Adequate Roger Corman flick about air combat during World War I. The movie mainly focuses on Manfred von Richtofen (a.k.a. the "Red Baron," who, with 80 confirmed kills, was the highest-scoring pilot during the war) and Roy Brown - a Canadian ace* flying with Britain's Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force who supposedly killed the Baron in combat (in reality, it was probably an Australian soldier who fired the fatal bullet). The acting isn't anything to crow about (everyone speaks English, and individual characters, save for Brown, are difficult to pick out), and there are many, many glaring historical errors. The flying sequences are the best thing about the film, and feature authentic aircraft (and, in some cases, replicas). No real surprises, but the film is palatable.
Rating: 70/100
*An "ace" is generally defined as a pilot who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft in combat. This number varied during World War I, but by the end of the war, the number was generally five. The highest-scoring ace of all time is Erich Hartmann, a German pilot during World War II with a whopping 352 aerial victories (in second place is fellow German Gerhard Barkhorn, who racked up a mere 301 kills during WWII).
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