If you’re feeling nostalgic for another “Top Gun” summer, consider yourself lucky. There’s a new documentary that’s worth the watch.
When “Top Gun: Maverick” came out in 2022, it was an instant hit, scoring a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and earning several accolades, including an Oscar for best sound, per Deadline.
Since then, Glen Powell, who starred in the film as Top Gun pilot “Iceman,” joined J.J. Abrams in producing “The Blue Angels,” a documentary highlighting the Navy’s elite group of aerial pilots.
“These are people that aren’t only representing the Navy, but these are people that are serving their country,” Powell told People. “It was this really inspirational and aspirational thing where you could be extraordinary at a thing, and also be a really, really great person that represented all the best things about the Navy and all the best things about America.”
Who are the Blue Angels?
The Blue Angels are “representatives from the fleet, showcasing the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps,” per The Blue Angels website. The group of pilots performs demonstrations across the United States, inspiring people with various displays of elite aerial stunts.
Paul Crowder, who directed the film, told Fox News that his goal, along with making viewers feel like they were in the cockpit of an F/A-18 Super Hornet, was to address the declining enthusiasm in the U.S. Navy and bring audiences some excitement.
“So that was the part, the stuff that was really important to be able to get the audience, America, and the rest of the world to see what an incredible organization this is and how important it is for morale in every way,” Crowder told Fox News Digital.
The cast of the documentary are the pilots themselves, along with many other members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels team. The film features the training of the pilots, their shows, the recruitment of new Blue Angels pilots and the selection of a new “boss” — or flight leader — for the team.
The filming process itself takes viewers inside the cockpits with the pilots as well as on the ground in their meeting rooms and other locations at the Blue Angels’ home base in Pensacola.
According to The Associated Press, one of the most unconventional ideas was to put a camera on a helicopter and place it right in the middle of a practice demonstration — directly in “airspace where no civilian aircraft has ever been allowed.”
Greg “Boss” Wooldridge, who led the Blue Angels three times, told The Associated Press that experiencing the film was even better than being up in the sky.
“I’ve seen it from the cockpit, my cockpit, a bunch. I’ve seen it from the ground as we debrief,” he said. “But I’ve never seen it the way you see it in this movie. The perspective was so much better than I ever saw as a pilot. I’m wowed and awed by it.”
Is ‘The Blue Angels’ worth watching?
The documentary received an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an overall 98% audience score.
One critic said that the film is a “visually stunning documentary that places viewers in the cockpit with the pilots. While the aerial artistry is the selling point, the human story about what it takes to be the best of the best is equally compelling.”
I personally loved the documentary and found it fascinating. The visual effects were incredible and the maneuvers achieved by the Blue Angels pilots are jaw-dropping.
One particularly fun moment is when viewers get an inside-look of “Fat Albert,” a nickname given to the massive plane that transports “the team’s maintenance and support equipment from place to place as the flight demonstration team makes its way through each air show season,” per the Pensacola News Journal.
Where can I see the documentary?
“The Blue Angels” enjoyed a brief week-long theatrical run in May and can now be watched on Amazon Prime.
The film is rated G and has about an hour-and-a-half long run. While fans of “Top Gun” will likely love the movie, little kids may find themselves bored during some of the slower scenes and interviews.
If after watching “The Blue Angels” you’d like to see them in person, here is a list of their upcoming shows.
