The Red Baron

"Heroes rise. Empires fall. Legends endure."

2008 1h 46m DE

👍

6.7

SOLID

🥫

13%

ROTTEN

⭐

6.3

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 289🥫13%Rotten Tomatoes★6.3IMDB · 13,304

ActionAdventureDramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Richthofen goes off to war like thousands of other men. As fighter pilots, they become cult heroes for the soldiers on the battlefields. Marked by sportsmanlike conduct, technical exactitude and knightly propriety, they have their own code of honour. Before long he begins to understand that his hero status is deceptive. His love for Kate, a nurse, opens his eyes to the brutality of war.

“Heroes rise. Empires fall. Legends endure.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Matthias Schweighöfer
Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Til Schweiger
Werner Voss
Lena Headey
Käthe
Joseph Fiennes
Captain Roy Brown
Volker Bruch
Lothar von Richthofen
Julie Engelbrecht
Ilse
Maxim Mehmet
Leutnant Sternberg
Steffen Schroeder
Leutnant Bodenschatz

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nikolai Müllerschön
Writers: Nikolai Müllerschön, Gerd Schneider
Languages: German, French, English
Countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 15% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

324+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nikolai Müllerschön, shot by Klaus Merkel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dirk Reichardt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Emmelie Mansee shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nikolai Müllerschön directs. Klaus Merkel behind the camera. Dirk Reichardt scores. Emmelie Mansee cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in German, French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 15% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 18 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, French, English.
4International production across 3 countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America.
5324+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Nikolai Müllerschön, shot by Klaus Merkel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Dirk Reichardt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Emmelie Mansee shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Matthias Schweighöfer and Til Schweiger and Lena Headey carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Heroes rise. Empires fall. Legends endure.".
11IMDB entry: tt0365675 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 11 themes, including "army", "airplane", "flying", "nurse".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Klaus Merkel
Original score: Dirk Reichardt
Editing: Emmelie Mansee
Production design: Yvonne von Wallenberg
Costume design: Gudrun Schretzmeier
Makeup / hair: Zdena Prchlíková
VFX supervisor: Rainer Gombos
Sound: Hubert Bartholomae
Stunt coordinator: Ladislav Lahoda
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $2,783,332
Return: 15% of budget
Original language: DE
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Red Baron (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 13% 🥫 Rotten
IMDB rating: 6.3/10 · 13,304 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

2 nominations

Also by

Nikolai Müllerschön

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2019-11-29
★ 5/10
Curiously unabsorbing account of the Red Baron The exceptional career of the ace-of-aces, Manfred Von Richthofen, is chronicled up to his death at 25 years-of-age on April 21, 1918. “The Red Baron" (2008) comes in the tradition of similar WW1 fighter pilot flicks “The Blue Max” (1966), “Aces High" (1976) and “Flyboys” (2006). “The Blue Max” is an extraordinary melancholic epic while the realistic “Aces High” is good, but one-dimensionally mundane. The blockbuster-ish “Flyboys” is entertaining, but marred by comic book storytelling (think “Legends of the Fall”). Does “The Red Baron” match or surpass any of these movies? Unfortunately, no. Everything is here for a quality film of this sort, but something about the storytelling makes for a curiously unabsorbing viewing experience, whether the fault is the script, the directing or something else (no doubt a combination). The first act lacks dramatic hooks and the necessary exposition to grab the viewer; and the movie never recovers. This is augmented by the typical non-historical additions, like the nonsense of Von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighöfer) and Capt. Roy Brown (Joseph Fiennes) having cozy little chats throughout the course of the war. A lesser criticism is that a few of the cast members are noticeably too old for the parts. For instance, Lt. Werner Voss was only 20 when he was shot down while actor Til Schweiger was in his mid-40s during shooting. Lena Headey is a milder example. The score is good, but conspicuously rips-off the superior “The Last of the Mohicans” in two parts. It’s not all bad. Schweighöfer, for instance, is fine for the titular role and carries the picture, which admittedly LOOKS good. I’ve seen the flick three times over the years and there’s enough good here to make it worth watching for people interested in Von Richthofen and what it was like during WW1. The story’s just not captivating. The film runs 1 hour, 46 minutes, and was shot in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with studio stuff done in Prague. GRADE: C+

Production companies