My rate is 7/10. Definitely worth seeing. This movie is an absolute must. Cross my heart; it's just the right answer to "What it is like to fly the formidable war jets fully equipped with 21st century's inconceivable aviation technology".
There are lots of aerial views of the thrilling aircraft and action packed drills which floor the adrenalin pedal over my kidneys :-) . And, the pilot's pure love for the musician girl, which later unfortunately alternates to a separation period because of the girl's misunderstanding of the pilot's relation with some other distracting outsider female factor in the jet base. Then destiny's uneven events make them set aside the broken feelings, teach them the true value of love and unnecessary disruption's serpentine face.
Producers obviously did their job successfully to make you get the feeling of flying in the limitless clear blue skies. For the filming of air scenes', they used a special Learjet equipped with air-video-filming pods: extra info in the official site. During I watch the mid-air scenes, I kept sitting at the edge of my seat, I literally forgot where I'm being - as if I was living in the movie. Then suddenly lights turned on and it was break time. Yeah, that was weird and awesome at the same time. Walk-on parts during the movie are done very properly. Especially the boat scene, just after the graduation, everyone's saying Air Force Academy's march song all together, such a natural, cozy and genuine scene. Very well played.
NEGATIVE SIDES:
1) It is stated that since the producers have limited time to bring it on to cinema by the Turkish Air Force's 100th anniversary, they were deprived to do some extra works they planned.
2) Diversity of music chosen especially for the air scenes could have been much and better. In the movie Top Gun, it was the music (starting at the very first second of the movie) that affected and moved the audience.
3) The dialog between main characters, at some points, annoyingly reach an unceremonious level. I mean there is always a constant danger of barbecue making possibility :-D
The movie starts with 5 Air Force Academy senior cadets, getting their health test done for the pilot school. After they gain admission, the strenuous training starts. Instructors push their limits very hard in the air, during the briefings and debriefings. Candidate pilots put their nose to the grindstone, keep studying day & night. They fully comprehend the capabilities of the metal they're flying, memorize the Dash One, recite the flight patterns, do lots of chair-flights and write thousands copies of schoolwork which are way too frequently given by their instructors. Especially the Instructor Major TANACAN (E.A. Duzyatan) carries out his mission seriously, he is very charismatic and professional; Duzyatan plays his role very well. His car in the movie (a convertible Mustang) is a very alluring one, I like that. The female pilot is also very encouraging and vivacious.
Beside the arduous conditions of the pilot school, 5 characters find the way to get it more fun, spend their limited free time together, and cheer up each other. It looks they've been successful to place humor sense to right places in the movie. After they finish with the training planes in pilot school, they proceed with F5, F4 and F16s. The Anatolian Eagle air practice takes place in Konya province every year. Air Forces from all over the world bring their aircraft and participate. The Dogfight scenes were not bad. Lots of flying-escaping maneuvers there :-) . Dominant winner of the practice scenarios is always the hosting country Turkey (Huhhh, please, it's the statistics, no imposition by producers or something else). It is the finger of a Turkish pilot, not pipe.
To cut the long story short, they tried to show people every place during a pilot gains his badge and continues with higher level war planes.
The Turkish Air Force Academy, the Eagles' Nest of Turkey, will always maintain graduating best skilled pilots of the world.
Viva MONSTER Squadron !!!
My rate is 7/10.
