# French Top Gun



## R988 (Mar 2, 2006)

Can anyone tell me anything more about this French Top Gun style movie
http://www.leschevaliers-lefilm.com/site/intro.html

Apparently called skyfighters in Germany and some Les Chevaliers du Ciel (knights of the sky), I dont speak french but can understand some of the site like the synopsis (sort of  )

heres how google translates the synopsis



> Aeronautical show of Farnborough, England. Whereas it was in full demonstration, a Mirage 2000 disappeared above the North Sea. The captains Antoine Marchelli and Sebastien Vallois are immediately sent patrols some to find the plane.
> They are not long in seeing the 2000: it flies dissimulated under an Airbus of Qatar Airways. The pilot of the Mirage located, it placed himself in position of combat. Marchelli and Vallois receive the order to give up the continuation without delay. Too much late! The 2000 are about to cut down Vallois. Marchelli will have to eliminate it to protect its team-member.
> This incident is the prelude of a gigantic handling. With the key, the diversion of a French fighter to fine terrorists. A handling whose last act will be played one July 14 in the sky of Paris, with the top of the Fields-Elysées.



more
http://translate.google.com/transla...+du+ciel&hl=en&hs=N9Y&lr=&client=opera&rls=en

There are some clips on Patricks Aviation that have got me interested, screw hollywood, the french seem to make better films these days  

Apparently it's on DVD soon, anyone seen it?


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## R988 (Mar 3, 2006)

Another foreign film with some flight sequences, this time from Sweden with Saab AJ 37 Viggens 

Called 'Älskar, älskar inte'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115073/


and apparently there is a 1967 version of 'Les Chevaliers du ciel' as well, based on some french comic book. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061230/


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## Aggie08 (Mar 6, 2006)

interesting... i'll have to look into it.


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## P15 (Jan 28, 2015)

Hello there!
About "Les Chevaliers du Ciel" french movie.
It's a French Air Force's movie, made from the comic book. The comics show the adventures of two pilots in the French Air Force. The movie almost matches the two characters from the comics, but were reloaded to ft with the Army's purpose.
It was, first, a movie made to promote the Mirage 2000.

Here's the synopsis.
"Meeting at Farnborough airport. The Mirage 2000 displayed in flight suddendly stops answering to the radio control, and flies away, with all his weapons. So the french army sends two pilots to intercept him. But the capture doesn't work well, and Marchelli, one of the pilots, has to shoot down the plane.
To the public, this shot an error from the pilot, who is retired from the Army, with his teammate. But, to the government, it was a try to steal the plane. 
Weeks run, and the two pilots are now fighting to have the rights back. The army proposes them a solution: if they fly a Mirage 2000 to compete with an american aircraft, and if they win, they would be back in the army. The two pilots accept, even if the competition is a long flight above hostile countries. 
So they take off with two others pilots, who protect them.
(spoiler alert!)
While they are flying, they are betrayed by the one who organises the competition, an australian guy who sells weapons. They do not meet the tanker and have to land on a field in an hostile country. The betrayer waits for them on this field, shot down one of the pilot, capture an other and sells the two main characters to the terrorists. After weeks spent as prisonners, they escape and go back to France.
As they are trying to forget the shot-down pilot and the disapearred one, the 14th of July approaches. Then, they understand: terrorists stole the planes to attack the demonstration.
So they jump back to their planes, and take off to intercept the terrorist. Surprise, it's their disappearred teammate who flies the terrorist plane. They shot down it, but the pilot is alive, and flews away.
The ending scenes show terrorists attacking each other."

As it was a promotionnal movie, the synopsis wasn't really good, and there are a lot of impossibles things in.
It is qualified as the "Top Gun" french equivalent, but it is quite different. Top Gun is about a competition between pilots, and flying. Les Chevaliers du Ciel is about fighting against terrorists. And les Chevaliers du Ciel is very more complex than Top Gun.

The things to remember about this movie is:
- terrorists can be everyone "If they want to seek for bearded terrorists, they can." (spoiler-> as the betraying pilot is a young woman)
- Mirage 2000 had a good promotion and advertisment
- It was quite a propaganda movie

But according to a poll made by the most read french aviation magazine, french pilots are ranking the movies about aviation in this order:
1. Les Chevaliers du Ciel (Movie, France)
2. Baa Baa Black Sheeps Squadron (TV serie, USA)
3. Les Chevaliers du Ciel (TV serie, France)

[sorry about english mistakes I made]


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## GrauGeist (Jan 28, 2015)

Sadly, the "Black Sheep Squadron" TV series was more for pure entertainment than historical accuracy.


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## rochie (Jan 28, 2015)

P15 said:


> Hello there!
> About "Les Chevaliers du Ciel" french movie.
> It's a French Air Force's movie, made from the comic book. The comics show the adventures of two pilots in the French Air Force. The movie almost matches the two characters from the comics, but were reloaded to ft with the Army's purpose.
> It was, first, a movie made to promote the Mirage 2000.
> ...


sounds complicated but has got to be better than all the Iron Eagle movies put together

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


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## P15 (Jan 31, 2015)

It is a little bit more complicated but modern war is complicated ^^
Sure, the black sheep squadron tv serie was not an historical serie. But it allowed the squadron and its planes to be known in Europe. So as many other movies which promote different planes each time. Personnally I think that it's better to make an entertainement serie about warbirds than to never speak about it.
I'm not sure you understand me and my damnned english speaking ><


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## rochie (Jan 31, 2015)

your English is fine my friend.


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## GrauGeist (Jan 31, 2015)

P15 said:


> It is a little bit more complicated but modern war is complicated ^^
> Sure, the black sheep squadron tv serie was not an historical serie. But it allowed the squadron and its planes to be known in Europe. So as many other movies which promote different planes each time. Personnally I think that it's better to make an entertainement serie about warbirds than to never speak about it.
> I'm not sure you understand me and my damnned english speaking ><


You have a good point!

I think at the time the show was being made, we weren't worried about historical accuracy, we were just excited to see Pappy and his squadron "beating up the bad guys". Of course, years later as adults, we would look at the old shows and see obvious inaccuracies. 

Also, at the time the show was being produced, we didn't think about it being seen in other parts of the world (the world was a much bigger place with far off, exotic lands).

And your English is just fine, not to worry!


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## vikingBerserker (Jan 31, 2015)

I would not mind swing the French movie.


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## P15 (Jan 31, 2015)

Here's the VO trailer, with english subtitles, but it doesn't really match with the movie and what is said. I mean that the subtitles do not translate the frankness/colloquial (thanks to google translate ><), the easy way to speak of the movie. It's sometimes really rude.
Moreover, it does not translate the omnipresent swearwords.

Why is there so much roughness in the movie?
- It's all about the fact that the public thinks that pilots are always well-dressed, speaking in a good way, in a few words: gentlemen. The movie wanted to display human pilots, under the threat of death, blame, orders, injustice, and who were definitively common, not above anyone. So you'll see pilots with weaknesses, with wrath, fear, despair, love and sometimes stubborn. Originally, the movie was made to sell the Mirage 2000 to foreign countries and to promote the French Air Force to the children so they would register to be pilots, or to enter the Army. Displaying characters who were close to us allowed us to think that we could do the same.
- Surprisingly, according to french pilots, the movie was close to what they were doing (at least the interception part) and what they were living. They said that the roughness of the movie fitted with their lives and their behaviors.

An another interesting fact is that most of the movie is made without special effects, I mean informatic help. A lot of the in-flight parts were recorded in reality, with real pilots and real aircrafts. 

I let you discover the trailer hre: 
_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6SfE7ygSDw_
Thanks all for saying that my english is good 




vikingBerserker said:


> I would not mind swing the French movie.


I do not really understand what you're saying. I tried to put it in google translate, and it sent back to me something like you would (how could I say that?)... it was about you would not care about this movie. You know, I understood that you did not find any interest in this movie. Right? I really do not know this expression. Would you please explain it to me?


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## rochie (Jan 31, 2015)

vikingBerserker said:


> I would not mind swing the French movie.





P15 said:


> Here's the VO trailer, with english subtitles, but it doesn't really match with the movie and what is said. I mean that the subtitles do not translate the frankness/colloquial (thanks to google translate ><), the easy way to speak of the movie. It's sometimes really rude.
> Moreover, it does not translate the omnipresent swearwords.
> 
> Why is there so much roughness in the movie?
> ...




i think it is a spell check error it might VB may have meant "he would not mind seeing the french movie" just a guess ?


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## Airframes (Jan 31, 2015)

Interesting stuff - I would like to see the full movie.
The original 'Chevaliers du Ciel' was a 1960's comic strip, adapted as a TV series and featuring the Mirage III.


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## vikingBerserker (Jan 31, 2015)

Thanks Rochie! I did indeed mean to say "I would not mind SEEING it".

...and yes I am afraid to admit English is my mother tongue!


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## P15 (Feb 1, 2015)

Ah ok!
Yes, it was a comic strip first, with two characters called Tanguy and Laverdure. I own the first three comics strips, which begin with their adventures during their training at the pilot's school. Then, they have a lot of adventures, and they act as heroes but they are not.
It was one of the most popular comics strip duos in France, among Astérix and Obélix, Spirou and Fantasio etc. (Ok, you would not know them, but they are very popular in France. While you read Superman adventures, saving the planet, we were reading the adventures of two gallics who fighted against Cesar...)

Then, it was a tv show, here is an episode (I didn't watch it yet): 
_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZAJF1vQ4lY_

The "spirit" of the comic and the tv show was kept to create the movie, which is different a lot.


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## Airframes (Feb 1, 2015)

Thanks for that. Looks quite good. I knew of Asterix - my nephew was a great fan - but did not know of Spirou.


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## P15 (Feb 2, 2015)

It's another great comic strip which is related to a lot of comics in France. As well as the superheroes of Marvel know each others, the characters of different comic strips in France know and have adventures together.
Spirou.com : Tout sur Spirou !
Spirou (magazine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and the comic strip related to the movie Les chevaliers du ciel (en: skyfighters)
Tanguy et Laverdure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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