'The Blue Angels' Doc Provides Thrills, Chills, and Inside Look at Military Aviators

To see the Navy’s elite Blue Angels elite Flight Demonstration Squadron in action can be one of the most thrilling and exhilarating experiences a person will ever observe. Featuring precision flying and breathtaking maneuvers, the Blue Angels consistently provide a spectacular showcase for aerial wizardry. 

For more than 75 years, the Blue Angels have delighted fans near and far and have become a staple of family entertainment. But what happens behind the scenes to create the passion, pride, and visual spectacle that people see at each and every air show?

In the new documentary film The Blue Angels, audiences will get the opportunity to go behind the scenes to get an in-depth look of what it takes to become a Blue Angel. Streaming globally on Amazon Prime this Thursday (May 23rd), the film is directed by Paul Crowder.

The Blue Angels will take viewers through a typical season of flying, from the first days of Winter Training to the final show of the season. Along the way, people will have the opportunity to ‘climb in the cockpit’ for an exhilarating experience like no other.

I recently sat down with Crowder and Captain Greg “Boss” Wooldridge, a Christian, who sees his journey as a blessing from God. He led the Blue Angels team on three separate occasions during the 1990s. Together, we discussed the legacy of this elite flying team, what it takes to be a team member, and the inherent challenges of captivating audiences while traveling at 1,400 mph.

For every pilot, there always seems to be a trigger, a tipping point, a moment where you say to yourself, “I have to be part of this!” For being a part of the Blue Angels, what was that moment for you, Capt. Wooldridge?

Capt. Greg Wooldridge: I was in Pensacola and I wanted to fly heavy airplanes with big engines. This was so when I got out of the Navy, I could get an airline job. Then, I got down here to Pensacola (Florida) to start officer training and while we're marching out in the heat and humidity, on the grinder overhead, come these six F-4 blue jets. And I'm going, what was that? Does the Navy have these things? And I thought, okay, I think I'm going to change my course. I had no idea that I'd ever be involved with the Blue Angels, but I just love the thought.

Due to the precision of your flying, I believe that it must take a special person to be a part of the Blue Angels team. So, let me ask, what does it take physically, emotionally, and even spiritually to be part of such an elite group?

Capt. Greg Wooldridge: Well, there's a culture there, a culture of gratitude and trust. So you have those two elements. To get into that, that's what we were looking for in people that came onto the team. We needed to know that we could trust them and learn a way to trust them. Of course, a lot of people want to be Blue Angels, but it's very selective, and very hard to get onto the team. And so the trust had to develop rapidly so that we knew who we were picking was going to be a good team member. It's incredible to be a Blue Angel and an honor to represent the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Just as the Blue Angels are a highly visual spectacle to see, I’m guessing any sort of film about them must be equally spectacular or the viewing experience would be a letdown. How important was it to get the visuals just right for this film?

Paul Crowder: The most difficult thing to do was to figure out how do we get the cameras in a position that the audience hasn't been in before? We can all watch the show from the ground. We can look up and see the planes fly. We can put our cameras here very easily. We want to put our cameras where they've never been before. 

The vapors that came off the jets as they flew through the clouds, or through the air, was even more spectacular than they'd ever been on any of the other shoots we'd done that week. It was just spectacular. And we got them at 1,000 frames per second. To give your audience some understanding of what that means, a ten second clip, takes six minutes to watch. That's how slow they're going. So you see these cameras and you see these planes in a way you've never ever seen them before. It's artful. That was really what we wanted to do. We wanted to give the audience a view they've never had before.

Currently, The Blue Angels is concluding a one week run on IMAX, and makes its streaming debut on May 23rd via Amazon Prime Video.

WATCH A TRAILER FOR ‘THE BLUE ANGELS’: