Born to Fly

"Lei Yu" (the competent Yibo Wang) is an aspiring test pilot who is selected to take part in a prestigious programme to improve the efficiency of the Chinese Air Force's jet fighters. A bit of rivalry with "Deng Fang" (Yosh Yu) and inspiration from their commander "Zhang" (Jun Hu) makes sure the young man and his equipment are tested to the extreme - but can he rise to the challenge? It certainly has a bit of the look of "Maverick" (2022) to it, with some impressive aerial photography and dog-fighting and it also tries to imbue something of the engineering and science to the plot - crediting the young airmen with skills well beyond just being able to fly a plane. Sadly, though, the producers just couldn't (or wouldn't) steer clear of the political jingoism that rather nauseatingly lauds the virtues of their Air Force against an unknown (English-speaking) foe that is constantly harassing and threatening them. By mid-way through I felt rather sorry for "Lei Yu" - to say he seemed a bit accident-prone would be like saying Jonah liked whales - so the fact that he survives at all is quite a remarkable feat! There's the merest hint of a romance with his doctor "Shen Tianran" (Dongyu Zhou) but for the most part this is all about a young man's determination to succeed. It's perfectly watchable with some decent production standards and had it kept off the flag-waving grass, it could have made for another example of well-enough made high-octane cinema. At times it just smacks too much of a party rallying cry though, and that lets it down.

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.

First of al the sound design and special effects are great. Really helps to get drawn into the story. The CGI looks real not like CGI The acting by the entire cast is very good but the 2 lead actors are especially good. The story very closely follows the template of the hero's journey with a few twists that would not be part of a Western movie. In order to remain spoiler free I will not go into further details. There is enough humour sprinkled throughout the movie to make it feel real. There is also sad scenes to bring home the serious nature of there work and how dangerous it is. In short a very enjoyable movie. The movie has almost nothing in common with the 2 Top Guns other then planes are a part of the movie and pilots compete with each other.

It's quite awkward and embarrassing, like a poor imitation of Top Gun. It's an excellent example of the director's arrogance, who seems to have no understanding of a pilot's duty. The whole movie revolves around an arrogant character who thinks he's unrivaled and pretends to know about engineering and design, while the rest of the characters seem to exist solely to praise and flatter him, ensuring he has enough opportunities to showcase his supposed coolness. The entire storyline is a complete catastrophe, not to mention the numerous setting errors. It begs the question, where was the budget spent? It seems they invested all their money in hiring this "handsome" guy instead of consulting with aviation experts.

An amazing watch full of emotions and pride it's a story about test pilots and there efforts for there motherland the presentation of the movie is excellent the CGI on point all the shots are great to watch The story is about the main character Lei Yu his growth how passion and endless effort to make the best stealth fighter WangYibo is natural and effortless as Lei Yu bringing this character to.life making him all passionate and believable Hu Jun Zhang ting is very good very authoritative very brave Zhou dong yu has a short but good supportive role giving Lei Yu some good emotions all other characters played there part well The narrative is simple and straightforward with enough fun emotions and some heartbreaking scenes all natural and relatable Recommended to all 👍👍