Der Rote Baron movie. Any good?

[foodstick]

I just wish you could walk in to any video store and rent the thing, About 2 years ago !!! hard to believe the way it has taken so long ...

[Pete Hill]

The Der Rote Baron is not a bad film (I have certainly seen a lot worse). The excess gloss, the sentimentalism and the enormous licenses taken with historical fact are its major flaws. The air-fight sequences, although there are too few, are excellently produced. If the film had got greater exposure outside Germany, the movie could have garnered an oscar nomination for its special effects and CGI.
Will Peter Jackson ever produce his rumoured desired WW1 air-war epic? At the present time, that would be doubtful given that movies are business afterall and must turn a profit. After 'Flyboys' and 'Der Rote Baron' bombing so spectacularly, WW1 air-war films now look like a very bad investment. Indeed War films and historical epics in general are now seen as un-attractive proposals, given that most of the big-budget ones produced over the last ten years have performed either poorly or only moderately well at the box-office. War films like 'Windtalkers', 'Enemy at the Gates' & 'Flags of our fathers' have all done relatively poorly, as did historical epics like 'Kingdom of Heaven', 'Alexander', 'Troy' & 'The Alamo'.
However, the long-rumoured remake of 'The Dambusters' is finally under-way, with production beginning in New Zealand a few months ago after two or three years of delays. Peter Jackson is producing and British Comedian and Writer Stephen Fry, well-known for his enthusiasm for military history, is writing the screenplay. At first I feared that Jackson would let his imagination run wild and succumb to the temptation to exaggerate the action into a CGI spectacle. I worried that I would see ranks of Lancasters being attacked by hundreds of Messerschmitt nightfighters swarming down like hordes of bloodthirsty Orcs! But then I remembered that Jackson has a genuine passion for wartime aviation and history and I am confident that he will be respectful to the historical truths.

Pete

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Gentlemen:

Patti and I watched the English version last Sunday. The voice sound is off, barely above a whisper. They must of had the microphone about 20 ft away from the actors. I had the sound turned full volume and could not get all the conversation. Graphificly quite good, They got the brothers heights screwed up, they have MvR as a 6 footer and Lothar about 5'8" . Historically, I agree with Tom, it about 50% accurate. For a good story and entertainment its about a 90%. I would watch it again, and again.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[lunargale]

I confess, I haven't read all the previous posts, but wanted to give my opinion anyway (i'm sure i'm repeating others). I actually liked the movie but had issues with it. Cut scenes were the worst. It felt like there was hardly any history in the movie as opposed to cut scene after cut scene. We knew they're goign to fly... then we just see them land? It's a movie about a fighter ace... we're watching it because we don't MIND watching dogfights! I think that Matthias did a good job as Manfred though so that was nice. It was also amazing to see the planes. Ive watched it three times now, and yes, i'll watch it again- to be entertained.

Also, his relationship with Brown .... I kept waiting for them to kiss. There you go. I said it. -sigh- they could have worked that a bit better than it came out I think.

Sorry for butting in.

EDIT: I did forget to mention that even though i had my own personal issues with the movie- i DO recommend it. Even though i get irritated at it sometimes (poor audio) I love it.

[tcrean7828]

Originally Posted by lunargale

I confess, I haven't read all the previous posts, but wanted to give my opinion anyway (i'm sure i'm repeating others). I actually liked the movie but had issues with it. Cut scenes were the worst. It felt like there was hardly any history in the movie as opposed to cut scene after cut scene. We knew they're goign to fly... then we just see them land? It's a movie about a fighter ace... we're watching it because we don't MIND watching dogfights! I think that Matthias did a good job as Manfred though so that was nice. It was also amazing to see the planes. Ive watched it three times now, and yes, i'll watch it again- to be entertained.

Also, his relationship with Brown .... I kept waiting for them to kiss. There you go. I said it. -sigh- they could have worked that a bit better than it came out I think.

Sorry for butting in.

EDIT: I did forget to mention that even though i had my own personal issues with the movie- i DO recommend it. Even though i get irritated at it sometimes (poor audio) I love it.

Lass,
Might I offer a suggestion by getting a copy of the original in the German Language. It sure helped me out a lot and the volume was right up there were it ought to be.

As I mentioned it before, I give it 5 out or 10 for accuracy and 9 out of 10 for entertainment. Guess Dan-San agrees with me on that aspect, and I due watch it now and again, espically when the tv begins to show the - I was there - war pics of ww1.

Overall - I thought that the folks that produced the movie tried to cram as much of MvR's life in as possible and what they did show they sprinted through it like it was dash for the cash.

I guess, looking back, I wounder why they didn't throw some stuff from his (KG) Observer days in to round it out - you know from 1914 - 1918.

Keep in touch - were a lively lot around here, but at least you will know it when you jump on a raw nerve -then- all the pack hounds come out to play.

ttfn (ta ta for now)

tcrean7828

tom