Born to Fly - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Born to Fly



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
2022’s massive blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick was one of the highest grossing films in all of pandemic, with a direct sequel to Tony Scott’s 1980s jingoistic film. A film that has cemented itself into history as one of the most classic military flight movies of all time. However, even though the sequel was an unabashed smash hit, it was not allowed to screen in Mainland China thanks to the very heavy “jingoistic” patriotism that was slathered throughout the flick. China too offense to that, but instead promised to bring their own version of Maverick to Chinese shores in short order. Which they have now done with 2023’s Born to Fly, which is quite literally the most obvious Top Gun ripoff known to man (just replaced with Chinese nationalistic jingoism instead of United States rah rah “ism”).

According to online interviews and some pretty reliable leaks, Born to Fly was originally put on hold for a while due to the fact that the speculators correctly foresaw that it would be seen in a less than favorable light as a Top Gun “knockoff” rather than it’s own film, and I can see why. It’s a slightly paler copy of Top Gun: Maverick, so much so that I actually was chuckling during some of the flight sequences where you can see a near boiler plate rip off of the 2022 smash hit.

Born to Fly introduces us to our crack pilots through a series of green screen and CGI laden dogfights with an English speaking pilot who has invaded Chinese air space, only to be outflown and out fought by the Chinese test pilot Lei Yu (Wang Yibo), who basically is this film’s Pete Mitchell. However, from this confrontation Lei Yu is hand picked by veteran pilot Zhang Ting (Hu Jun) to join an elite combat unit who is trying to get limit data on high altitude flying experiments. The rest of the movie unfolds with your traditional hiccups, including a passing rivalry with pilot Deng Fang (Yu Yoshi), with the rest being Lei Yu’s attempt at helping his unit obtain new tech data to create better planes and more capable pilots.

I’m fully aware that Top Gun has always been called “Naval propaganda” by many, and it’s kind of obvious with the slightly over the top military jingoism if you’re a civilian. HOWEVER, the movies series is still FUN, with lots of fantastic dog fights, use of physical effects and REAL fighter planes to draw the audience in. Plus, Tom Cruise is still one of the OG movie “stars” and his star power is a large reason why the film actually succeeded. Born to Fly is….well… a bit OVER THE TOP to the extreme. I’ve mentioned in several of my reviews before, but Mainland Chinese films always have this sense of over the top jingoism that feels 2 dimensional and sort of “military parade” fake at heart. Something which is on full display here as this is basically a 2 hour Chinese military advertisement in movie form. Characters are cheesy and overly worshiping the military command, and the villains are cardboard cutout “American hot shots” (there’s literally a line in the opening dog fight where an English speaking enemy fighter laughs and says “we can come and go whenever we want!” before getting outclassed by Lei Yu). Maybe it’s because I come from the United States and have some cultural biases? (of which I’ll admit may give me a different experience than other Asian viewers might have to the jingoism), or it may be that Born to Fly is a high budget Chinese knockoff of a mega blockbuster franchise, and with that comes all of the comparisons, pale attempts at rivaling the success of the previously mentioned film series, and Chinese state propaganda blended in making the perfect “meh” smoothie. Either way, Born to Fly fails to really give viewers any incentive to see it if they’ve already seen Top Gun: Maverick, and even Chinese viewers may be a little bored by the 2 hour + flick.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Don’t be shocked here, but I couldn’t find ANY information about filming style, cameras used, OR master of the resolution for Born to Fly (shocking, I know), but judging by the 1080p Blu-ray image I’m quite certain some nice high end Digital cameras were used, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see a 4K DI for the home video release. That being said, the image is quite pleasing, with fantastic clarity and razor sharp detailing all around. Some interior shots and daylight shots are honey colored and a bit yellowed, but most of the time everything is very naturally graded. Black levels are strong, though I noticed some mild banding here and there, and the CGI green screening of the dogfights was a bit TOOO obvious for my tastes (China has never had the best of luck with live action CGI compared to Hollywood central). All in all, a nice looking disc.









Audio:

The credits for the film show an Atmos track for it’s Chinese theatrical run, the Well Go USA Blu-ray sports a DTS-HDMA 5.1 mix for our listening pleasure. While the nerdy part of me is a bit sad that we don’t get an Atmos mix as well, the 5.1 mix is more than capable of crowd pleasing. Utilizing a very energetic and highly octane fueled surround mix, this track literally blasts you back into your seat with roaring engines, sweeping dog fight sounds, and the generally intense score to really get things moving. There are some decent swathes of the movie where dialog is the main focus and the surrounds/bass get a little bit of a break, but there’s PLENTY of flying sequences to keep things humming along nicely.












Extras:

• Trailer
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score:
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Born to Fly can’t seem to really gain any real altitude cinematicly, and I doubt it’s going to have much of an impact even across the ocean in it’s homeland. The film tries to be edgy and “cool”, but ends up feeling timid and reticent, never really allowing itself to BE edgy or cool, let alone fun. Instead it comes across as a high budget Asylum film with China copying the success of Top Gun: Maverick instead of creating their own IP. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, though, so fans of the movie who DO want to check it out should be well pleased in that regards. Sadly the extras are pretty much nonexistent, so once again, I’m forced to give a “meh” rating for this one.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Yibo Wang, Jun Hu, Yosh Yu
Directed by: Liu Xiaoshi
Written by: Liu Xiaoshi
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Mandarin DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 128 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: March 26th, 2024

Recommendation: Meh