''Les Chevaliers du ciel'' (''Sky Fighters'') is a 2005 French film directed by

Gérard Pirès Gérard Pirès (born 31 August 1942) is a French film director and writer. Filmography * '' Guo bao zong dong yuan'' (''Adventures in the NPM'') (2007) * '' Les Chevaliers du ciel'' (''Sky Fighters'') (2005) * '' Double Zéro'' (2004) * '' Steal ...

about two air force pilots preventing a terrorist attack on the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

celebrations in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It is based on ''

Tanguy et Laverdure ''Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure'' is a Franco-Belgian comics (''bande dessinée'') series created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo, about the two pilots Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure, and their adventures in the French Air Fo ...

'', a

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

series by

Jean-Michel Charlier Jean-Michel Charlier (; 30 October 1924 – 10 July 1989) was a Belgian comics writer. He was a co-founder of the famed Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Pilote''. Life Charlier was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1924.De Weyer, Geert (2005) ...

and

Albert Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the '' Astérix'' series in collaboration wit ...

(of ''

Astérix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a French comic album series about a Gaulish village which, thanks to a magic potion that enhances strength ...

'' fame) which was also made into a hugely successful

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

from 1967 to 1969, making the characters of Tanguy and Laverdure a part of popular

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

culture. The film was advertised as "Top-gun new generation"

Plot

At the

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough International Airshow is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire. Since its first show in ...

, a rogue group hijacks a Mirage 2000-10 after killing its pilot.

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

pilots Captain Antoine "Walk'n" Marchelli (

Benoît Magimel Benoît Magimel (; born 11 May 1974) is a French actor. He was 14 when he appeared in his first film, and has starred in a variety of roles in French cinema. At age 16, Magimel left school to pursue acting as a career. In 2001, he won the Best A ...

) and Captain Sébastien "Fahrenheit" Vallois (

Clovis Cornillac Clovis Cornillac (born 16 August 1968) is a French actor, film director, and screenwriter. Life and career Clovis Cornillac was born to actors Myriam Boyer and Roger Cornillac. He started studying theatre at the age of 14. He made his debut ...

) are instructed to escort it back. When the rogue pilot attempts to fire a missile at Vallois, Marchelli is forced to destroy the stolen Mirage. The French "Special Missions" department, seeking to blackmail Marchelli into working for them, tampers with the video from Marchelli's

gun camera Gun cameras are cameras mounted on a gun, used to photograph or record from its perspective. They are typically used on the weapons of military aircraft and operate either when the gun is fired or at the operator's will. Gun cameras are used for ...

. A subsequent

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

finds Marchelli guilty of destroying the stolen Mirage without provocation and discharges him from the air force, prompting Vallois to resign as well. Special Missions promises to have them reinstated if they fly a Cannonball run over hostile territory to the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

to help sell the Mirage to an Asian customer. Marchelli and Vallois agree but are forced to land in hostile territory before completing the flight. They are captured by terrorists intent on stealing their planes. Marchelli and Vallois manage to escape in one of the jets, while the terrorists dismantle and make off with another. The terrorists plan to use the stolen Mirage to shoot down a tanker aircraft over Paris during the Bastille Day celebrations. Marchelli and Vallois intercept the rogue Mirage and shoot it down over an unpopulated area.

Cast

as Capitaine Antoine "Walk'n" Marchelli *

as Capitaine Sébastien "Fahrenheit" Vallois *

Géraldine Pailhas Géraldine Pailhas (born 8 January 1971) is a French actress. Career In 1992, she won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in ''La neige et le feu'', directed by Claude Pinoteau. She had her first international success in ...

as Maelle Coste (PM defence adviser) *

Alice Taglioni Alice Taglioni (born 26 July 1976) is a French actress. Personal life Alice Taglioni was born in Ermont, Val-d'Oise. She is the daughter of an Italian man from Lombardy. She was Miss Corsica in 1996, but refused to participate in the election ...

as Capitaine Estelle "Pitbull" Kass * Philippe Torreton as Bertrand * Rey Reyes as Capitaine Leslie "Stardust" Hedget * Peter Hudson as Général Buchanan * Jean-Baptiste Puech as "iPod" * Christophe Reymond as "Stan" * Fiona Curzon as Mrs Redgrave * Jean-Michel Tinivelli as Colonel Farje * Frédéric van den Driessche as Général Hardouin * Eric Poulain as Capitaine Klébér * Pierre Poirot as De Séze * Jean-Yves Chilot as Houdon *

Olivier Rabourdin Olivier Rabourdin (born 3 March 1959) is a French film actor. He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1985. In 2010, he was nominated for a César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César ...

as Général Président de la Commission * Omar Berdouni as Aziz Al Zawhari * Cédric Chevalme as "Bandit" * Frédéric Cherboeuf as "Tala" * Yannick Laurent as "Grizzly" * Alexandre de Sèze as "Bunker" * Axel Kiener as "L’Ankou" * Mathieu Delarive as "one eye" * Simon Buret as "Jackpot"

Filming

''Les Chevaliers du Ciel'' was filmed in co-operation with the

. Initially the standard safety rules applied, but eventually the minimum allowed

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

was reduced to 3 m (10 ft) and the minimum distance between aircraft was reduced to 1 m (3 ft). The filming of these flight sequences were mainly done from the air by Eric Magnan. To achieve this, one of the Mirage's external fuel tanks was modified to fit multiple cameras. A HD camera was considered for this purpose, but it did not fit in the fuel pod.

Tracking shot In cinematography, a tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. Mostly the camera’s position is parallel to the character, creating a sideway motion, tracking the chara ...

s were done from a hired

Lear Jet Learjet was a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use based in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Founded in the late 1950s by William Powell Lear as Swiss American Aviation Corporation, it became a subsidiary of Canadian Bomba ...

. Additionally, jet aircraft are not allowed to fly over Paris. As a result of this, all the Paris filming had to be done on the actual Bastille Day (14 July) for which the filming crew got special permission.

Soundtrack listing

Chris Corner Christopher Anthony Corner (born 23 January 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, singer and video artist. He was a founding member of the band Sneaker Pimps alongside Liam Howe, and is now active with his sol ...

– "Attack 61" (02:51) #Chris Corner – "We Rise" (03:10) # Thirteen Senses – "Into The Fire" (03:36) #Chris Corner feat. Sue Denim – "Gonna Wanna" (02:52) #Chris Corner feat. D. Manix – "Sugar Jukebox" (02:10) #Chris Corner feat. Sue Denim – "Girl Talk" (02:08) #Ghinzu – "Cockpit Inferno" (03:50) #Chris Corner feat. Sue Denim – "You're The Conversation (I'm The Game)" (03:55) #

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

– "The Crawl" (02:58) #Chris Corner – "The Clash" (03:47) #Chris Corner – "14th Of July" (01:47) #

I Monster I Monster are an English electronic music duo, composed of the Sheffield based record producers Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling. Best known for their songs "Who Is She?" and "Daydream in Blue", both of which appeared on their 2003 album ''Nevero ...

– "Heaven Is Inside You" (03:55) #Chris Corner – "You're The Conversation (I'm The Game)" Original Version (03:02)

External links

* {{Authority control 2005 films French aviation films 2000s French-language films Films based on Belgian comics Films based on French comics Films directed by Gérard Pirès Live-action films based on comics Films based on television series 2000s French films