who did a pretty good job on Valkyrie, likes this movie. The British version review on here said they dubbed the film with English (German Accent) with no English subtitles so it can be hard to understand at times. The U.S. version, which has a different cover then the British, says it has English subtitles. Some will recognize Joseph Fiennes from The Great Escape and Til Schweiger as one of the replacements in The Replacement Killers.

Amazon link

Official Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umb5662aOKE&feature=fvw

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by slick1ru2

Some will recognize Joseph Fiennes from The Great Escape

(And not from, oh, "Shakespeare in Love" or "Elizabeth" where he had major central roles? )

[slick1ru2]

Originally Posted by EricJ

(And not from, oh, "Shakespeare in Love" or "Elizabeth" where he had major central roles? )

That is noted on the trailer and also I didn't want to be redundant. Did you see the trailer? I wanted to list a major WAR movie he was in. Til is also in Inglorious Bastards as the trailer also points out. Guess you missed that.

[markbr]

I got this about 6 months ago in the UK. Not a bad film but does get a bit boring at times, story is slow. I did enjoy the aerial fight scenes, the WW1 planes look really awesome, picture is very good and the DTS HD track is the best part of the movie.....

[slick1ru2]

Originally Posted by markbr

I got this about 6 months ago in the UK. Not a bad film but does get a bit boring at times, story is slow. I did enjoy the aerial fight scenes, the WW1 planes look really awesome, picture is very good and the DTS HD track is the best part of the movie.....

My impression of the preview is they decided to inject a love story to follow formula. Look at all the war movies with love stories, Pearl Harbor (more of a love story with a War in it), Midway (I get why they did it, wish they didn't), In Harm's Way (probably the least obtrusive love story), The Pacific mini series (one of the things many did not like about it) and even Flyboys. The better war movies don't have love stories like Full Metal Jacket, Patton, Platoon, Band of Brothers mini series, Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now. Please take note screenwriters, no love stories in war movies from now on!

[arcadeforest]

I like it and had no trouble following the accents. I love anything with those old WWI planes though.

[markbr]

Originally Posted by arcadeforest

I like it and had no trouble following the accents. I love anything with those old WWI planes though.

I had no problem following the accents, just found it a bit boring in places. I still have it in my collection and will give it a re-watch in the near future. I'm also a lover of old war planes and this movie has lots of aerial action.

[FlipperWasIrish]

I got his almost 2 weeks ago. Not a bad film, I did like it better than Flyboys a few years ago.

[markbr]

Originally Posted by FlipperWasIrish

I got his almost 2 weeks ago. Not a bad film, I did like it better than Flyboys a few years ago.

I thought Flyboys was much better. That's just my opinion, I thought story was much more entertaining....

[slick1ru2]

It is streaming in HD on NetFlix. Just saw it. I thought it was excellent. The battle scenes were incredible, so realistic. Technology has come to the point where I have no idea what is real and what is CGI most of the time. Anyway, there are not many movies about WWI and this showed some of the horrors of trench warfare. The planes are absolutely beautiful. The one scene with all that German artillery, wow. I'll be picking it up, once it comes down in price, wow, its over $30.

[AaronSCH]

This is a film I am eagerly looking forward to adding to my collection. Does the U.S. version have the original German soundtrack with English subtitles? That is how I prefer watching foreign films.

[Lincoln6Echo]

Originally Posted by EricJ

(And not from, oh, "Shakespeare in Love" or "Elizabeth" where he had major central roles? )

Or "Enemy at the Gates" another war film?

[Lincoln6Echo]

Originally Posted by AaronSCH

This is a film I am eagerly looking forward to adding to my collection. Does the U.S. version have the original German soundtrack with English subtitles? That is how I prefer watching foreign films.

I heard the film was actually filmed in English and dubbed to German. So I don't know where folks are getting the idea that its just the opposite. I mean, it's got Joseph Fiennes in it, as well as Lena Heady from '300' and 'Sarah Connor Chronicles'. I doubt they would have gone around speaking German on the set.

As far as understanding the German accents, one of our friends was an Austrian escapee from the war and maintains a bit of his German accent to this day. He taught Physics out at our junior college. A lot of students found him hard to understand, but because he was a family friend, I was used to the way he spoke, so I never had a problem understanding him. Now his now deceased parents, that's a different story. I think they spoke German in their household in the Chicago area until they died.

[AaronSCH]

Originally Posted by Lincoln6Echo

I heard the film was actually filmed in English and dubbed to German. So I don't know where folks are getting the idea that its just the opposite...

You are correct according to Wicki: "Der Rote Baron, "The Red Baron," is a German production filmed in the English language..."

[travelbug]

i love this film
seldom do we get films about stories 'from the other side'
im not a historical expert on ww 1 but the film seems authentic enough, with the usual trappings of cinema - live story, action scenes etc. but still well done. and the actor who played the baron was excllent. so were the other actors who played the flying circus.

a definite buy

[#Darren]

The UK version is cut. I think the German edition is full length.

[slick1ru2]

The aerial scenes, as well as the battle scenes on the ground are incredible. The love story, there is no proof of it. He was actually shy around women. The middle brother was the ladies man. That brother remarked how the Baron was fearless in battle but too shy to talk to a woman.

He also never met the pilot who inflicted his head wound, although during WWI pilots of opposing sides did meet sometimes as shown. They considered themselves knights of the air.

What was not shown was how he was buried by the Australian Flying Corps. Although most likely shot down by an Australian on the ground, the nearest Allied air squad was responsible for the funeral. He actually managed to land and his last word was "kaputt". There is speculation that the earlier head wound had effected his judgement because he was usually very careful and had lots of rules that kept him alive so long. At the time he was shot down, he was chasing a plane very low, trying to shoot it down. There is also speculation that there were unusually strong winds that day which blew him farther over enemy lines then he realized.

Anyway, all the pall bearers were the same rank as he, captain. Although he was doing a colonel's job, the Germans advanced rank by service time, not duty and it was not his time to be promoted yet. He was given a full military funeral with all the honors although it was done by his enemies. One banner did say "To Our Gallant and Worthy Foe" and it is thought that the missing man formation was first flown at his funeral. Later his body was moved to a historical cemetery in Berlin filled with German heros. Later the Nazis would erect a large honorary tomb, emblazoned with one word, "Richthofen". After WWII, it was located near the Soviet Zone along the Berlin wall and became scarred from stray bullets fired at people trying to escape to the west. Eventually the family moved his remains to a family cemetery.





My brother-in-law, the military buff, hated all the non-historical fluff added and said there was enough interesting things really going on to fill the story. But, he also liked the battle scenes, very well done and realistic. Ironically, his thoughts pretty much mirror those of the critics in Germany.

Again, it is streaming in HD on NetFlix.

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Red...0&trkid=222336


And another recent European war film, this one set during WWII is streaming and also based on a true story. Its called Flame and Citron and its streaming in HD also. It is very well done and about the Danish Resistance.

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Flame_a...8?trkid=191776

[HotRats]

Amazon.de are listing the German blu as 129 minutes which is the correct running time for the extended cut but I've no idea whether this is accurate and what the languages/subs are as I can't track down a review.

[ScarredLungs]

I blind bought this from the UK about a month ago. I really enjoyed it.

[Old Bones]

I did enjoy this film , but do keep in mind there are historical inaccuracies in it.
The Red Baron never shot down Roy Brown.
They never met on the ground and shared a drink.
Total BULLSHIT