Born to Fly

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.

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.

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..

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.