Born to Fly Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Born to Fly Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 25, 2024

Top Gun: Maverick managed to bring in over a billion in box office receipts, but it did so without screening in China due to its rah-rah jingoistic (i.e., pro-American) fervor. Chinese audiences instead were supposedly going to be offered this Chinese production, which in a very real way is simply an Asian version of the Tom Cruise blockbuster, including that very rah-rah jingoistic fervor (in this case Chinese rather than American, of course). That "supposedly" may raise some eyebrows, and for those so intrigued, there's quite a bit of rather fascinating information available online (from actual reputable sources) that Born to Fly was actually "grounded" before its proposed theatrical exhibition in China when the powers that be decided it was going to be compared unfavorably to Top Gun: Maverick. While some news articles dating from late 2022 suggest the film would never see the light of day, the IMDb does list an April 2023 release date in its native land, though it's notable that while the Chinese listing doesn't offer this proviso, several other international releases on the same date state the release was "limited". All of this is to say Born to Fly is a kind of pale carbon copy of the American hit, and will probably not generate much interest in audiences on this side of the pond who weren't deprived of seeing Top Gun: Maverick.

Born to Fly starts out with the first of several green screened flying sequences, in a chaotic and frankly confusing opening which seems to suggest good old American flyboys have penetrated Chinese air space (nothing in this story is ever really detailed very clearly). The upshot is a dangerous moment for test pilot Lei Yu (Wang Yibo), who is kinda sorta this film's version of Pete Mitchell, albeit probably more with regard to the first Top Gun. Everything about this screenplay reeks of having been "borrowed" from either the first or second Top Gun outings, including rivalry between pilots, mentoring by a gruff but lovable elder, and occasional ostensible "tragedy" when things go wrong.

There's been a lot of bandwidth and/or newsprint devoted to the strengths of Chinese forces, and the film does a decent job of highlighting some of China's technological wizardry with regard to its air force, but if this film is any example, China still has a long way to go in terms of innovation and especially special effects mastery in the cinematic universe. Vis a vis nothing other than the sheer amount of production entities and/or "officials" (as in Chinese government entities) involved in this film, the disc itself is literally covered with logos and both the opening and closing credits offer a really almost incredible number of different participants.

Born to Fly Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Born to Fly is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Despite that aforementioned glut of logos in the closing credits, I wasn't able to spot any actual camera information and the IMDb is without information as of the writing of this review (the closing credits do offer mentions of Dolby Vision and Atmos, neither of which are offered here). This is a glistening digital capture which offers secure detail levels in practical items like costumes and props, but which can't help but look almost hilariously "animated" (as in cartoonish) in the many CGI flying sequences. That may be one reason why so many minutes are spent on close-ups of pilots operating joysticks rather than showing them actually flying anywhere. The palette is commendably natural looking throughout, without much if any aggressive grading. I noticed no compression issues of any import.

Born to Fly Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Born to Fly features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Mandarin, and while the credited Atmos track for whatever theatrical exhibition this may or may not have had no doubt would have provided a bit more overhead activity, the surround engagement here is near constant in the many flying sequences, with nice panning effects and occasional bursts of LFE when jet thrusters are engaged. Even some of the earthbound training sequences offer decent background clamor that noticeably fills the side and rear channels. There is some momentary English (as in the opening sequence featuring those renegade American pilots). Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Mandarin subtitles are available, but the English subtitles only translate the Mandarin, and so will not offer and SDH assistance for the (admittedly brief) spoken English.

Born to Fly Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:57)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Born to Fly Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'd love to find out how much bootlegging Torrent streaming or other illegal activity might have brought Top Gun: Maverick to the furtive eyes and ears of Chinese audiences, but it's actually kind of gobsmacking that this evidently hugely budgeted feature was withheld, if only temporarily, from Chinese cineplexes. This is completely rote filmmaking that will be obviously derivative for anyone who has seen either of the Top Gun films, though that derivative quality unfortunately doesn't extend to the generally excellent technical facility the Top Gun films offered in the special effects department. CGI aside, technical merits are solid here for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.