If a remake of The Blue Max was made today, it would have to be directed by that plane enthusiast Peter Jackson. It would be more faithful to Jack Hunter's original novel and the dogfights would look great done with CGI. Cast? Well, Keira Knightley would be great as Countess Kaeti and Count Von Klugermann would be played by Kenneth Branagh. Any other cast suggestions?
sharehi i think Stachel should be played by Ralph Fiennes. he was so good in Schindliers list. knightley is too skinny and too english. the girl who Played part of hitler,s sec in DOWNFALL would be great.my grandson could play ME in my part,!!!
shareI still stick to Miss Knightley. Do you still think Kenneth Branagh would be good as Count Von Klugermann? I think Ralph Fiennes would be too old to play Stachel but you've inadvertantly suggested a good Holbach. Her that was in Downfall would be a great Elfi Heidemann. I've thought further about the other roles. How about Andy Serkis as Kettering?
shareWell, if a remake was to be faithful to Jack Hunter's book, that means that Kaeti Von Klugermann would be a 40-ish but still attractive lady, so no Keira Knightley, Bruno Stachel would survive instead of being killed (Otto Heidemann would be killed), and at the end, Bruno would run off with Kaeti. :)
share'the dogfights would look great done with CGI.'
I can think of nothing worse in the whole world than this,
isn't it amazing how different people's tastes can be?
There is nothing about the original that needs to be bettered, the aircraft and the flying were real and that is as good as an aviation film can offer.
Preach on brother Lindsay! They might as well call a CGI remake, Flyboys II. If they remake it in CGI who would be better Stachel, Woody or Buzz? The big question mark would be Bo Peep, do you think she could pull off Countess Kaeti von Klugermann?
shareCountess von Klugermann should be in her late thirties and still attractive. So my choice would be Angelina Jolie. Perhaps Keira Knightley should play Stachel instead. Her height, weight and body shape would be especially suited to be an airman of the period.
More seriously, George Peppard was something like 6 ft. and would not have been very comfortable on a WWI scout. Pilots at that time were usually of slight build. Richthofen, for example, was about 5' 5", and Max Immelman was even shorter. The planes of that period were very light. For example, the Fokker D.VII, a "large" fighter for the period, weighed ony about 1,500 pounds. Instead of having a pilot or observer weighing 180 pounds, it would be better to have someone who weighed 100 pounds and carry an 80-pound bomb or a few extra belts of ammunition. So I really think Ms. Knightley is a good choice.
Another important factor is age. Some posters suggested Thomas Kretschmann and Ralph Fiennes, but they would be both around fifty by the time any remake appears and therefore far, far too old. Almost all airmen at that time were in their early twenties and even late teens. Richthofen was 25 when he was killed in 1918, and he had already flown for several years. The French ace Georges Marie Guynemer was killed when he was 22.
I read the book a long time ago but didn't like it much. Yes, in the book Stachel survived and it was Heidemann who was killed test-flying the monoplane. I don't recall Stachel running off with the Countess. I think at the end, Stachel was having a drink with Goering.
Perhaps Diane Kruger could play Kaeti, she's German and she's in her thirties. The only problem is she's already done a World War One film - Joyeux Noel.
Here's a picture of her from that film:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2630981888/tt0424205
Anyway, I've just seen this film for the first time today (although I do have a vague memory of seeing it as a child on TV) and I really enjoyed it. A good movie.
I like the screenplay much better than the book.
Well, someone has to ask the question... Why on earth would you want to remake such a great film?
shareI think they wanna remake it because in Hollywood right now, they can't come up with a script not based on a comic book. This reminds me of when that 80's hair metal band covered "Cat's in the Cradle". There are some things that should not be messed with.
shareVery true.
Maybe to cast Will Smith as Bruno Stachel?
I think they would need to cut down the viewing time from 2 and 1/2 hours.
I wanna be sedated....
While I cannot disagree more fervivently about CGI over live action, if this would be remade I would love to see Carice Van Houten play Countess Kaeti Von Klugerman.(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0396924/bio) Her performance in the film, "The Black Book" speaks for its self. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389557/)
shareThere are few young male thespians around today to form a believable cast and remakes are seldom worthwhile for the audience.
shareThere's no audience today for a WWI military aviation film. If I was an executive of a film studio I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
shareThere's no audience today for a WWI military aviation film. If I was an executive of a film studio I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
Every WWI aviation themed film released in the US in the past 20 years has lost money. The most recent one being "Flyboys".
I'm talking about a theatrical release here and not something like a direct to DVD release or maybe a tv movie on PBS or something.
COME ON! No one cares! The END!
Well, I do.. But what'll that do?
Sure an executive would touch it. All he'd have to do is make the cast multi-cultural, plenty of CGI with fast cuts, no scene lasting more than 12 seconds, and a rap soundtrack.
shareNo way they could match the original today.
Aerial photography in real airplanes (built for the movie) cannot be equaled by CGI.