"Richthofen, der rote Ritter der Luft", 1927, Germany
"Wings", 1929, USA,
"Hell's Angels", 1930, USA
"The Dawn Patrol", 1930, USA
The Dawn Patrol" (Remake), 1938, USA
"Pour le Mérite", 1938, Germany
"Lafayette Escadrille", 1958, USA
"The Blue Max", 1966, USA
"Von Richthofen and Brown", 1971, USA
"The Great Waldo Pepper", 1975, USA
"Aces High", 1976, USA
"Flyboys", 2006, USA
"The Red Baron", 2008, Germany
Crossing the Line (2008) by Peter Jackson, despite not being a choice, is pretty good.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Philistines, you guys just can't appreciate good, camp sci fi
Or Matilda May
Just picked up Flyboys today at the princely sum of 3€ so I am heartened by its votes so far. Got to go for Aces High, Although BM was a close second
I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing
I voted for "The Blue Max," but was surprised to see the results of the poll thus far,
I haven't seen all that many WWI air movies, and appreciate this poll, as it serves as a "Bucket List" of movies I need to view.
I've only ever watched Flyboys. But now... i have a whole new "must watch" list.
I've seen Flyboys, Red Baron ('08), Waldo Pepper, and of course Blue Max. I guess Waldo Pepper is a WWI flying movie, but I didn't think of it as such until I saw this poll. It was a pleasure to see the Jenny's and DrI's. I'm a bit ashamed to say I can't remember what allied plane Waldo flew in the final "dogfight" sequence. Was it a Camel?
I also enjoyed enjoyed a lot: Fly Boy , Red Baron ('08) , Blue Max etc but there is one that I liked very much is L'instinct de l'Ange (The Instinct of the Angel ) translated into English by Angel's Wing ) a French film 1992/93 of Richard Dembo, that is inspired by the life of Guynemer with Lambert Wilson in the main role.
Here's a review of the one on The Blog " War Movie Buff " :
https://warmoviebuff.blogspot.com/20...wing-1993.html
" The strength of the movie is its unusual script and its unique take on WWI air combat. The movie had a limited number of aircraft available, but they are vintage. You get to see a Morane, Farman, Spad, Rumpler, and Fokker Dr. 1. The acrobatics are outstanding. There is no use of CGI so the movie is the opposite of “Fly Boys”. The movie gets some nice touches in. We see a listening post that has four giant hearing aids. It is really neat to see Henri have to stand up in flight to change his machine gun drum. There is not a lot of actual dogfighting and all of it is duels instead of melees. No one shoots down a plane except Henri.
The movie could have easily been a play and that’s a compliment.
It’s not the best dogfighting movie, but it is worth the watch."
I haven't seen all of the choices, but I certainly enjoyed "Red Baron" enough to warrant a few re-watches. I show a few clips of it to my students, too (who are thrilled by the aerial sequences).
I was working on some planes and tanks on my workbench this past weekend and had some old VHS tapes in the machine at the time. It doesn't qualify as either a WWI or war movie at all, but it is a great flying movie. Jimmy Stewart as Charles Lindbergh in "Spirit of Saint Louis." After all these years, I was still on the edge of my seat as the Spirit was picking up ice over the North Atlantic.
Maybe a bit WWI air war related, as it does mention the French ace Nungesser and his attempt at the Paris to New York crossing. I'm not so familiar with his co-pilot Coli (spelling?).
François Coli :
François_Coli.png
" Transferred to the French Air Service, gaining his pilot's brevet in March 1916. Late that year he joined*Escadrille*N.62 and rose to command the squadron in February 19 "
Captain Coli remained as chief of the Escadrille des Coqs even after losing an eye in a crash in March 1918. He departed the Roosters that August with a reputation as an exceptional navigator and leader " :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Coli
François COLI (who disappeared with Nungesser during the attempt to cross the Atlantic in 1927 on board the Oiseau Blanc) was the victim of an accident during the war during which he had an incredible attitude (and showed an exemplary sense of humor) :
On March 10, 1918, while returning from a reconnaisance mission, the SPAD VII, piloted by Capt. François COLI, crashed into a Bessonneau hangar. Among other injuries, he had his eye torn out. His men were shocked, the medical service arrived, but the Captain energetically refused to be evacuated without having given orders that he considered urgent.
His face is pale, his suffering is immense despite his efforts to hide it, he manages to articulate the following order:
"To write immediately on a sign the following order: It is forbidden for all men of this squadron except their leader to enter the hangars with their aircraft by any other way than through the doors provided for this purpose."
The order was carried out and Coli, evacuated, left behind him a squadron whose courage was further galvanized by the extraordinary attitude of a leader they admired.
After being treated at the Val de Grâce and Lariboisiere hospitals, he resumed his command on April 24, 1918.
http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escad...ille062-03.htm
696022EB-ADB1-4132-9E97-88E4AAFD25F4.jpeg
An interesting aside monse.
Maybe they should make a movie of this.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
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