Tom Selleck Movie:

		List Price: $19.99		Label: Image Entertainment Salesrank: 79973 Released: June 27, 2000
		Our Price: $19.95
		Used Price: $8.44
		MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Fly with the U.S. Navy's elite Blue Angels demonstration squadron in the breathtaking video The Magic of Flight, which explains the basic principles of what enables airplanes (and birds) to fly, what creates lift, how planes maneuver, how planes land again. Going back to the Wright Brothers' experiments at Kitty Hawk, the documentary explores how the intrepid bicycle makers ruminated on the elements of flight for many an hour before even attempting to assemble their first aircraft. The Blue Angels put into action the discoveries made by the Wright Brothers, as they make their selections, train, and perform.

Pilots push their high-performance fighter planes through difficult but graceful maneuvers for amazed air-show audiences, demonstrating where the state of the art really lies for 21st-century flying. For all the skills of the pilots, however, the most astonishing part of the video would have to be the camera work, with cameras mounted on the planes' bellies, noses, and cockpits to give an up-close view of what the machines are really capable of. Planes fly arm's length apart during maneuvers where the slightest misstep would mean certain catastrophe. The Magic of Flight does indeed go a long way toward capturing the wonder of flying, with spectacular camera work, editing, and production. --Jerry Renshaw

The Magic of Flight (Large Format) Reviews:
A Brief Yet Captivating Magic Act
2008-11-05 - "The Magic of Flight" was originally released in IMAX theatres, and would certainly have been impressive to see on the (very) big screen. The production, narrated by the mellifluous Tom Selleck, is a visual feast, and traces the evolution of powered flight from the Wright brothers to the Blue Angels. The tidbits of history are interesting, but it is clear from the outset that the stars of the show are the Blue Angels.

The film is short (about 39 minutes), as are most IMAX releases, but is generally well-paced and captivating. I found a few of the trails the director went down to be a distraction from the central theme of the film (e.g. showing some of the members of the Blue Angels lifting weights and running to stay in shape, etc.), especially with this short of a running time. The interviews with pilots were generally good, but they frequently devolved into platitudes about "being born to fly" and "being at one with the aircraft", etc. Perhaps, though, I am bit hypercritical of this aspect as a longtime airline (and former Air Force) pilot: it's not that the interview segments are bad, they're just very bland and homogenous.

Overall, I thought this was a very strong effort and well worth the money if you are interested in high performance flying.

Not enough flying
2008-06-30 - It's a good enough feature to interest you, but for the hardcore aviation enthusiast, you'll probably be left wanting for more. However, it is good for the new aviation enthusiast.

Great Aviation Pictures
2008-06-04 - This is a must for the aviation enthusiast. Great pictures from Blue Angels training and air show performance.
Allthough the Wright were not the first to do a powered flight (it was an other american 2 years earlier).
The video material is of the highest quality and pure fun to enjoy: the bigger the screen, the better.
A goodie is the additional DVD Rom with PC HD WMV material.

average
2008-01-28 - An older product, great voice of Tom Seleck. I like the Windows media DVD format. They did a lot of work creating the movie as showed in the "extras" but it misses the "Magic".

Nice work
2007-09-18 - Very informative and beautiful movie. Impressive footage with a lot of cameras placed in different parts of the airplanes. Great movie for the aviation lovers.