Born to Fly

Wasn't sure what to expect going into this movie even though we know the synopsis that these men are test pilots.

Lei Yu was a fighter pilot who was recruited to be a test pilot. From here, his character develop. The movie overall was burning, explosive and exciting! The beginning scene could make a run for many Hollywood's movies. The comedy in here is spot on too but some pun cannot be transfer from Chinese to English well. This is the sucky part many westerners will miss on this pun sense of humor.

The friendship and chemistry between the team is good too.

The romance is subtle but nice.

Recommend high watch..

....but this is a great action movie! It's entertaining, and shows a lot of heart.

The flying sequences are superbly exciting, and the army discipline is enviable.

The camera work and acting are very good.

By American standards, it's a bit too starchy and dignified: there needs to be more in the way of bloody violence and romance to satisfy our palate. (On the other hand, it does show grown men cry, a no-no in American films.)

I hope the Republicans can get our military back in shape; or else, as intimated by this well-made, entertaining film, as it currently stands, if push came to shove, the communist Chinese military would eat our lunch.

Big budgeted film with the help of Chinese military. There are shots of test pilot cemetery and big field of solar panels that I don't think it has been revealed to outside world before. Most of the content is based on true stories. The movie contains a lot of interesting and technical stuff about a little known career - test pilots. Surprisingly, I enjoy learning all those technical terms. The test flight scenes are super intense thanks to the very well done CGI. The romance line is almost non-existent and actually I think, unnecessary. There are also some humors here and there. Expect some degree of patriotism propaganda though.

Before reviewing this movie, It's really important to dig into the diegesis of it creation. I invited you to search around if you want to find more about it, but for those who won't, it's basically more a tool than a movie to prove the chinese people how awesome there air force are. To a reach a ridiculous point where it was MANDATORY for them to go watch Born to Fly at the nearest cinema during there 'Golden Week' vacations. It's a pretty dismal practice for sure but this has nothing to do with the potential quality of the movie, which is globally awful.

Get past the pathetic caricature of americans pilots at the very beginning of the movie which can have been conceptualised by North Korean artists in 1960, you got an avalanche of CGI dog fights. First thing that pop through your head is: was this really made in 2023? Second thing (if you have seen real jet fighters manoeuvres at high speed or just understand the foundation of flying): was it any jet fighter pilot on/off the set to notify the director that all these dog fights scenes are beyond ridiculous and totally unrealistic? Even if, they weren't heard.

But even if you can pass all this, there is something terribly wrong with the script. The main focus during the entire 2 hours is on the fact that they must develop a stealth fighter jet. Ok. So why do you spend all your time talking about improving the engine to reach that goal and not the jet frame?

There is many more things that doesn't work but I won't lose more of your time. To conclude, it try's to mimic some of Top Gun movies but fail miserably and looks like another cheap chinese knock-off of an american formula.

This was an obvious attempt at replicating Top Gun, but without the chops. I dropped off three times, but finally made it through on the fourth attempt. I rented it for $2.99, that was a mistake.

The storyline is OK, at least now I know there are test pilots out there. Acting was also OK; not great, not horrible.

The part that was hard frustrating was the obvious Chinese propaganda and "us vs the world" antics. I watch movies to entertain myself, not to be brainwashed. It was rated 9.9 on Viki, the highest score I've ever seen on the app thus far. I am guessing the hero / martyr propaganda resonated with the Chinese audience.