The Blue Angels

What does it take to fly a fighter jet just inches from five others, in front of a crowd, week after week? 'The Blue Angels' puts that question to the Blue Angels, the US Navy and Marine Corps flight demonstration squadron, and follows them through their 2022 season, from picking new pilots to the long tour of air shows. It's directed by Paul Crowder, who made the Formula 1 documentary '1: Life on the Limit'.

The man doing most of the talking is Captain Brian Kesselring, the flight leader everyone calls "Boss", in his final year in charge. We sit in on the desk sessions on the ground, which have something of a ritual about them, and watch training built around one goal: getting six jets to fly as one.

It also catches a first for the team. Amanda Lee joins the new intake as the Blue Angels' first female demonstration pilot, training alongside the other newcomers for the following season, while the veterans talk about trust, the time spent away from home and life on the road from their base in Pensacola, Florida.

The nine-month shoot used IMAX cameras and the same aerial rigs as 'Top Gun: Maverick'. A camera helicopter became the first civilian aircraft allowed inside "the box", the team's display airspace. J.J. Abrams and Glen Powell, who played pilots in 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'Devotion', are among the producers.

Amazon MGM Studios gave it a single week in IMAX cinemas from 17 May 2024, taking just over $1.4 million in its US opening weekend, before it arrived on Prime Video on 23 May. Critics were won over by the flying footage, though plenty found it closer to a recruitment advert than a proper look at the people in the cockpit.

• Documentary