Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag

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source: Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag

If you don't understand what the directors when through then why do you automatically downplay the movie? This movie revolves around Captain Stratton a fighter pilot new to Operation Red Flag at Nellis air force base in Nevada outside Las Vegas. For the cinematography, it was excellent and well done. Of course not all the scenes where real, they couldn't have been. Do you really expect the air force to let a filming crew into a war zone with 120 million dollar fighters from over 5 different countries? The only CGI in the film was the '3D' fighter sequences onboard the AWACS and there was no CGI 'fire' when the fighters blew up tanks. Most everything was real with exceptions to the opening scene when they go through briefing the first time. With all the scenes using munitions, the camera crew was in fact there. In the 'bonus features' on the DVD if you rented it they even show how close they stood to one of the bombing runs. As for the rescue sequence when the pilot was 'downed' as part of the excercise, come on, do you really think the air force would conduct a rescue operation with a bunch of IMAX cameras hovering around a 'hidden' pilot and still called the mission 'practice for the real thing'? Obviously some things were 'staged' in this movie but what the film should be notorious for is the angles with which the camera captures. I guarantee you will see nothing on par with this in other films and the way the director accomplished this is truly 'stunning'.

I saw this for the first time when I was in high school, while on vacation, and just before an air show. Not knowing much about mil aviation I was fascinated by it and inspired (started my pilot training within a few months after). Unfortunately I made the mistake of watching it again recently, and being more knowledgeable about the subject, it ruined the movie for me. On the IMAX screen the footage is incredible, as for watching the movie on your computer or TV, you can probably find better clips on YouTube. Anyways, at least the footage is of real airplanes. The scenes inside the controlling aircraft were so fake it was painful, obviously inside a studio. The amount of flare popping was annoying as well, especially because they made the aircraft so quiet. They made the lead character into a nerd, I'm sure he's a cool dude in real life, but he was so watered down I had to tune out the narration in some parts. I was also disappointed with the pyrotechnics, couldn't they have used footage of some real bombs? Anyways, if you can get past the fact that hardly any of the tactics in the film are real, as well as the fake sets and pyrotechnics in some parts, it's got some great footage and is worth watching once or twice. It's an inspirational film to say the least.

(this movie has a an HD option which is playable on your windows XP PC.however,i just watched it on my standard TV.)i just finished watching this 48 minute feature.it wasn't quite what i had hoped.***possible spoiler ahead***the back cover of the DVD promises "thundering,roaring,screaming sound and stunning aerobatics that will blow you away" that's exactly what it says on the back cover of the DVD.i didn't see any of that.the movie is more about the training mission itself than anything.i still found it interesting though.Operation Red Flag is apparently the gold standard,when it comes to training,not just the pilots,but also the ground crew,for combat situations.although i don't think the movie delivered what it promised,i still thought it was entertaining and informative.there is also a 10 minute 'making of' feature which has some interesting things.anyway,my vote for Fighter Pilot:Operation Red Flag is a 6.5/10

I read a couple of very damning review of this film saying that it was completely dumbed down (simplified) and that some bits are completely fake. You could see watching it that this was indeed the case... ...but, I still think, that it's wonderful to see 70mm films in high definition (especially if your new to it too) the quality on the footage is so very clear and detailed….again its very nicely edited with long takes. There's a wonderful sense of being up there flying...its really quite scary actually! It's a problematic film definitely, but I still have to recommend it because of the detail in it that the 70mm cameras get...there is after all not many films made in this format too...so they are rare things. I can completely understand people being upset about it...being a expert in something and *then* seeing a film about your specialist subject and that film missing the mark completely is very, very annoying...so I do understand it. THE BAD: the person doing the narration is very monotone and that was very unfortunate. THE GOOD: It's a heck of a experience with the detail this high.

There are so many flaws in this film. I am a military buff and I've worked at an IMAX for years, so I've seen this film hundreds of times. I'm just going to list a few of the errors I've found in the film. Fake explosions. Clearly pyrotechnics during the last bombing run. When the A-10 shoots at the tank a fireball appears from the ground. Some scenes they reuse. They a mirror image in one scene fire the rockets at the air. I can tell because the writing on the rockets is reversed. They show a female pilot boarding a plane that says Captain Jim Worley on the side. They show American pilots boarding an Israeli Air Force F-16. In one scene they say "break left" they show the pilot move the stick left, but they then show the plane from the outside and its turning right. They show an F/A-18 approaching the runway head on, then they switch to a different camera and now all of a sudden its switched to an F-15 thats touched down on the runway. They are not using aggressor F-16s. Agressor F-16s would have blue or brown camouflage. Most scenes the aggressors are gray. They reuse scenes by filming a scene and inserting different CGI aircraft in. One scene they are flying over a bunch of tanks. They reuse this multiple times and simply insert different CGI aircraft to make it look like different shots. They show John Stratton flying an F-15C but from the outside often he is shown in an F-15E. "Tractor" the aggressor is supposed to be flying an F-16, but in shots from the cockpit you can clearly see the twin tails of an F-15. At the end they do the picture with everyone and John Stratton blinks during the group portrait. It looks stupid, why couldn't they have freeze framed the shot a second earlier so his eyes were open? Or simply retaken the shot? Is it that hard? On a side note. Why do they keep dumping flares even when in a gun fight? Why do they never dump chaff or shoot beyond visual range missiles? I feel like they are excessively dumping flares because they think it looks cool on camera. All in all I think this was a poorly and hastily down film. They thought they could entertain the audience with fast jets and pyrotechnics. Perhaps they did, I thought it was OK the first time I saw it, but the more you see it the more you can see its faults all to clearly. I know most people only see an IMAX once, but I have seen other IMAX films many times as well, and have not caught nearly as many sloppy or technical errors as on this film.

I went to a prescreening of this in early 2005, and it was specifically hyped by one of the featured pilots, Major Novotony, as the Air Force's long overdue answer to Top Gun. Although most of the cinematography was well done for an IMAX theater, there was no real depth to the movie with the audience getting dragged along with a main character that was sheepish and uninteresting--not what people perceive in fighter pilots. (SPOILERS AHEAD) Although the movie is presented as a pseudo-documentary, it shows the main character in a later exercise mission in a role as a downed pilot involved in escape and evasion from enemy forces, while trying to signal to friendly pararescue forces. This part does not suit the film presentation and feels very staged, as it's unlikely that the opposing forces would not find the downed pilot with all the IMAX crew and equipment focused upon him. Overall, this movie is very sparkly at times, but is composed entirely of makeup with no underlying beauty.

The comment above me is full of inaccurate facts about the fighter pilot in the movie, his unit and the filming of the movie. I believe that if you are going to write a review about something that you obviously know nothing about then you should stick to your opinion instead of making stuff up and pretending like you know what you are talking about....You know neither Capt. John C. Stratton or anything about the filming of this movie...if you don't like it, then just say that. However, I found the movie to be amazing and inspiring. I cannot tell you how many people I have heard come out of the theater after viewing it and say "wow" or "I think i want to join the air force."