Europe, 1916. Baron Manfred von Richthofen (MATTHIAS SCHWEIGHÖFER) is, at the age of just 24, the crack pilot of the German aerial combat forces – a legend in his own time, a hero at home and a man both feared and respected by the enemy, including Allied Forces' Canadian pilot, Captain Roy Brown (JOSEPH FIENNES). Von Richthofen and his fellow officers, Lieutenants Voss (TIL SCHWEIGER), Sternberg (MAXIM MEHMET) and Lehmann (HANNO KOFFLER) see their duels in the sky as tactical, almost sportsmanlike, challenges that, at least at first, obscure their view of the horrors of the battlefields below. The provocative red paint job of his Fokker aircraft earns him the nickname 'The Red Baron' and makes him famous the world over. For millions of his countrymen, he becomes an idol, a symbol of hope and pride. But the German high command increasingly misuses him for propaganda purposes – until the young pilot falls in love with Käte (LENA HEADLY), a beautiful and resolute nurse who opens his eyes to the fact that there is more to war than dogfights won and adversaries downed. Manfred von Richthofen finally becomes aware of his role in the propaganda machine of a senseless and barbarous war. On another, more personal front, his ambitious and patriotic brother Lothar (VOLKER BRUCH) questions his chivalrous code of honor. But despite the heavy losses in his squadron and torn between his disgust for the war and his responsibility to his fighter wing, von Richthofen cannot stop flying. But even for this living legend, each new combat mission could be his last...