Les chevaliers du ciel (2005)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Gérard Pirès

Writers:

Gilles Malençon (adaptation)
Gilles Malençon (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 November 2005 (Belgium)

Genre:

Adventure | Action

Tagline:

'Top Gun' for a new generation.

Plot:

While in an international fair of exhibition of airplanes, a French Mirage 2000 of the last generation...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Betrayal | Interracial Romance | Paris | Fighter Pilot

Cast

Benoît Magimel	...	Capitaine Antoine "Walk'n" Marchelli
Clovis Cornillac	...	Capitaine Sébastien "Fahrenheit" Vallois
Géraldine Pailhas	...	Maelle Coste
Alice Taglioni	...	Capitaine Estelle 'Pitbull' Kass
Philippe Torreton	...	Bertrand
Rey Reyes	...	Capitaine Leslie 'Stardust' Hedget
Peter Hudson	...	Général Buchanan
Jean-Baptiste Puech	...	Ipod
Christophe Reymond	...	Stan
Fiona Curzon	...	Mrs Redgrave
Jean-Michel Tinivelli	...	Colonel Farje
Frédéric van den Driessche	...	Général Hardouin
Eric Poulain	...	Capitaine Klébér
Pierre Poirot	...	De Séze
Jean-Yves Chilot	...	Houdon
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Général Président de la Commission
Omar Berdouni	...	Aziz Al Zawhari
Hervé Berty	...	Roger
Arben Bajraktaraj	...	Fredericks
Joseph Beddelem	...	MacLane
Oulage Abour	...	Nawaf
Ashley Wanninger	...	Krueger
Jean Barat	...	De Vonk
Maurice Chan	...	Tony
Ivan Franek	...	Baraïev
Tony Amoni	...	Altikriti
Cédric Chevalme	...	Bandit
Frédéric Cherboeuf	...	Tala
Yannick Laurent	...	Grizzly
Alexandre de Seze	...	Bunker
Axel Kiener	...	L'Ankou
Mathieu Delarive	...	Wanai
Simon Buret	...	Jackpot
Vincent Cappello	...	Jeff
Zizek Belkebla	...	Le Contrôleur Aérien Lybien
Salah Sassi	...	Le Supérieur Lybien
Laurent Jumeaucourt	...	Lieutenant Boutier
Philippe Hérisson	...	Colonel Esbly
Patrick Mazet	...	Flamand
Sidney Wernicke	...	Lavigne
Stéphane Garnier	...	Le Nouveau Pilote Van #44
Saul Jephcott	...	Le Contrôleur Salon Aéronautique
Eddie Crew	...	L'Officiel Salon De Farnborough
Mark Downey	...	Le Contrôleur Salle Radar De Farnborough
Joel Sheridan	...	Le Visiteur Étranger #1
Karine Petroz	...	L'Hôtesse Falcon
Franck Neckebrock
Julien Goetz
Christophe Lavalle
Elvire Melliere		(as Elvire Melliére)
Thomas Gaudin
Yves Le Caignec
Jean-Raoul Lacote	...	A Fighter Pilot

Directed by
Gérard Pirès

Writing credits
Gilles Malençon		adaptation and dialogue &
Gilles Malençon		screenplay and
Gérard Pirès		adaptation and dialogue
Jean-Michel Charlier		comic book
Albert Uderzo		comics

Produced by
Eric Altmeyer	....	producer
Nicolas Altmeyer	....	producer
Laurent Brochand	....	producer
Christopher Granier-Deferre	....	associate producer
Christoph Hahnheiser	....	associate producer (as Christoph Meyer-Wiel)
Christoph Hahnheiser	....	co-producer (as Christoph Meyer-Wiel)

Original Music by
Chris Corner

Cinematography by
Pascal Lebègue

Film Editing by
Véronique Lange

Casting by
Nathalie Cheron
Michael Laguens

Production Design by
Jean-Pierre Fouillet

Set Decoration by
Stéphane Cressend

Costume Design by
Françoise Bourrec
Chattoune

Makeup Department
Cécile Gentilin	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Yann Arnaud	....	unit production manager
Dimitri Billecocq	....	assistant unit manager
Cyril Contejean	....	post-production supervisor
Marc Gaviard	....	assistant production manager
Philippe Schwartz	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fanny Aubrespin	....	first assistant director
Felix Baudouin	....	second second assistant director
Frédéric Castelnau	....	trainee assistant director
Yann Cuinet	....	second assistant director
Eric Magnan	....	director: aerial sequences
Bonnie Pirès	....	trainee assistant director
Jérôme Raffaelli	....	second second assistant director
Marie Rolindes	....	trainee assistant director
Simon Rooke	....	first assistant director: UK

Art Department
Michel Conche	....	on-set propmaster
Antoine Dore	....	props
Alexis Imbert	....	props

Sound Department
Selim Azzazi	....	sound editor
Lucien Balibar	....	sound
Nicolas Bourgeois	....	assistant sound editor
Christophe Bourreau	....	foley artist
Nicolas Bouvet	....	assistant sound editor
Guadalupe Cassius	....	foley editor
Marc Doisne	....	adr engineer
Marc Doisne	....	foley engineer
Marc Doisne	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jean-Paul Hurier	....	sound mixer
Denis Jaillet-Marsigny	....	sound recordist
Stéphane Vizet	....	boom operator
Ken Yasumoto	....	supervising sound editor

Special Effects by
Laurent Brett	....	title designer

Visual Effects by
Myriam Catrin	....	digital artist
François Dumoulin	....	digital compositor
Bruno Maillard	....	digital effects
Michael Marques	....	digital compositor
Eve Ramboz	....	visual effects supervisor
Matthieu Royer	....	3D artist
Micha Sher	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Jérôme Gaspard	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Tim Arasheben	....	vectorvision jet camera technician: aerial unit
Luis Armando Arteaga	....	assistant camera
Florent Bazin	....	additional camera operator
Roberto De Angelis	....	Steadicam operator
Roberto De Angelis	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Dominique Delguste	....	additional camera operator
Eric Dumage	....	cinematographer: aerial unit
Euriel Etevenon	....	additional first assistant camera
Koen Firlefijn	....	grip
Ron Goodman	....	special aerial photographer: SpaceCam
David Grinberg	....	additional first assistant camera
Nicolas Juge	....	electrician
Kareem La Vaullée	....	Steadicam operator
Kareem La Vaullée	....	aerial camera operator
Kareem La Vaullée	....	camera operator
Kareem La Vaullée	....	infrared camera operator
Sébastien Leclercq	....	first assistant camera
Jean-Marie Leroy	....	still photographer
Pierre-Alain Lods	....	camera operator
Steve Moreau	....	additional first assistant camera
Pénélope Pourriat	....	assistant camera
Charlet Recors	....	aerial camera operator
Olivier Rodriguez	....	gaffer
Benjamin Speyer	....	grip
Maryline Touret	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Bouchra Fakhri	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Agnès Beziers	....	costumer
Sylvie Ong	....	wardrobe supervisor: preparation
Sandra Picchiottino-beguery	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Chrystel Alépée	....	assistant editor
Nicolas Criqui	....	digital conformation
Frederic Jupin	....	lustre editor
Marjolaine Mispelaere	....	colorist
Philippe Reinaudo	....	digital intermediate technical director
Clement Zveguintzoff	....	digital conformation

Transportation Department
Svet Hrouchoff	....	facility driver
Francois Muller	....	truck driver

Other crew
Alexandre Ayer	....	production intern
Anais Bertrand	....	production assistant
Romain Courtine	....	assistant location manager
Florence Forney	....	production assistant
Marie Gennesseaux	....	script supervisor
Francois Muller	....	facilities
Fabien Pondevaux	....	location scout
Lisa-Nina Rives	....	assistant script supervisor

Production Companies

• Mandarin Films
• Outsider Productions
• Black Forest Films
• CMW Films
• Canal+
• M6 Films

Distributors

• 3L Filmverleih (2006) (Austria) (theatrical)
• 3L Filmverleih (2006) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Pathé (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Pro Films (2006) (Bulgaria) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Gravitas Ventures (2009) (USA) (video) (VOD)
• Kino Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Millennium Storm (2007) (Italy) (all media)
• RTL Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL7)

Special Effects

• La Maison

Other Companies

• Film & Television Facilities  facility vehicles
• Location Consulting & Facilities  wardrobe vehicles
• Poisson Rouge Pictures  production services

Also Known As:

Sky Fighters (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:102 min | Argentina:102 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:6 | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:13+ | Hong Kong:I | Finland:K-7 | Canada:PG | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Djibouti

Company:

Mandarin Films

Trivia:

Early in the film, one pilot does a barrel roll over the other jet, in what is presumably a homage to the same stunt performed by Chuck Yeager in the John Wayne vehicle Jet Pilot (1957).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the three Mirages 2000 are entering Libyan airspace, they are shown deep inside Libya on the Libyan air traffic control screen, well to the south the Mediterranean Sea. Very shortly afterward, there is a shot of them crossing the Libyan coastline, leaving the sea to behind them as they head south.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Les chevaliers du ciel - Making-of promo (2005) (V)

Good fun movie

I remember the Aeronauts from the early 70s. Badly dubbed into English, with French pilots shooting up North Africa at the drop of a croissant.

This is a slick remake. Some bits of the plot was a bit hard to follow because of slightly jerky edits. But ignore that and it is s real fun film.

Other people have commented on the flight and combat scenes. These are amazing, and if CGI was used anywhere I didn't spot it. (May be a low level supersonic run?) But I am not a fan of flying films, and this one almost converted me.

Music is by Chris Corner (see IMDb) and is not overwhelming. This is Top Gun plus and I would recommend it. Especially as, like a lot of French films, the DVD can be picked up cheap at the end of the movie run.