Fighter Pilot: Operation red flag / clippings
Winner, Best of Festival, LFCA 2005 (Large Format Cinema Association)
What the Press is Saying
“Exhilarating….the film succeeds in making pilots of us all.” [**** 4 stars]
— New York Times
"You can forget about all those old-school Imax tricks here. Five minutes into Fighter Pilot, your stomach will be doing the rumba when an F-15 Eagle zooms straight up into the sky (the land beneath going, going, gone) and then . . . starts . . . spinning."
— Washington Post
"Fighter Pilot is never shy about exploiting the prodigiously magnified audiovisual resources of Imax films. Indeed, it often adroitly enhances them."
— Washington Times
"Red Flag flies as a tribute to these heroic folks and provides a rare supersize peek at the teamwork and dangers involved in flight training. Now, take off!"
— E Online
"It's hard for a film to go wrong when the stars of the show are dozens of fighter jets in all their roaring, screaming glory. With every shot that features an F-15 thundering across the Nevada desert, the new IMAX movie Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag delivers excitement."
— The Gazette, Colorado Springs
"...the stunning aerobatics will blow you away, while the close-ups enhance the sense of intimacy and urgency. No CGI or special effects here. This is the real thing. "
— The Dallas Morning News
"I'm not one of those people who grew up dreaming about flying, but the new IMAX flight film, Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag, made me want to take to the sky."
"Behind the control panel, you can feel the sun on your face and watch the earth recede in the distance. The rush is palpable, and you will feel it, too." Times Community Newspapers, Northern Virginia
"Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag [is] a state of the art experience that thrusts the viewer into the cockpit of an F-15 Eagle fighter plane during rigorous maneuvers."
"The 45-minute film should emerge as one of Imax’s higher flyers....."
— Hollywood Reporter
"Patriotic but not jingoistic..."
"the real reason to see this film is its startling, surprisingly moving, footage of F-15 Eagles breaching from clouds, otherworldly Stealth jets floating into view from the edge of Pacific Science Center's six-story screen, or a cockpit view of parting heavens."
[**** 4-stars]
— The Seattle Times
"For every little kid who dreams about flying, the Pacific Science Center has the movie for you… FIGHTER PILOT: OPERATION RED FLAG"
— Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Doree Armstrong
"Easily the most exciting aerial IMAX movie ever shown at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum."
— Chicago Tribune, Michael Kilian
"[The movie] will keep you on the edge of your seat for the duration of the film!"
— St. Louis Movie Review Weekly
"Forty-five minutes of excitement await you on the giant IMAX screen."
—St. Louis Movie Review Weekly
"Even STAR WARS fans may drop their jaws when they see the bat-winged, sleek, ebony planes whispering through the skies like ghosts."
— Charlotte Observer, Lawrence Toppman
What Theaters are Saying
"The film is very exciting and inspirational and the guests are loving it. It became our number one film right out of the gate!"
— Gil Perez, Luxor Imax Theater
"I enjoyed Fighter Pilot very much. I think it has a great potential to draw a strong audience here in the 'heartland.' Thanks for your efforts to provide these advance screenings. It makes good use of the IMAX technology, which is much appreciated in our market."
— Dean Fick, Putnam Imax Theater
"Fighter Pilot is an aerial visual feast! I might finally have to install seatbelts in my theater!"
— Ken Quimby, Aerospace Education Center
"The best aviation film of its type that we have seen here at the Air and Space Museum."
— General Dailey, Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
"Our first week's attendance was up 143 percent compared to last year. The box office results clearly say what people think about Fighter Pilot! We love the film too!"
— Mary Bruggeman, US Air Force Museum
"We had actually contacted the USAF and had a significant presence here for the opening weekend, approximately 10 personnel and the Raptor. It worked very well and in spite of the Christmas shopping competition, we doubled our usual weekend attendance."
— Tom Gwynne, Cradle of Aviation
"The public loves the film...which means that I really love it! Our attendance has been exceptional for this time of year, and is getting even better because of strong 'word-of-mouth. All of our Staff and Curators think this is the best flight film they have seen and they keep telling me how much money I am going to make with it! I am proud to have it on our screen!"
— Toby Mensforth, Smithsonian Business Ventures
"I am very happy that Fighter Pilot has turned out so well. I'm grateful to you and Stephen for having come through with a film that we can all be proud of."
— Robert Esterlein, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
"Our opening went great and everyone loved the film."
— Kin Hinson, Virginia Air and Space Center
"Comments from our preview audiences have been very positive. I was really delighted with the feedback from a very tough audience--high school students: 'The word around school this afternoon is awesome! Our students loved seeing Operation Red Flag today, and I wish to thank all of you for inviting us. It is unusual to see EVERY student so inspired as a result of a field trip, but it happened today. Thank you so much for organizing such a meaningful learning experience for our students."
— Reba Gilman, Principal Aviation High School
"The Seattle Times (January 1st) gave Fighter Pilot a four star rating, which is very rare. Since opening the film on December 26th, the attendance for Fighter Pilot has been very strong, averaging a 68 percent fill rate. We are also selling out two shows every afternoon!."
— Diane Carlson, Pacific Science Center
“ ...it’s( Fighter Pilot) holding its own with Polar Express, which is some accomplishment since we’re selling out nearly every show.....”
— Caren Myers, VP Sales and Marketing, San Antonio IMAX Theater
