Let me start by saying that I won't go into detail about all the historical inaccuracies, there are just too many of them.
They're just one of the many big disappointments n the "The Red Baron". Perhaps the biggest flaw is the script, which doesn't really have a story to tell. What were they thinking when they based the whole script around the tired old "soldier meets beautiful nurse with a heart of gold who opens his eyes to the carnage around him"-convention? Von Richthofen was not an ignorant man. Historical records show that he did see the appalling conditions in the trenches first-hand, so he wasn't oblivious to the fact that war is an ugly business. But: He was also a man of his time and most of all a career-soldier and a Prussian aristocrat. Do the filmmakers *really* think that a man of his background would tell Ludendorff and Hindenburg the war was unwinnable and they should just stop it? Or that he would get cocky with the Kaiser? On a similar note: Richthofen (like most people of his time) certainly did see the air-war as a chivalrous endeavor. However: He also knew that his task was to destroy enemy planes. He was glad when he could bring an opponent down alive and shake his hand, but he was certainly not a pacifist fighter-pilot. In fact: It was common practice at the time to aim for the pilot, because due to the construction of WW1-planes and due to the weapons they used that was the surest and quickest way to get a kill.
All of this is quite easily explained: The film was written in the 21st century, with 21st century values and morales and the atrocities of Nazi-Germany in WW2 in mind. You can almost feel the need of the author to squeeze in the "War is bad!"-message wherever possible. That's not at all how people in Europe thought in the days of WW1.
My second big gripe is the choice of action-sequences. Being something of an aviation-nut, I could tell you from the top of my head which real life events in von Richthofen's life would *have* to be in a film about him.
1. His relationship to Boelcke and Boelcke's death. This was the guy who practically invented the rules of air-combat ("Dicta Boelcke"), rules which largely still apply today. Plus Boelcke was von Richthofen's mentor and the guy who saw the young Baron's potential early on.
2. von Richthofen's duel with Hawker. One of the classic dogfights of all time. It supposedly lasted for several minutes and featured two combatants who were evenly matched. How can you *not* have that duel in the picture?
3. Werner Voss' death. Again: One of the all-time-greats when it comes to aerial combat. Voss fought an entire elite-squadron of the RFC and damaged all of their planes before he was finally shot down.
4. von Richthofen's head injury and the effect it had on his behavior. A lot of experts believe that the brain damage he suffered from that wound, led to him ignoring one of his elementary rules in his final dogfight. He got fixated on his target, followed him to the deck and over into British territory, leading to his death by MG-fire from the ground.
5. The Baron's death itself.
All of those were only hinted at in the film - that's like making a film like Gladiator without once showing actual gladiatorial combat.
The film is not without some strong points however: The CGI-dogfights do look convincing and the set-design and costumes are pretty much spot-on. Watch it for those points alone, but don't expect an historically accurate depiction of von Richthofen's life. He, along with all the other characters, is not fleshed out one bit, so in the end, we don't really care who lives and dies.
They're just one of the many big disappointments n the "The Red Baron". Perhaps the biggest flaw is the script, which doesn't really have a story to tell. What were they thinking when they based the whole script around the tired old "soldier meets beautiful nurse with a heart of gold who opens his eyes to the carnage around him"-convention? Von Richthofen was not an ignorant man. Historical records show that he did see the appalling conditions in the trenches first-hand, so he wasn't oblivious to the fact that war is an ugly business. But: He was also a man of his time and most of all a career-soldier and a Prussian aristocrat. Do the filmmakers *really* think that a man of his background would tell Ludendorff and Hindenburg the war was unwinnable and they should just stop it? Or that he would get cocky with the Kaiser? On a similar note: Richthofen (like most people of his time) certainly did see the air-war as a chivalrous endeavor. However: He also knew that his task was to destroy enemy planes. He was glad when he could bring an opponent down alive and shake his hand, but he was certainly not a pacifist fighter-pilot. In fact: It was common practice at the time to aim for the pilot, because due to the construction of WW1-planes and due to the weapons they used that was the surest and quickest way to get a kill.
All of this is quite easily explained: The film was written in the 21st century, with 21st century values and morales and the atrocities of Nazi-Germany in WW2 in mind. You can almost feel the need of the author to squeeze in the "War is bad!"-message wherever possible. That's not at all how people in Europe thought in the days of WW1.
My second big gripe is the choice of action-sequences. Being something of an aviation-nut, I could tell you from the top of my head which real life events in von Richthofen's life would *have* to be in a film about him.
1. His relationship to Boelcke and Boelcke's death. This was the guy who practically invented the rules of air-combat ("Dicta Boelcke"), rules which largely still apply today. Plus Boelcke was von Richthofen's mentor and the guy who saw the young Baron's potential early on.
2. von Richthofen's duel with Hawker. One of the classic dogfights of all time. It supposedly lasted for several minutes and featured two combatants who were evenly matched. How can you *not* have that duel in the picture?
3. Werner Voss' death. Again: One of the all-time-greats when it comes to aerial combat. Voss fought an entire elite-squadron of the RFC and damaged all of their planes before he was finally shot down.
4. von Richthofen's head injury and the effect it had on his behavior. A lot of experts believe that the brain damage he suffered from that wound, led to him ignoring one of his elementary rules in his final dogfight. He got fixated on his target, followed him to the deck and over into British territory, leading to his death by MG-fire from the ground.
5. The Baron's death itself.
All of those were only hinted at in the film - that's like making a film like Gladiator without once showing actual gladiatorial combat.
The film is not without some strong points however: The CGI-dogfights do look convincing and the set-design and costumes are pretty much spot-on. Watch it for those points alone, but don't expect an historically accurate depiction of von Richthofen's life. He, along with all the other characters, is not fleshed out one bit, so in the end, we don't really care who lives and dies.