Europe, 1916. a living legend flies in on painted wings to become famous the world over. For millions of his countrymen, he becomes an idol, a symbol of hope and pride, the provocative red paint adorning his Fokker aircraft earning him the nickname 'The Red Baron'. Baron Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighofer) is 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). He and his fellow officers, including Lieutenant Voss (Til Schweiger), see their duels in the sky as almost sportsmanlike, clever challenges that, at least at first, obscure the reality of the horrors of the battlefields below. Unwittingly, he allows the German high command to manipulate his chivalrous code of honor and misuse him for propaganda purposes, until the young pilot falls in love with KSte (Lena Headey), a beautiful and resolute nurse who opens his eyes to the tragic fact that there is more to war than dogfights won and adversaries downed. With a torn heart, despite the heavy losses in his squadron, von Richthofen cannot help but take to the sky where each new combat mission could be his last.