# Is it time for a WWI flying film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769 "2011-11-13T04:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/61 "2011-11-17T21:59:56Z")
I think Richtoffen & Brown,by Roger Corman (!) touched on Goering being in the Flying Circus. Not a very good movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/62 "2011-11-17T22:04:50Z")
Has anyone mentioned the Red Baron? šŸ˜‰ Is it time for a movie about the Red Baron ā€“ _The Video Game_? Where the protagonist must shoot down planes at a distance of miles, while being shot at by triangular bunkers in impossibly steep valleys so tight you cannot turn around. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/63 "2011-11-18T09:48:39Z")
Iā€™m absolutely amazed they havenā€™t made a ā€œSeriousā€ _Biggles_ film. Thereā€™s umpteen squillion books in the series and theyā€™re not all set in WWI. Although I agree with the esteemed Mr. L.A. that weā€™re way, way overdue for a decent WWI action flying film. Itā€™d be even better if it wasnā€™t focused on the folly of war or Americans. šŸ˜› **Johnny** , have you seen _Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines_? Itā€™s pre-WWI but full of vintage aeroplanes and a great film, too. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/64 "2011-11-18T10:21:54Z")
how much would bi- and tri-planes cost? iā€™m assuming they have to build new ones. for WWII aircraft, they have to scounge for the actual planes or disguise the more recent ones. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/65 "2011-11-18T10:35:45Z")
They just released a WWI film about three years ago. _The Red Baron_ staring Lena Headey and a German cast. Really well done film. Itā€™s a shame that it didnā€™t get a bigger American release. I watched it primarily because Lena was playing Sarah Connor on tv and I wanted to see her in other roles. > **[The Red Baron (2008) ā­ 6.3 | Action, Adventure, Biography](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365675/)** > > 1h 46m | PG-13 ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/66 "2011-11-18T11:53:37Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Thereā€™s a factoid about WW1 flyboys that would crack me right up on the big screen. In the early period of the war, aeroplanes were not designed or even thought of as combat machines at all, simply observation platforms. As such, they were completely unarmed. Then pilots got the notion that, since they were already up there above enemy trenches and all, why not bring party gifts ? So theyā€™d chuck grenades or drop small artillery shells by hand, from the cockpit down onto the poor shmucks below. > > While this was extremely clever and fair, it turned out not to be very funny at all when the flyboys from the other side started doing it as well, and so there came to be a need to prevent them from doing that. But remember: unarmed planes. So what did they do ? Brought a rifle along, and took potshots at each other, along the sides of course because they didnā€™t want to shoot their own props off. Presumably while driving their planes with their knees or something. > Itā€™s only later than someone got the brilliant idea of mounting some forward-facing machine guns on the planes and the dogfight was born. > > Still, the hilariously low-tech early solutions have something surreal about them. Like a 1920s style drive-by. You have it a bit backwards thoughā€¦the earliest planes were used for scouting and artillery spotting, hence they had a crew of two: pilot and observer. Naturally, when these unarmed planed would encounter each other, they would take pot shots using their service weapons. Fighters were later introduced to take out the scouts. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/67 "2011-11-18T12:27:13Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UPgS26ZhqZs/hqdefault.jpg "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines - Original theme song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPgS26ZhqZs) For **John** , et al šŸ™‚ Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/68 "2011-11-18T12:32:42Z")
Interestingly, a machine-gun was first fired from an aircraft on June 7, 1912 (A Lewis Gun, from a Wright B Flyer), but a lot of the early air combat weapons were indeed service handguns, rifles, and shotguns. ā€œPusherā€ aircraft (with the propellor behind the fuselage) and top-wing mounted MGs were also quite common until effective machine-gun interrupter gear was developed in 1915. I know, not strictly relevant to the thread, but there you go. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/69 "2011-11-18T19:39:08Z")
Iā€™d love to see a movie about the "Twenty Minuters ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/70 "2011-11-18T22:55:58Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Good ideas all. But Iā€™m still waiting for a big budget WWI trench filmā€¦the 30 seconds of WWI in _Twelve Monkeys_ whet my appetite for one back in the 90s and Iā€™m still waiting. The 1979 _All Quiet on the Western Front_ is recent enough to be enjoyable. The story of how US naval aviation started in WW1 essentially as an volunteer activity of the Yale University Flying Club was a good read when [Marc Wortman wrote about it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Yale_Unit), and might make a good flick (period, of course) too. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/71 "2011-11-18T23:40:46Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Something needs to be made of their youth. Albert Ball was 20 when he died, Manfred von Richthofen was 25, but they are too often portrayed by much older actors. If this is going to be a British flick, Mick Mannock might make a better subject than Albert Ball - heā€™d let the old English class structure stuff be part of the story. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/72 "2011-11-18T23:41:07Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The 1979 _All Quiet on the Western Front_ is recent enough to be enjoyable. Iā€™ve actually seen and enjoyed all the trench movies mentioned in this thread. If you search the message boards Iā€™ve written about Gallipoli a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/73 "2011-11-19T00:07:57Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Itā€™d be even better if it wasnā€™t focused on the folly of war or Americans. šŸ˜› Absolute agreement about the Americans, but any movie about WWI that isnā€™t about the folly and horror of war is likely to be unrealistic. > [@](#): > > **Johnny** , have you seen _Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines_? Itā€™s pre-WWI but full of vintage aeroplanes and a great film, too. Great Movie! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/74 "2011-11-19T01:35:34Z")
And, since weā€™re gettin close to the holidays, this one is for ALL of us who love those ā€œFlying Machinesā€! I hope yā€™all enjoy (especially _you_, ā€œFlyboyā€! [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu2NgoaxGz8) Hope yā€™all enjoy! Royal Guardsmen! Thanks Quasimodem PS: Itā€™s _supposed_ a radio news program, okay? šŸ™‚ Crank it! Itā€™s in great stereo! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/75 "2011-11-19T02:41:36Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > **Johnny** , have you seen _Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines_? Itā€™s pre-WWI but full of vintage aeroplanes and a great film, too. > [@Quasimodem](#): > > [http://youtu.be/UPgS26ZhqZs](http://youtu.be/UPgS26ZhqZs) > > For **John** , et al šŸ™‚ Yep, though I havenā€™t seen it for many, many years. They just donā€™t play it as often as they did in the '70s. I have some Biggles books around here somewhere. Been years since Iā€™ve read them. Maybe Iā€™ll dig them out when it gets less busy. Good to see you, **Martini Enfield**! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/76 "2011-11-19T02:53:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The 1979 _All Quiet on the Western Front_ is recent enough to be enjoyable. Indeed. That being said there are battle scenes in the original that IMO are almost irreproducible. (And are now watchable thanks to the multi-tracked sound). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/77 "2011-11-19T03:41:51Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Absolute agreement about the Americans, but any movie about WWI that isnā€™t about the folly and horror of war is likely to be unrealistic. I direct you to _Lawrence of Arabia_, which is a WWI movie thatā€™s not about the folly and horror of war (theyā€™re mentioned, but arenā€™t a focal point of the film). As to to the realism of the filmā€¦ they certainly took a number of artistic liberties with elements of events, but- well, the filmā€™s rightly considered One Of The Greats. Interestingly, itā€™s one of only a tiny handful of films Iā€™m aware of set in the Palestinian Theatre of WWI, too. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/78 "2011-11-19T04:37:07Z")
My ABOVE post: Yā€™all do have to listen to it! Itā€™s worth it, I promise!šŸ™‚ Especially my hood friend, **Johnny**! Itā€™s not heard a whole lot these days! Quasi šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/79 "2011-11-19T04:46:30Z")
ā€œgoodā€ friend. Heā€™s not a ā€œhoodā€ AFIK! šŸ™‚ Love ya, **John**! Bill ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769/80 "2011-11-19T09:21:15Z")
ā€œLooping the loop and defying the groundā€! After my 12 jumps skydiving, I did my ā€œDiscovery Flightā€ for a pilotā€™s license before I went batshit, and the pilot (a friend of mine) shut the engine off while we were up there? You wouldnā€™t have wanted hear what I told him when he did that, but it had to do with being inbred and being a motherfucker. Well, a _Southern_ Redneck, Cocksucking, Piece of Shit, actually. Luckily, he got that thing cranked back up and laughed his ass off when we landed. Fucking idiot. Q [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-a-wwi-flying-film/602769.md?page=5)