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Chinese Top Gun?

Born to Fly (Chinese, 2023)
Written, Directed: Lin Xiaoshi

The ending says it all. Anyone who invades Chinese airspace will be resolutely shut down. Some will label it as China's reply to Hollywood's 'Top Gun' and 'Maverick' while others would brush this movie as another of the CCP's propaganda projects. Thanks to the USA's brilliant plan to outsource, China has leapt by leaps and bounds. Trying to save on their budget, it appeared then that getting China to handle military networks was a bright idea.

In 21st-century China, she can send a rocket to the dark side of the Moon and match the US fighter and stealth planes. Hence, the silver screen is the best avenue to showcase their prowess in the sky. Hopefully, the offspring of the one-child policy families would be impressed to lose their sons to become fighter and test pilots.

Surprisingly, after an initial screening, which drew record box office collection, CCP decided to withdraw the permit for its screening. Rumours had it the special effects and the computer-generated images were inferior to Top Gun's. If you ask me, it is probably because, in the movie, the Chinese plane ran into trouble way too many times, causing a crash twice, killing a commander and injuring another. It gave the impression that Chinese products were unreliable. What's more, when it comes to precision engineering like planes, there is no place for error, even if it is occasional, even at the test flight level.

This movie starts with a foreign (US) F35 fighter plane encroaching into Chinese airspace. Even though Chinese soldiers warned them politely, the foreign pilots sniggered at them and teased them into a dogfight. The enemies gave the Chinese a runaround with their modern 5th-generation fighter planes. The Chinese were embarrassed with their 4th-generation planes.

The rest of the story is about how an elite team is recruited to test out a new fleet of planes and devise ways to combat certain shortcomings in its design. After an emotional turn of events, the new recruits turn heroes manning their 5th-generation J20 planes and proudly intimidating and chasing away the foreign intruders.
 
China marking their territories after the new map?

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Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

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