The Blue Max

Bruno Stachel heads from the brutal trench warfare of World War I into the German Army Air Service, driven by a need to prove himself. He aims to win Germany's Blue Max by shooting down 20 aircraft, despite his modest origins. The move marks a turning point from ground combat to the skies.

Oberleutnant Willi von Klugermann resents having a commoner as his rival and resents Stachel's insertion into the elite air cadre. Hauptmann Otto Heidemann, an aristocrat who clings to chivalry and rules, becomes the moral counterpoint to Stachel's bold ruthlessness. The dynamic foreshadows a clash of class and ethics in the air.

On his first mission, Stachel shoots down a British S.E.5, but there are no witnesses to confirm the kill. He searches the countryside for the wreckage afterward, giving the impression that his pursuit is personal glory rather than concern for his fallen wingman. The lack of credit foreshadows the fragile legitimacy of his early fame.

During an attack on an Allied two-man observation aircraft, Stachel incapacitates the rear gunner of another plane and signals the pilot to fly toward his airfield. As they near safety, the rear gunner revives and fires, prompting Stachel to shoot the aircraft down. Heidemann views the incident as a potential war crime in pursuit of personal glory.

The Count von Klugermann visits the base with his wife Kaeti, who is secretly involved with Willi. The Count sees the propaganda value of a commoner becoming a hero and begins to shape the narrative around Stachel for broader morale.

Stachel is shot down while rescuing a red Fokker Dr.I from two British fighters and is introduced to Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Richthofen offers Stachel a place in his squadron, but Stachel declines, insisting on proving himself with Heidemann's unit.

When temporarily grounded by a minor injury, General von Klugermann orders Stachel to Berlin to bolster crumbling public morale. The general invites him to dinner, and Stachel spends the night with Kaeti, illustrating the entanglement of personal and political pressures around his career.

On a mission escorting a reconnaissance aircraft, Stachel's guns jam, while Willi von Klugermann downs three enemy planes. Willi proposes a flying contest under a railway viaduct; his plane crashes into a building and he dies. Stachel reports Willi's death to Heidemann and inflates Willi's victories, drawing condemnation from Heidemann but backing from the Air Service.

During a strafing mission to cover the retreat of the German Army, Stachel disobeys orders and drives the squadron into a dangerous dogfight. In the chaos, he racks up enough victories to finally qualify for the Blue Max, but at a high human cost, as many pilots are lost.

Heidemann submits a report recommending a court-martial, and both men are ordered to Berlin. Von Klugermann tells Heidemann that Stachel will receive the Blue Max to lift public morale, then orders Heidemann to withdraw the report. Heidemann resigns in protest.

Kaeti visits Stachel and suggests fleeing to neutral Switzerland in the face of impending defeat. Stachel refuses, choosing a path that keeps him in the public eye and tied to his own ambitions.

The Crown Prince bestows the Blue Max in a public ceremony, but Field Marshal von Lenndorf calls von Klugermann to halt the ceremony due to an ongoing investigation. The general realizes Kaeti leaked information, compromising the ceremony. Heidemann warns that the new monoplane is a death trap with weak struts, and von Klugermann pushes Stachel to display real flying.

Stachel performs an aerial display in the new monoplane, pushing it beyond its limits. The aircraft breaks apart in mid-air and crashes, ending the public power fantasy with a tragic conclusion.