Finally Saw It...

[JFM 18]

Personally, I *hate* Waldo Pepper. Hate it. How much more hate could there be? None more hate. From my experience it's just done too much to over-romanticize white silk scarves and chivalry. If it were kept in its fictional movie context, okay, but it has spilled over into "the way it was in WW1" and that's where my irritation lies. I've been fighting it for years.

 

However, I agree, a point in its favor is at least it used real airplanes. CGI planes have too fast airspeeds, the attacking formations are tighter than the Blue Angels, have Albatros D.IIIs on prolonged vertical power dives, the planes handle like Sean Tucker in his Oracle Challenger III, yadda.

Edited August 3, 2011 by JFM

[Olham 164]

Just switched off a "History" series by German TV 2nd program ZDF.

It was about Manfred von Richthofen and the introduction of fighter squadrons.

The narrative part wasn't really wrong, but left out such important detail as Lanoe Hawker

and von Richthofen getting driven into German held terrain more and more by western wind,

with the result, that Hawker had to give up his turning and head for his lines, when petrol ran

out. The visual scenes were the crapp - they cut together anything that seemed to fit.

For Hawker's end, they showed a DH-2 going down in flames. I switched it off.

 

The more you are becoming sort of an expert, the more can such films and documentations

be bad for your blood pressure, and general health, I guess.

Arrghhh!!!

Edited August 3, 2011 by Olham

[CaptSopwith 23]

Just switched off a "History" series by German TV 2nd program ZDF.

It was about Manfred von Richthofen and the introduction of fighter squadrons.

The narrative part wasn't really wrong, but left out such important detail as Lanoe Hawker

and von Richthofen getting driven into German held terrain more and more by western wind,

with the result, that Hawker had to give up his turning and head for his lines, when petrol ran

out. The visual scenes were the crapp - they cut together anything that seemed to fit.

For Hawker's end, they showed a DH-2 going down in flames. I switched it off.

 

The more you are becoming sort of an expert, the more can such films and documentations

be bad for your blood pressure, and general health, I guess.

Arrghhh!!!

 

 

I completely agree Olham. For someone who isn't familiar with MvR's life story, The Red Baron is probably a pretty good popcorn flick. The action scenes are decent enough, the CGI is exceptionally well done - again, if you don't know the aerodynamic limitations of WWI era machinery - and the love story is good enough to keep the saps hanging on. But for the history student, who knows MvR wasn't shot down by Roy Brown when he received his head wound, who knows MvR wasn't anything remotely related to a pacifist, that MvR wasn't "a rebel," that he suffered the losses of his comrades as much as anyone, that Field Modifications were not only known of, they were accepted by men like Antony Fokker... it goes on and on and when you study this sort of thing for a living, it makes you pull your hair out.

 

As I said, his actual, real, well-documented life (this isn't King Arthur we're talking about here) would make a phenomenally good movie and as The Red Baron shows, the CGI would be good enough to do it. Why they failed so spectacularly - particularly considering that this was a German studio - simply escapes me.

 

 

[Olham 164]

Often the producers change things from "historically accurat" to "thats what they wanna see".

And the producers, as far as I know, were Warner Bros.

The whole film was made in English (!) and only afterwards synchronised by the German actors.

[Javito1986 14]

WW1 air movies are pointless anyway. Most are terrible, some are good, none are great. Who needs them when I can just buy Flanders Fields and enjoy the experience so much more?

 

Although I admit it would be amusing to mod an Albatros to fly like an F-16, but only if you could use that plane in the main campaign. Actually, why not just give you an F-16? You can fly one with Jasta 11, outdo the Baron for sure in that thing. Hell, just fly up to Flanders and turn south, it'll take you only a few minutes to reach Alsace and along the way you can pop all the Allied observation balloons on the entire Front. It'd be just like that old Turtledove book where the guys go back in time to give AK-47s to the Confederates in the American Civil War.

[CaptSopwith 23]

WW1 air movies are pointless anyway. Most are terrible, some are good, none are great. Who needs them when I can just buy Flanders Fields and enjoy the experience so much more?

 

Although I admit it would be amusing to mod an Albatros to fly like an F-16, but only if you could use that plane in the main campaign. Actually, why not just give you an F-16? You can fly one with Jasta 11, outdo the Baron for sure in that thing. Hell, just fly up to Flanders and turn south, it'll take you only a few minutes to reach Alsace and along the way you can pop all the Allied observation balloons on the entire Front. It'd be just like that old Turtledove book where the guys go back in time to give AK-47s to the Confederates in the American Civil War.

 

LOL! Or something like this?

 

 

 

PS: I love this movie. Saw it as a kid and I've adored it ever since.

[Javito1986 14]

That's freaking awesome! I want to see that like right now!