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Did the Chinese Military Use Top Gun Footage?

Posted by samzenpus on from the stay-frosty dept.

heidaro writes "'As part of its ongoing expansion, has the People's Liberation Army signed up Goose and Maverick? Chinese bloggers are accusing state broadcaster CCTV of using re-purposed footage from the 1986 film Top Gun for a story on a recent air force drill.' Is it just me or are communist nations very skilled at embarrassing themselves?"

15 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. What does communist have to do with it? by Rinnon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, I don't see what being communist has to do with embarrassing yourself. Capitalist nations embarrass themselves pretty damn often too.

    1. Re:What does communist have to do with it? by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The difference being that most capitalist nations are democracies, and everybody rather expects that impermanent governments are going to bugger things up. I'd say fuck-ups are the life blood of democracy.

      In states like China, where the government asserts that it knows best, these sorts of stupid stunts have somewhat more dramatic connotations. Particularly in this case, it not only raises the question as to what kind of people it has in its military and PR that think it's a bright idea to rip off footage from a Hollywood film, it also raises the more important question as to why they would even need to.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:What does communist have to do with it? by MoonBuggy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      By voting for representatives, you are seen as having had your say - it's not "the government" making the rules, it's "the people" doing so by proxy. Or so the theory goes.

      Those in power might well act as if they know best, but at the end of the day they are, to some extent, beholden to the people. We can and do get rid of them if they piss us off too badly. I know it doesn't work that well, but it's still a damn sight better than being told "We are right, if you disagree you are a dangerous subversive, and there's not a thing you can do about it.".

    3. Re:What does communist have to do with it? by cdp0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The difference is, in the US or the UK, if you feel that you have a better idea than the government you can run for office and try to change things.

      Do you really believe that ? I mean really, give it a try. Without money, without support from "big business", nobody will ever hear about you. And even if people hear about you, you won't be one of their favorites, mostly because they don't know you. Running for office involves much more than just the will to do it.

      And the kind of people that have the will, the money and the support are in the game for power, for their own benefit, not for ours.

  2. so where's the RIAA now? by v1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    this ought to be good... I want to see the suits show up at a door, knock, and open it to see a tank barrel in their face. (sort of like in the Simpsons episode)

    oh wait I forgot, the RIAA doesn't pick on anyone that can defend themselves.

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  3. In Communist China... by kerskine · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Maverick Gooses You

    --
    ****

    "I'd never want to join a club that would have me as a member" - G. Marx
  4. Re:Embaras? You dont get it.. by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I beg to differ. China has made all sorts of bellowing noises against things they felt would embarrass them on the international stage. I'm thinking here of the film about the Uighur leader that China demanded an Australian film festival not show, and the film festival's website was suddenly the victim of cyberattacks pretty obviously coming from China.

    China is extremely sensitive of its reputation.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  5. WSJ report and comparison video by Novus · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Wall Street Journal has a report including a comparison video.

  6. Damn! by PPH · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was looking forward to a video of a Chinese pilot lip-syncing You've Lost That Loving Feeling.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Damn! by halivar · · Score: 4, Funny

      "You've rost... dat ruvvving feering... whoah dat ruvving feering...."

  7. Re:"Commies skilled an(sic) embarrassing themselve by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 5, Informative

    You post appears to be propaganda masquerading as sarcasm. So just in case, I'd like to make the following points:

    CCTV stands for China Central Television which is a state run television network. It is communist.

    CCTV is the main outlet of propaganda for the government. Western broadcasters may at times use film scenes or in-house produced animations to illustrate a story, but they disclose it as a animation or for illustration purposes only. They are a third-party entity reporting an event, not part of the government trying to fabricate the event.

    Your example of Powell's UN presentation doesn't seem applicable, since Powell wasn't the media and that the slide was produced by analysts and not a scene from a movie.

    --
    These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  8. Riceman? by locutus53 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Riceman?

  9. Re:"Commies skilled an(sic) embarrassing themselve by advid.net · · Score: 5, Interesting

    PS. BTW, regarding such movies - Les Chevaliers du ciel (aka Sky Fighters), while obviously also with completely redundant plot, is much more enjoyable all-flash-no-substance kind of deal - it has much more spectacular cinematography, nvm lots more minutes of actual flying. Unlike Top Gun (where most flight sequences filming was done from the ground) - in Les Chevaliers du ciel the majority of filming was done from the air, largely via cameras hidden in modified fuel tanks of fighters, to great effect.

    Anyone who like technology, fighters, sonic boom at ground level, real footage from fighters, post-combustion by night, ... in widescreen should see this awesome movie.

  10. Re:"Commies skilled an(sic) embarrassing themselve by sznupi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actual cinematography (in this case the results of most basic choices about camera placement) = effects? Since when?

    --
    One that hath name thou can not otter
  11. Re:You haven't experienced by blackbear · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would have written:
    You haven't fully experienced Top Gun unless you've watched it in the original Chinese.

    With the above you allude to the original joke without hitting us over the head with it. Thus giving all of us who "get it" a chance to look down our collective noses at those of less depth in Sci-Fi pop culture.