Blue Angels IMAX

Looking forward to seeing it. Especially the movies recorded from inside the cockpit, with other planes seemingly close enough to reach out and touch them.
 
Saw it today. Pretty good. Definitely next level on the air to air stuff. I know they made use of drones and helicopters mounted with cameras and it shows. A lot longer (1+33) than I thought. I was thinking this was going to be the typical 30-45 minute IMAX aviation deal. It goes at a pretty good clip though and doesn’t get really stagnant. Overall worth the trip and $16.
 
Me three. Was a good watch!! Saw most of the pilots there after the showing at the iMax in Pensacola, nice little bonus.

Didn’t know anything about it, an army bud of mine figured it all out and said we should go. Glad he did!
 
I really want to see this in IMAX. But it’s sold out. I’ll have to suffer with my 110” screen at home
 
SWMBO and I saw it at the IMAX this afternoon. Very good, well done. The flying was gorgeous.

Wish there had been more about the support folks. I'm quite impressed by what it takes to keep those planes in the air show after show, and the planning and logistics to run an outfit like that.
 
Half Fast said:
SWMBO and I saw it at the IMAX this afternoon. Very good, well done. The flying was gorgeous.

Wish there had been more about the support folks. I'm quite impressed by what it takes to keep those planes in the air show after show, and the planning and logistics to run an outfit like that.
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The maintainers are hard workers. I’ve worked with the Blues and T-birds as an airshow maintenance support representative. They are first-class people, razor-sharp, and dedicated. Inspiring to be around, for sure.
 
ateamer said:
The maintainers are hard workers. I’ve worked with the Blues and T-birds as an airshow maintenance support representative. They are first-class people, razor-sharp, and dedicated. Inspiring to be around, for sure.
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They'd have to be. Those planes must be stressed much harder than anything in the fleet, and the crews are maintaining them as part of a roadshow without a dedicated shop. I would have enjoyed seeing a little more of that side of things, as well as some of the logistics and coordination work that goes on.
 
I saw it Sunday with my kids, in one of the min-imax theaters....not the full real deal big screen.
but yeah, it was good. Some really great shots there. I was reaching for the re-wind button there a couple of times.... wanted to have another look to drill into the detail! Like for example when the slot pilot is moving into the diamond position while they are still over the runway. Some serious yaw there, I wanted to have another look at how the rudders were being used.
Agreed that it would have been nice to see more about the maintainers...and ditto the other support folks.
The big thing I walked away wanting was a little more complete view of the complete airshow from inside the cockpit and also with some of those great zoomed-in perspective shots they had...

One of the questions from my kid.... do they go back to California after every airshow? It looks like they were doing the briefs and debriefs after every show there in that one office. Yeah, they could have done a better job with the logistics and timeline of it all.
 
When I got a ride we were yawing like mad. I asked about it, he replied that being so close you can’t use the ailerons. The boss owns them. Where he puts his wings, dictates where I put mine. Period. To induce a little heading change to stay in position or move has to be done with rudder.

Me: oooooooohhhh.

In any platform they fly, slot moving into position on the Diamond takeoff intrigues me. Next is the off target rendezvouses, those are mad crazy.

I got a ride during an early season practice. Two new guys, we were flyin pretty far apart. Of course riding with a seasoned guy. He said by the end of the show season we’ll be closer, like this…

And I expected he’d move into position. Nay nay, he SLAMMED into position. I ducked. Thought it was alllllll over…

Very cool
 
Brad W said:
One of the questions from my kid.... do they go back to California after every airshow? It looks like they were doing the briefs and debriefs after every show there in that one office.
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They return to Pensacola after most airshows. I think they debrief at the show site on Sunday as they do on Friday and Saturday. When they’re done with the post-show matters, they load up and head home. They train/practice every Tuesday and Wednesday at home. If you’re out that way, it’s a free airshow with seating behind the Naval Aviation Museum (finally re-opened to the public).

Rough schedule they have - on the road for 40 weeks a year with only one day off a week.
 
The California stuff was winter training (Nov-March) in El Centro. They don’t go back there once they hit the road in March. From then on out it’s living / practicing at Pensacola.
 
The most recent Fighter Pilot Podcast episode, they interview Greg Wooldridge, who was a three time boss of the BA's, and was a producer on this movie. He goes into a lot of the logistics and inner workings of the team. Worth this listen.
 
Velocity173 said:
The California stuff was winter training (Nov-March) in El Centro. They don’t go back there once they hit the road in March. From then on out it’s living / practicing at Pensacola.
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Guess they don’t want to deal with the brutal Florida winters and low-altitude icing conditions.
 
Half Fast said:
Guess they don’t want to deal with the brutal Florida winters and low-altitude icing conditions.
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Pensacola is good but El Centro weather in the winter is perfect for flying. It’s remote and R2510 is a quick hop away and nothing out there to hit.

Lived in El Centro for two years. Used to watch them (A-4s) practice in the morning before getting on the bus for school.
 
I saw it Sunday...I have mixed feelings.

The good: the story / information is awesome...really impressive group of perfection-seeking fliers, and they have my respect. Movie really got in depth with their training, show schedule, support team, etc.

The bad: what HORRIBLE cinematography ! I HATED the way it was filmed. The damn director must be from TicToc, as I don't think there was a single camera shot of more than 3 seconds, ever. Constant one-second-flash of this, one-second-flash of that... If you want good flying shots of the Blue Angels, THIS video, OTOH, is a good one:

 
Velocity173 said:
Pensacola is good but El Centro weather in the winter is perfect for flying. It’s remote and R2510 is a quick hop away and nothing out there to hit.

Lived in El Centro for two years. Used to watch them (A-4s) practice in the morning before getting on the bus for school.
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Yeah, I know. The entire Florida Panhandle is very busy airspace. Difficult to do extended practice sessions.
 
My whole bunch enjoyed it. We saw it on a large IMAX screen.
 
Country Flier said:
I saw it Sunday...I have mixed feelings.

The good: the story / information is awesome...really impressive group of perfection-seeking fliers, and they have my respect. Movie really got in depth with their training, show schedule, support team, etc.

The bad: what HORRIBLE cinematography ! I HATED the way it was filmed. The damn director must be from TicToc, as I don't think there was a single camera shot of more than 3 seconds, ever. Constant one-second-flash of this, one-second-flash of that... If you want good flying shots of the Blue Angels, THIS video, OTOH, is a good one:

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I was thinking the same thing on the constant quick clips. Would’ve been nice to slow it down a bit on some segments. Maybe show an entire maneuver with comms from the cockpit.
 
Velocity173 said:
The California stuff was winter training (Nov-March) in El Centro. They don’t go back there once they hit the road in March. From then on out it’s living / practicing at Pensacola.
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yeah I knew that.... I've seen other documentaries before as well as some reading and interviews about it. The gist as I understand it is that before every flight they find a private place and do the eyes closed chair fly of the entire flight. Then they go fly the show. Then after, they go back to the private place and fully debrief. every time.

I realize now I wasn't as clear as I could be with my earlier comment...it was an unfortunate lack of attention to detail in the editing that they
a) kept cutting back to that winter training brief...​
and b) that they didn't address the logistics of how they work real world...exactly the points that @ateamer and you made...​
It sure did make it look like they go back there a lot...meanwhile, the families are back in Pensacola...

and that touches on what I was getting at that I would have liked to have seen more of a "complete airshow". What I meant was not a running real-time show.
I meant to include some more real-time maneuver sequences to give a better feel for some of the grunting and so forth that they go through to put on a show.
but more so the logistics about how the weekends flow and work. They touched a little bit on community outreach meetings and presentations, but all the other stuff was missed...rolling into a new town, how they go about finding places to stay, scheduling times to eat (what kind of lifestyle it is), when and how they debrief, how early they show up for it all, etc... and then if and how they go home, and how they get to their next show town....
all the questions my daughter was asking...and mostly all because the editors thought it "good enough" to keep cutting back to the training brief room back in the desert.
 
Country Flier said:
I saw it Sunday...I have mixed feelings.

The good: the story / information is awesome...really impressive group of perfection-seeking fliers, and they have my respect. Movie really got in depth with their training, show schedule, support team, etc.

The bad: what HORRIBLE cinematography ! I HATED the way it was filmed. The damn director must be from TicToc, as I don't think there was a single camera shot of more than 3 seconds, ever. Constant one-second-flash of this, one-second-flash of that... If you want good flying shots of the Blue Angels, THIS video, OTOH, is a good one:

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JJ Abrams. 'Nuf said.

I wanted to see it opening weekend, but there were no evening showings at my local theater. It's too bad they couldn't get the theaters to commit to run it as a feature film, even for opening weekend.
 
Country Flier said:
...

The bad: what HORRIBLE cinematography ! I HATED the way it was filmed. The damn director must be from TicToc, as I don't think there was a single camera shot of more than 3 seconds, ever. Constant one-second-flash of this, one-second-flash of that......
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. That kind of crappy cinematography makes the film a hard pass for me.

Rapid/quick cuts is a great way to hide visual defects. akin to the old home movie super 8 junk that amateurs did way back...
 
Brad W said:
yeah I knew that.... I've seen other documentaries before as well as some reading and interviews about it. The gist as I understand it is that before every flight they find a private place and do the eyes closed chair fly of the entire flight. Then they go fly the show. Then after, they go back to the private place and fully debrief. every time.

I realize now I wasn't as clear as I could be with my earlier comment...it was an unfortunate lack of attention to detail in the editing that they
a) kept cutting back to that winter training brief...​
and b) that they didn't address the logistics of how they work real world...exactly the points that @ateamer and you made...​
It sure did make it look like they go back there a lot...meanwhile, the families are back in Pensacola...

and that touches on what I was getting at that I would have liked to have seen more of a "complete airshow". What I meant was not a running real-time show.
I meant to include some more real-time maneuver sequences to give a better feel for some of the grunting and so forth that they go through to put on a show.
but more so the logistics about how the weekends flow and work. They touched a little bit on community outreach meetings and presentations, but all the other stuff was missed...rolling into a new town, how they go about finding places to stay, scheduling times to eat (what kind of lifestyle it is), when and how they debrief, how early they show up for it all, etc... and then if and how they go home, and how they get to their next show town....
all the questions my daughter was asking...and mostly all because the editors thought it "good enough" to keep cutting back to the training brief room back in the desert.
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There is a ton that goes into an airshow. The schedule starts two years in advance, as the Blues and T-birds set their schedules that far out. About nine months before the show, the work kicks up. The team’s support manual has all the requirements for lodging, courtesy cars, airfield layout, logistics, everything that happens. They need about 80 hotel rooms (the Navy pays for that), about 20 vehicles, a large hangar that can house all the planes, five semitrailers of ground support equipment, a gym, 30 drums of smoke oil (airshow pays), and 25,000 gallons of Jet A (they pay). Plus the recruiting and community outreach events have to be set up.

That’s just for the jet team. The civilian performers and static displays also have accommodations and support requirements.

It takes a team to get everything set up and put together. Lots of effort, but incredibly rewarding to do and be part of.
 
If you want to see more of the maint and behind the scenes stuff, watch the Discovery Channel Blue Angels special. It’s a several part series.
 
Velocity173 said:
I was thinking the same thing on the constant quick clips. Would’ve been nice to slow it down a bit on some segments. Maybe show an entire maneuver with comms from the cockpit.
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Yes…at one point in my head I was begging the director to just slow down so I could actually see what I was looking at.
And the “no cockpit comms” was immediately apparent to me but my wife didn’t notice. Maybe it’s just a pilot thing.
 
Yeah, I would have appreciated more in-cockpit video from the pilot's perspective, and to hear comms. But the movie wasn't made for pilots in particular.
 
The Hornet is an auto, d’uh!

The manly Hoover on the other hand…
 
ateamer said:
There is a ton that goes into an airshow. The schedule starts two years in advance, as the Blues and T-birds set their schedules that far out. About nine months before the show, the work kicks up. The team’s support manual has all the requirements for lodging, courtesy cars, airfield layout, logistics, everything that happens. They need about 80 hotel rooms (the Navy pays for that), about 20 vehicles, a large hangar that can house all the planes, five semitrailers of ground support equipment, a gym, 30 drums of smoke oil (airshow pays), and 25,000 gallons of Jet A (they pay). Plus the recruiting and community outreach events have to be set up.

That’s just for the jet team. The civilian performers and static displays also have accommodations and support requirements.

It takes a team to get everything set up and put together. Lots of effort, but incredibly rewarding to do and be part of.
Click to expand...
Wow! The planning for the upcoming combo airshow with the Thunderbirds must be close to melt down by now. Nov 1 and 2 at Pensacola.
 
We just checked to see showtimes for today around Austin and it’s completely gone from here already! The nearest places are in San Antonio.

BUT it’s streaming for “free” on Prime already. Not iMax but at least we can check it out at home.

That was quick. And odd it’s “free”. They didn’t really monetize this very much/well, it seems to me. Maybe a condition imposed by the Navy
 
I'm looking forward to the sequel: "Top Gun 3 - The Blue Angels Bomb Moscow."
 
Country Flier said:
I saw it Sunday...I have mixed feelings.

The good: the story / information is awesome...really impressive group of perfection-seeking fliers, and they have my respect. Movie really got in depth with their training, show schedule, support team, etc.

The bad: what HORRIBLE cinematography ! I HATED the way it was filmed. The damn director must be from TicToc, as I don't think there was a single camera shot of more than 3 seconds, ever. Constant one-second-flash of this, one-second-flash of that... If you want good flying shots of the Blue Angels, THIS video, OTOH, is a good one:

Click to expand...
Family went last night as it was the last showing on IMAX in our area.

I left and this is how I would sum up my thoughts. There are some good scenes of actual flying, but even when shown, it was very brief and overall, not the mentality I had of what the movie would be.

The movie is more of the backstory of the current crew and some history of the BAs.

If you are going in the hopes to see non stop, spectacular IMAX quality flight footage, you might be disappointed.
 
Just finished watching it on Prime. It was decent but far more “intellectual” than “visual “, IMHO. We felt like not seeing it on IMAX didn’t cost us much experience-wise.
 
I saw it on the medium format IMAX. It was really good. The kids liked it.
 
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