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The Red Baron


trenchwalker

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just finished watching the new film about the life and times of Von Richofen. Yet another story of love in the trenches etc.THe film consists of Von Richofen meeting up with Roy brown throughout the film . Roy brown being one of the first planes the baron is to shoot down in the film. you would think that just a tiny bit of effort such of this would be made to make a film such as this at least stand out with a lil accuracy to history.

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Trenchwalker

Who was in this? The only one about MvR that I had heard of was a German production that came out in 2008 - Joseph Fiennes played Roy Brown - is that the one?

IMDB link is here.

Regards

Brian

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Bizarre as it's a German production which appears, from looking at the 2 trailers (German & English), to have been filmed in English - not that my German lip reading is up to much...

A shame that the history didn't make it through the script writing.

Brian

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Roy Brown wearing sunglasses whilst flying a Sopwith Camel - I think not! I like how a sign of it being 'business time' is when the German aviators put their goggles over their eyes - presumably the approximately 100mph winds up until that point don't really bother them

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If the film was indeed made with original English language dialogue, it's something of a mystery why the DVD version (I am told) has only a dubbed German soundtrack. Film in English and dub for Germany is undoubtedly the right way round, given the long German tradition of excellent dubbing. I can only think that either the English dialogue or perhaps its delivery by some or all of the German members of the cast is not to the liking of distributors in the English-speaking world. Has anyone, by any chance, seen/heard any of the English soundtrack?

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The DVD came out on 22 August last year - but has only a German vocal track - I can't make out from Amazon.de whether there are English subtitles - but if they filmed it originally in English, that's hardly the point. The official website offers the choice on entry of either German or English - so you can only presume an English version DVD will appear at some point.

Brian

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Roy Brown wearing sunglasses whilst flying a Sopwith Camel - I think not!

Maybe the result of a fat product placement fee paid to the producers by Ray Ban along the lines of 'Top Gun.' What's that you say - Ray Ban aviators weren't developed until 1937? What the heck - the kid's'll still buy the shades when they see 'em on the big screen.

2795_image_5-p.jpg

On the English/German language thing - am I right in supposing that the only DVD edition released so far is a German product? If so then the English version may be the one released by distributors in the US and UK.

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On the English/German language thing - am I right in supposing that the only DVD edition released so far is a German product? If so then the English version may be the one released by distributors in the US and UK.

GAC - the German version is the only one out that I can see - if they recorded it in English then there has to be an English release at some point.

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Here are the offending items, showing that Roy Brown was, in fact, a 1970's porn star

brown.jpg

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Cool - Gary Oldman wore a pair of gregs like that in 'Dracula' a few years back. I wonder who makes them and pays to get them used as props.........

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I must admit that I was most excited by the fact that it was not a Hollywood production which produced Flyboys. I saw the Katie Otesdorf love story coming but thought that there was hope for some accurate combat sequences. The Roy Brown parts however will make this unbearable to watch. Its too bad they couldn't have opened the movie with Manfred downing Hawker or meeting Boelke. The fact that the trailer includes the bits where Manfred is hunting deer as a child on his property held promise but it seems that nothing will be done to make a decent film about the RFC and Imperial Air Service going head to head. That being said, the director in an interview did state that he was not out to create a bio film but rather to use his story as a setting for telling a great story. I happen to think that his real story is infinitely more fascinating than this load of rubbish.

Edit:

I just watched a clip of a dogfight. I have to say that it was quite exciting until, as I suspected, Brown shows up to give Richthofen 'What for." Its funny how many of the Baron's victims hardly even saw him coming as he preferred the quick kill over the dogfight. This nonsense shows him doing the thing that got him killed on April 21, i.e breaking from his comrades to make a lone kill. That said the other stuff look very good. And we get to see MvR in his Albatross!!!

Click for dogfight

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Does anyone out there remember 'Wings' - I think it was called. Dates from early 80s, probably - BBC, I think. I seem to recall it was not bad at all - but then I am no air buff. But it does seem to show that it can be done if you are not working on a preconceived script which allows no flexibility for such minor details such as facts - let them not get in the way of a 'good' story.

On which note, back to book editing!

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It does make you squirm! Product placement, inaccuracies. Any one remember The Blue Max with Christopher Plumber circa 1970? Was that the first love above/in the trenches film ever made?

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It does make you squirm! Product placement, inaccuracies. Any one remember The Blue Max with Christopher Plumber circa 1970? Was that the first love above/in the trenches film ever made?

is it george peppard your thinking of? (Blue max was 1966)

Christopher Plummer had a role in aces high (1976)

matt

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I haven't seen the film Flyboys but the trailers looked a joke and so I skipped it. I also hear on another thread about the dire inconsistencies with the film about Passchendaele and figure it's nothing really new. In this age of the celebrity it appears that 'historical films' are no more than another way of advancing vain careers, as opposed helping to tell things how they really were. No educational value, but lots of lame, inaccurately portrayed 'entertainment.'

One of the things we all strive for as students of the Great War in one way or the other, is the effort we put in whether as historians, writers, artists, re-enactors to get it right. Quite frankly with the resources we have, if we can why can't the likes of Hollywood with all their resources at least make an effort to do the same? The answer of course is that it is too much hassle when the revenue will be brought in anyhow and a gullible general public will bite on it and believe that's how it was.

Some friends of mine, around five years back, were asked by (I think) the BBC to put together some uniforms for the Green Howard's regiment of the Crimean war period. When the media involved realised the quality of the leatherwork (these guys were already re-enactors) they came back with the answer that it was just too good for TV! Now I can understand why you don't put a massive effort into minor details that won't be shown close-up but when it comes to the idots at Hollywood there is simply no excuse. If they can't get it right then they shouldn't bother at all. Researching to get it right should be a matter of pride even if some things end up wrong.

Give me Regeneration anyday and stuff the celebrity culture that gives rise to this dross, under the pretence of historical drama/film, in the first place.

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... a gullible general public will bite on it and believe that's how it was

You are spot on here - as we've seen in other threads recently some gullible people will believe absolutely anything no matter how unlikely! And become quite irate when their inconsistancies are pointed out!!!

Pete

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You are spot on here - as we've seen in other threads recently some gullible people will believe absolutely anything no matter how unlikely! And become quite irate when their inconsistancies are pointed out!!!

Pete

Maybe you could counter what I believe in the appropriate place with a proper argument, as opposed to egging on your school friends without one.

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Maybe you could counter what I believe in the appropriate place with a proper argument, as opposed to egging on your school friends without one.

Cheer up you'll not be long dead!

Pete

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Come again Salesie?

Temper temper! Turn the other cheek, brother!

Pete

PS The Australian War Museum film is spectacular and will surely attract a large number of visitors. It is not particularly realistic in terms of the fighting - (the aircraft looked accurate to me but that means nothing!), but it is exciting and fills the huge screen with images and then a mock dogfight while of course you are surrounded by the actual aircraft. I was jolly impressed anyway.

I am afraid film makers are rather like the old fashioned hellfire preachers touring the wild west - they pick the best bits out and then don't care what they say or do as long as they get an audience and the bills paid.

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You'll not long be dead?

Would you care to explain? It could be construed as a threat but I don't think it is. If you have a problem with what I have said then counter it in the appropriate place as opposed littering someone else's thread.

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You'll not long be dead?

Would you care to explain? It could be construed as a threat but I don't think it is.

I took it to mean that none of us will be long dead because we'll soon be back as a spectre. Utter nonsense I know, but it would make a good movie premise - 'The Return of The Red Baron'.

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