If you’re looking for a little bit of that “ Top Gun: Maverick ” spectacle and thrill at the movie theater this summer, you’re in luck. A groundbreaking new documentary, “ The Blue Angels,” is flying onto IMAX screens for one week, through May 22. Using IMAX-certified cameras mounted on a helicopter, the filmmakers were granted unprecedented access to the U.S. Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, both on the ground and in “the box,” the tightly guarded performance airspace. Unlike in a Hollywood movie, there were no staged recreations, second takes or computer-generated shots. And they had about “5% of the budget” “Top Gun” had, those involved estimated. The film was the brainchild of Rob Stone and Greg “Boss” Woolridge, a former Blue Angel and subject of a 1994 film about one of their historic tours in Europe. COVID-19 derailed plans to follow their 75th anniversary season, but a silver lining would emerge in the delay. By that point, aerial coordinator Kevin LaRosa II had worked several times with actor Glen Powell, on “Top Gun” and “Devotion.” Powell, he’d learned, had grown up with a Blue Angels lithograph in his childhood bedroom. |
CANNES DIARY: Behind the scenes of the 2024 film festivalUEFA wants Euro 2024 referees to speak more with captains and get more respect in returnCalifornia's wealthiest farming family threatens to reshape small town with new megaAlaska budget negotiators announce tentative deal as legislative session nears deadlineOntario will suspend driver’s licenses for convicted car thieves for at least 10 yearsTop banker's crossUnvaccinated mother tells of her 'immense guilt' after 21Argentina reports its first singleInnovation, investment urged to win global AI raceGiuliani bankruptcy judge frustrated with case, rebuffs attempt to challenge $148 million judgment