The Red Baron (Film 2008)

The Red Baron (also known by its original German title, Der Rote Baron) is a 2008 German-British biographical action war film written and directed by Nikolai Müllerschön about the World War I flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as the "Red Baron". Audio in English with English subtitles (click on CC).

The film stars Matthias Schweighöfer, Joseph Fiennes, Til Schweiger and Lena Headey. To improve its chances on the international market, The Red Baron was filmed entirely in the English language, although it is a German production depicting Germans. With an estimated budget of 18 million euros, it is one of the most expensive and at the same time lowest-grossing films in German history.

The Red Baron premiered on 31 March 2008 in Berlin and was released a week later in the German cinemas but was quite controversial in Germany, where glorification of war heroes has become taboo. The reviews after the first public performances of the film were mainly negative, criticizing in particular the high level of historical inaccuracy.

Reviewing the movie, Manfred von Richthofen, the Baron's nephew said "It's a remarkable movie". "Somehow it did not turn into a war film. The personality and especially the thoughtfulness of my uncle are true to life."

Richthofen biographer Joachim Castan, called Richthofen's and Otersdorf's affair "complete rubbish"; "The historical Richthofen was the James Dean of World War I, an idol of his time, but he had no affairs with women. He also did not drink and did not visit brothels." And it is true that on three occasions he waved his enemy to the ground rather than shooting them out of the sky. (In one case, seeing that an enemy pilot's gun had jammed, Von Richthofen waved him down to the ground, jumped out, shook his hand and then took off again.) But in other respects, Von Richthofen was "cold-blooded," says Castan. "He was mainly interested in his strike rate. He did not try to conceal the fact that he was aiming to kill."

Cast & Characters:
Matthias Schweighöfer as Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen
Lena Headey as Nurse Käte Otersdorf
Til Schweiger as Leutnant Werner Voss
Volker Bruch as Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen
Maxim Mehmet as Leutnant Friedrich Sternberg
Hanno Koffler as Leutnant Lohmann
Tino Mewes as Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff
Steffen Schroeder as Oberleutnant Karl Bodenschatz
Axel Prahl as General der Kavallerie Ernst von Hoeppner
Joseph Fiennes as "Captain" Roy Brown "RCFC"[Note 1]
Tomáš Koutník as Young Manfred von Richthofen
Tomáš Ibl as Young Lothar von Richthofen
Albert Franc as Young Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
Richard Krajčo as Major Lanoe Hawker VC RFC
Lukáš Příkazký as Oberleutnant Stefan Kirmaier
Gitta Schweighöfer as Kunigunde von Richthofen
Branislav Holiček as Leutnant Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
Julie Engelbrecht as Ilse von Richthofen
Jan Vlasák as Major Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen
Luise Bähr as Sophie
Irena Máchová as Clara
Robert Nebřenský as Feldwebel Räuber
Ralph Misske as Menzke
Josef Vinklář as Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg
Ladislav Frej as Kaiser Wilhelm II
Patrik Plesinger as Hauptmann Doering
Jiří Laštovka as Oberleutnant Ernst Udet
Rostislav Novák as Oberleutnant Erich Loewenhardt
Zdeněk Pecha as Leutnant Werner Steinhäuser
Jiří Kout as Leutnant Eberhard Mohnicke
Karsten Kaie as Anthony Fokker