Blue Angels IMAX

Llewtrah381 said:
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.
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I think you're right. A nice sharp TV and some surround mighta done just as good for us, too.

Did anyone do it at one of the wraparound IMAX theaters?
 
We saw it in IMAX a couple days ago. I liked it, but the family wasn't as thrilled. It wasn't what I expected. It was a lot more about qualifying and doing the job, than about flying. Not a whole lot of flying sequences. The flying sequences were repeated a bit. I expected to be on the edge of my seat with some type of gopro footage. That was not the movie.
 
Oldmanb777 said:
We saw it in IMAX a couple days ago. I liked it, but the family wasn't as thrilled. It wasn't what I expected. It was a lot more about qualifying and doing the job, than about flying. Not a whole lot of flying sequences. The flying sequences were repeated a bit. I expected to be on the edge of my seat with some type of gopro footage. That was not the movie.
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I honestly think the director/producers were worried that when shown in IMAX, people might get motion sickness if they showed flying scenes, so they didn't really show any of substance. Definitely not necessary to see it in IMAX.
 
Just watched the documentary on my little 110” home theater screen. Sweet!

My wife and I really liked it, but wanted more flying scenes. The backstory arc was interesting too. I don’t remember seeing videos from the centrifuge before. How humbling!
 
I was planning to see it at the local IMAX-lite theater this week. Happy to see the news here that it just turned up on Amazon Prime free...saved me $16

I enjoyed it; I agree with other comments here; I'd have liked to see more in-flight shots, and longer flying sequences. My non-pilot wife got bored after the first 40 minutes. She would have passed entirely on seeing it in a theater.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
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.
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I saw it on one of the mini-imax screens in a regular cinema
The one shot that I appreciated being on a large screen was the tight diamond formation near the end... I think they were calling in Yankee Formation. I've of course read and seen other references to the 18 inch separation....and I've even seen a few shows in person when they were tight like that, but seeing that on the big screen really made me verbally say "WOA...WOA...". That was a nice experience!
Otherwise, I'd imagine you're right that a small screen wouldn't detract form it much
 
I think most of us were expecting something closer to 90-120 minutes of this:


Now, even that video in IMAX would still be cool. (Pretty sure this is a redo; the original used A-4’s)
 
Do the pilots carry any kind of sequence card or script? Is there any kind of ground radio support for the sequence?
 
Watching it on Amazon Prime now. I think they did a good job. Good balance between people and flying, and good insight into team building. The G Loc training is eye opening.
 
Ed Haywood said:
The G Loc training is eye opening.
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Or eye closing..... ;)

I am seriously amazed that they can control a plane under the severe g forces that are induced. Maintaining fitness while executing a grueling show schedule must be quite a challenge, and I'd have enjoyed hearing more from the team's flight surgeon. I wonder how often she grounds a pilot. It seems like there would at least be an occasional head cold. How does the team manage when a pilot is unable to fly?
 
Half Fast said:
Or eye closing..... ;)

I am seriously amazed that they can control a plane under the severe g forces that are induced. Maintaining fitness while executing a grueling show schedule must be quite a challenge, and I'd have enjoyed hearing more from the team's flight surgeon. I wonder how often she grounds a pilot. It seems like there would at least be an occasional head cold. How does the team manage when a pilot is unable to fly?
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It is serious business, for sure. They lost a pilot in 2007 to G-LOC on a landing break turn. They also lost a pilot in 2016 due to pilot error that was partly attributed to fatigue. They do not have backup pilots, so grounding a pilot means they fly down a plane.

Almost 10% of BA pilots have died on the job.
 
Saw it in the theater (apparently 4k laser?), no ragrets.
 
The wife and I watched it last night on Prime. I have to say some of the cinematic air-to-air shots are nothing short of amazing. We knew they had been filming this last year, as there were a lot of sightings of a camera helicopter operating in close proximity to the Blues during practice sessions at Pensacola.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Do the pilots carry any kind of sequence card or script? Is there any kind of ground radio support for the sequence?
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I'm pretty sure that through repetition they all have it memorized. My understanding from other things I've seen and read is that they chair fly every show before every practice and before every show.... so each flight is basically done twice. The gave a snapshot hint at this in the imax movie with a brief shot of them doing it...sitting with eyes closed.... boss calls the cadence...they turn their heads to look in the direction they will be looking, they flip the switches in time, etc..

I really don't think that they look inside the jet all that much for the entire show so a sequence card probably wouldn't do them much good anyway...
 
Brad W said:
I'm pretty sure that through repetition they all have it memorized. My understanding from other things I've seen and read is that they chair fly every show before every practice and before every show.... so each flight is basically done twice. The gave a snapshot hint at this in the imax movie with a brief shot of them doing it...sitting with eyes closed.... boss calls the cadence...they turn their heads to look in the direction they will be looking, they flip the switches in time, etc..

I really don't think that they look inside the jet all that much for the entire show so a sequence card probably wouldn't do them much good anyway...
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They also normally fly the show 5 times a week. A usual week for the Blues is practice sessions at home in Pensacola Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is a travel day to wherever they are performing. Friday they practice at the site of the show, then fly Saturday and Sunday. Sunday after the show they refuel and return to Pensacola, to do it all over again.
 
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 saw it at the Pensacola IMAX 5/18 and really enjoyed it, but I too was disappointed with the cinematography. In 2005 I saw "Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag" and it was glorious.
 
Way way back Paul Mantz flew a camera equipped B-25 through the Grand Canyon for Cinerama.
Viewed in the proper theater that was a sight to see.
 
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