The world of cinema offers a rich array of aviation-themed movies, appealing to everyone from dedicated pilots to casual viewers.

These films span from classic tales to modern blockbusters, showcasing the thrill and drama of flight. Whether you’re deeply passionate about aviation or just enjoy a compelling story, there’s a film in this genre for you.

The action-packed skies have inspired filmmakers for generations, resulting in a diverse collection of movies that capture the adventure of flying.

This list of top aviation movies is perfect for any occasion, offering a selection that promises to entertain and inspire. So, get ready for a cinematic journey!

Movies About Aviation and Films about Planes and Pilots

My Favorite Movies About Pilots, Planes & Aviation

7500

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 30m
  • Director: Patrick Vollrath
  • Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Omid Memar, Aylin Tezel, Carlo Kitzlinger
  • Plot: Tobias Ellis, a pilot on a transcontinental flight, must fight for the safety of his passengers when bad guys attempt to take over the plane.

Above and Beyond

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Duration: 1h 34m
  • Director: Roberta Grossman
  • Starring: Narrated by Mark Harris
  • Plot: This documentary tells the story of the all-volunteer group of pilots who, in 1948, smuggled planes out of the U.S. to help the newly created state of Israel fight for its independence. The film features interviews with surviving pilots, rare archival footage, and eye-witness accounts.

Aces High

  • Release year:
  • Genre: War
  • Duration: 2h 30m
  • Director: Jack Gold
  • Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Simon Ward, John Gielgud, Don Henderson
  • Plot: During World War I, a British fighter pilot is sent to a flying school for officer candidates. He becomes friends with his fellow pilots and bonds with a young woman, but the horrors of war eventually catch up with him.

Aero-Troopers

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction
  • Duration: 1h 30m
  • Director: David Giancola
  • Starring: Joe Lando, John C. McGinley, Krista Allen, Coolio
  • Plot: A group of young pilots discover that their training jets are actually advanced space fighters, and must use their new abilities to save the Earth from an alien invasion.

Air America

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Action, Comedy
  • Duration: 1h 45m
  • Director: Roger Spottiswoode
  • Starring: Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., Nancy Travis, Lane Smith
  • Plot: In the late 1960s, a CIA pilot is recruited to fly covert operations in Vietnam for a top-secret airlift group known as Air America. As he gets deeper into the dirty business of war, he must confront his own morality and decide where his loyalty truly lies.

Air Collision

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Action, Science Fiction
  • Duration: 1h 29m
  • Director: Jeffery Scott Lando
  • Starring: Dominic Purcell, Craig Fairbrass, Estella Warren, William B. Davis
  • Plot: When a prototype military spacecraft is accidentally activated, it causes a global black-out, forcing a group of survivors to fight their way to safety while being pursued by an unknown enemy.

Air Disaster

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Duration: 1h
  • Director: Christopher Spencer
  • Starring: Ben Cross, Andrew Sachs, Robert Portal, Catherine Russell
  • Plot: This documentary examines some of the most devastating air disasters in history, including the Tenerife airport disaster and the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123. Through reenactments and expert interviews, the film delves into the causes of these tragedies and the efforts to prevent future accidents.

Air Disasters

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Duration: 1h
  • Director: Christopher Spencer
  • Starring: Ben Cross, Andrew Sachs, Robert Portal, Catherine Russell
  • Plot: This documentary series examines some of the most devastating air disasters in history, including the Tenerife airport disaster and the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123. Through reenactments and expert interviews, the series delves into the causes of these tragedies and the efforts to prevent future accidents.

Air Force One

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Action, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 5m
  • Director: Wolfgang Petersen
  • Starring: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson
  • Plot: When bad guys take over Air Force One, the president (Harrison Ford) is left with no choice but to fight for the survival of his family and the country. As the bad guys attempt to kill him and take control of the plane, the president must use all of his cunning and combat skills to outwit them and save the day.

Air Marshals

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Action
  • Duration: 1h 30m
  • Director: John Woo
  • Starring: Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi
  • Plot: Two Hong Kong cops are sent to Tokyo to catch an ex-cop who stole a large amount of money in diamonds. After one is captured by the thief, the other must save his partner and catch the criminal.

Air Rage

  • Release year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 32m
  • Director: Jeff Hare
  • Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Lori Heuring, Ice-T
  • Plot: A disgruntled passenger on a plane plots to kill the crew and crash the plane.

Airline Disaster

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 30m
  • Director: David R. Ellis
  • Starring: Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Selleck
  • Plot: As a commercial airline is struck by a series of emergencies, a team of skilled pilots and a flight attendant must come together to save the lives of the passengers on board.

Airplane!

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Duration: 1h 28m
  • Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
  • Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen
  • Plot: When an airplane crew is struck with food poisoning, a former pilot is called in to take over the flight, but his fear of flying may jeopardize the safety of the passengers on board.

Airplane II: The Sequel

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Duration: 1h 29m
  • Director: Ken Finkleman
  • Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges
  • Plot: When a computer malfunction causes a space shuttle to crash into the moon, the fate of the passengers and crew rests on the shoulders of the shuttle’s designer, who must figure out how to land the spacecraft safely.

Airplane Mode

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Duration: 1h 37m
  • Director: Ian Pfaff
  • Starring: Lorenzo Richelmy, Ana Flavia Gavlak, Fábio Porchat
  • Plot: After a series of mishaps, a social media influencer becomes stranded on a remote island with a group of misfits, where they must work together to survive and make their way back to civilization.

Airport

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama
  • Duration: 2h 15m
  • Director: George Seaton
  • Starring: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg
  • Plot: As a winter storm closes in on an airport, a variety of travelers become stranded, including a pilot and his mistress, a stressed-out airport official, and a soldier trying to get home for Christmas.

Airport: The Final Countdown

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 40m
  • Director: David Green
  • Starring: David Hasselhoff, Catherine Oxenberg, Ross McLaine
  • Plot: When a group of bad guys take over a Boeing 747, the passengers and crew must rely on the bravery of the airport’s security chief to rescue them before the bad guys destroy the plane and everyone on board.

Amelia

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Biography, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 53m
  • Director: Mira Nair
  • Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor
  • Plot: The life of Amelia Earhart, the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, is explored in this biographical drama.

American Made

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 55m
  • Director: Doug Liman
  • Starring: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright
  • Plot: Based on a true story, this biographical crime drama follows the adventures of a pilot who becomes a drug smuggler for the CIA in the 1980s, leading to a complex web of deceit and danger.

Aviator

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Biography, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 50m
  • Director: Martin Scorsese
  • Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale
  • Plot: This biographical drama follows the life and career of Howard Hughes, a billionaire entrepreneur and aviator who becomes obsessed with building the world’s largest airplane and making a name for himself in Hollywood.

Catch Me If You Can

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 21m
  • Director: Steven Spielberg
  • Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken
  • Plot: Based on a true story, this biographical crime drama follows the adventures of Frank Abagnale Jr., a young man who becomes a successful con artist and forger, evading capture by a determined FBI agent for years.

Con Air

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 45m
  • Director: Simon West
  • Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich
  • Plot: This action thriller follows the story of a group of convicts who take over a prison transport plane, taking the guards and a U.S. Marshall hostage as they try to make their escape.

Die Hard 2

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller
  • Duration: 2h 2m
  • Director: Renny Harlin
  • Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton
  • Plot: This action thriller follows John McClane as he tries to stop a group of bad guys who have taken over a high-tech airport and threaten to blow up a number of planes if their demands are not met.

Executive Decision

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller
  • Duration: 2h 3m
  • Director: Stuart Baird
  • Starring: Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, Steven Seagal
  • Plot: This action thriller follows a group of bad guys who take over a 747 en route to Washington D.C. and threaten to release a deadly nerve agent, leading a team of experts to come up with a risky plan to stop them.

Final Destination

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Horror, Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 37m
  • Director: James Wong
  • Starring: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Tony Todd
  • Plot: This horror thriller follows a group of high school students who cheat death after a premonition saves them from a tragic plane crash, only to find that Death is still after them.

Firefox

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller
  • Duration: 2h 14m
  • Director: Clint Eastwood
  • Starring: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman
  • Plot: This action thriller follows a Vietnam War veteran who is recruited by the CIA to steal a prototype of a top-secret, heavily armed Soviet plane, the Firefox, with the help of a team of pilots and a defecting Soviet scientist.

Flight

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama
  • Duration: 2h 18m
  • Director: Robert Zemeckis
  • Starring: Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez, Don Cheadle
  • Plot: This drama follows an airline pilot who miraculously lands his plane after a mid-air disaster, but an investigation into the crash reveals troubling information about his conduct and substance abuse before the flight.

Flight Crew

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Adventure
  • Duration: 1h 37m
  • Director: Nikolay Lebedev
  • Starring: Danila Kozlovsky, Agne Grudyte, Sergey Shakurov
  • Plot: This action adventure follows the crew of a Russian cargo plane as they face danger and difficult choices while transporting a top-secret nuclear weapon to a military base in Siberia.

Flight of the Intruder

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, War
  • Duration: 1h 52m
  • Director: John Milius
  • Starring: Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, Brad Johnson
  • Plot: This action war film follows a U.S. Navy pilot who leads a secret mission to damage Hanoi during the Vietnam War, despite orders to the contrary, after his best friend is killed in action.

Flight of the Phoenix

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Adventure
  • Duration: 1h 53m
  • Director: John Moore
  • Starring: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto
  • Plot: This action adventure follows a group of oil rig workers and their rescue pilot who are stranded in the Gobi Desert after their plane crashes and must use their ingenuity and resourcefulness to rebuild the aircraft and fly it to safety.

Flightplan

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 35m
  • Director: Robert Schwentke
  • Starring: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean
  • Plot: This thriller follows a woman whose daughter goes missing during a flight from Berlin to New York and she is convinced that the girl was never on the plane, but no one believes her and she must find the truth and her daughter before it’s too late.

Flyboys

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama, War
  • Duration: 2h 4m
  • Director: Tony Bill
  • Starring: James Franco, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker
  • Plot: This drama war film follows a group of young Americans who join the Lafayette Escadrille, a volunteer squad of American pilots fighting for France in World War I, and their bravery and sacrifices in the face of danger and death.

Horizon Line

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 36m
  • Director: Mikael Marcimain
  • Starring: Allison Williams, Alexander Dreymon, Keith David
  • Plot: This thriller follows a couple on a small plane that crashes in the middle of the ocean and their struggle to survive and find rescue while facing the challenges and dangers of the open sea and their own personal demons.

Hurricane

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 59m
  • Director: David Blair
  • Starring: Iwan Rheon, Milo Gibson, Stefanie Martini
  • Plot: This action drama is based on the true story of the Polish 303 Squadron during World War II and follows the pilots as they fight for their country and for their own survival against the Germans and the challenges and dangers of war.

Iron Eagle

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Adventure
  • Duration: 1h 51m
  • Director: Sidney J. Furie
  • Starring: Jason Gedrick, Louis Gossett Jr., David Suchet
  • Plot: This action adventure film follows a young man who, with the help of a retired pilot and an Air Force general, sets out to rescue his father, a Vietnam War veteran who has been captured by a Middle Eastern country while on a secret mission.

Non-Stop (2014)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 47m
  • Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
  • Staring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery
  • Plot: Bill Marks is a burned-out veteran of the Air Marshals service. He views the assignment not as a life-saving duty, but as a desk job in the sky. However, today’s flight will be no routine trip. Shortly into the transatlantic journey from New York to London, he receives a series of mysterious text messages ordering him to have the government transfer $150 million into a secret account, or a passenger will die every 20 minutes.

Panic in the Skies! (1996)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 30m
  • Director: David Wu
  • Staring: Rob Lowe, Kristin Davis, Daniel J. Travanti, Fred Dalton Thompson
  • Plot: A commercial airliner is taken over by bad guys and turned into a flying destroyer headed for Washington D.C. With just minutes to spare, the bad guys’ demands are met, and the plane is brought down safely. But when the bad guys turn out to be U.S. military personnel, the story takes on a whole new twist.

Passenger 57 (1992)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 37m
  • Director: Kevin Hooks
  • Staring: Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, Tom Sizemore, Alex Datcher
  • Plot: John Cutter is a tough cop, who is known for his unorthodox methods. When he’s assigned to protect a plane from a bad guy, he discovers that the bad guy is actually one of his old enemies. With a team of bad guys on board and a plan to crash the plane, Cutter must use all of his skills to bring the plane down safely and stop the bad guys.

Pushing Tin (1999)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 50m
  • Director: Mike Newell
  • Staring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie
  • Plot: Nick Falzone is a top air traffic controller, who takes great pride in his job. However, his life is turned upside down when a new arrival, Russell Bell, begins to steal the spotlight. As the two men compete for supremacy in the control tower, their rivalry threatens to spiral out of control.

Red Eye (2005)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 25m
  • Director: Wes Craven
  • Staring: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Jack Scalia
  • Plot: Lisa Reisert is an ambitious hotel manager who is looking forward to her dream job in Miami. However, her plans are thrown off course when she is taken hostage on a red-eye flight by a bad guy, Jackson Rippner. As the plane hurtles towards Washington D.C., Lisa must use all of her wits to outsmart Rippner and save the passengers.

Red Tails (2012)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Drama, War
  • Duration: 2h 4m
  • Director: Anthony Hemingway
  • Staring: Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, David Oyelowo
  • Plot: The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II. Despite facing discrimination and segregation, they persevered and became one of the most respected fighter groups in the war. This is their story.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction
  • Duration: 1h 47m
  • Director: Kerry Conran
  • Staring: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi
  • Plot: When giant robots attack New York City, intrepid reporter Polly Perkins and ace aviator Sky Captain team up to save the day. As they search for the cause of the robotic rampage, they discover a plot to destroy the world and must stop the villains before it’s too late.

Skyjacked (1972)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 46m
  • Director: John Guillermin
  • Staring: Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, James Brolin, Jeanne Crain
  • Plot: A Boeing 747 is taken over by a bad guy who demands to be taken to a remote island in the Pacific. As the plane hurtles towards its destination, the passengers and crew must find a way to stop the take overer and take back control of the plane before it’s too late.

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Horror
  • Duration: 1h 46m
  • Director: David R. Ellis
  • Staring: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Nathan Phillips, Rachel Blanchard
  • Plot: When a witness to a mob murder is flown to Los Angeles for safekeeping, the mob unleashes a crate of venomous snakes on the plane to eliminate him. As the snakes attack the passengers and crew, it’s up to FBI agent Neville Flynn to stop them and bring the plane down safely.

Space Cowboys (2000)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 7m
  • Director: Clint Eastwood
  • Staring: Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, James Garner
  • Plot: When a Russian satellite with a nuclear payload goes off course, the U.S. government enlists the help of a group of retired test pilots, known as the Space Cowboys, to fix it. As they embark on the mission, the cowboys must confront their pasts and work together to save the world.

Squadron 303 (2018)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: War, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 1m
  • Director: Denis Delic
  • Staring: Iwan Rheon, Milo Gibson, Marcin Dorocinski, Krystof Hadek
  • Plot: During the Battle of Britain, a Polish squadron fights alongside the Royal Air Force to defend England from the German Luftwaffe. As they face overwhelming odds and personal struggles, the pilots must come together and fight for their country and for each other.

Stealth (2005)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
  • Duration: 1h 50m
  • Director: Rob Cohen
  • Staring: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard
  • Plot: The U.S. Navy develops a highly advanced stealth fighter, known as EDI, to maintain air superiority. However, when the plane becomes self-aware and begins to act on its own, the pilots must race to stop it before it can cause destruction on a global scale.

Sully (2016)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Biography, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 36m
  • Director: Clint Eastwood
  • Staring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Autumn Reeser
  • Plot: When US Airways Flight 1549 is forced to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger becomes a hero. However, as the investigation into the incident begins, Sully must defend his actions and prove that he made the right decision to save the lives of his passengers.

The Airport (1970)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama
  • Duration: 2h 8m
  • Director: George Seaton
  • Staring: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset
  • Plot: When a blizzard shuts down Lincoln International Airport, the passengers and staff must deal with the challenges and complications that arise. As they struggle to find a way to get home, they must also confront their own personal issues and relationships.

The Aviator (2004)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Biography, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 50m
  • Director: Martin Scorsese
  • Staring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly
  • Plot: The life and career of Howard Hughes, one of the wealthiest and most successful industrialists and filmmakers in history. As Hughes becomes increasingly obsessed with his work and his own personal demons, he must also deal with the challenges and setbacks that come with his fame and fortune.

The Concorde… Airport ’79 (1979)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Disaster
  • Duration: 1h 56m
  • Director: David Lowell Rich
  • Staring: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
  • Plot: When a group of bad guys try to sabotage a Concorde flight, the pilots and passengers must work together to try to save the plane and themselves. As they face numerous dangers and challenges, they must also deal with their own personal issues and conflicts.

The Crowded Sky (1960)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama
  • Duration: 1h 45m
  • Director: Joseph Pevney
  • Staring: Dana Andrews, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Rhonda Fleming, Anne Francis
  • Plot: When a small private plane collides with a commercial airliner, the pilots and passengers must struggle to survive in the aftermath. As they try to find a way to get help and get back home, they must also confront their own personal issues and relationships.

The Delta Force (1986)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller
  • Duration: 2h 4m
  • Director: Menahem Golan
  • Staring: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop
  • Plot: When a group of bad guys take over a commercial plane, the Delta Force, a special operations team, is called in to rescue the passengers and take down the bad guys. As they fight their way through the plane and the bad guys, they must also deal with their own personal issues and conflicts.

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Adventure, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 0m
  • Director: Robert Aldrich
  • Staring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger
  • Plot: When a small plane crashes in the desert, the survivors must use their skills and ingenuity to try to rebuild the plane and fly it to safety. As they struggle against the elements and their own personal conflicts, they must also confront the challenges and dangers of their situation.

The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Adventure, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 52m
  • Director: George Roy Hill
  • Staring: Robert Redford, Bo Svenson, Susan Sarandon, Georg Stanford Brown
  • Plot: The story of Waldo Pepper, a cocky and ambitious pilot who dreams of becoming a famous barnstormer. As he travels the country performing stunts and aerial acrobatics, he must also confront his own personal demons and the challenges that come with fame and success.

The Langoliers (1995)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
  • Duration: 3h 0m
  • Director: Tom Holland
  • Staring: Patricia Wettig, Dean Stockwell, Kate Maberly, Frankie Faison
  • Plot: When a group of people find themselves stranded in an airport after a red eye flight, they soon discover that they are the only people left in the world. As they try to figure out what has happened and how to get home, they must also confront the mysterious creatures that seem to be hunting them.

The Red Barron (2008)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama, War
  • Duration: 1h 40m
  • Director: Nikolai Müllerschön
  • Staring: Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger, Joseph Fiennes
  • Plot: The story of Manfred von Richthofen, the famous World War I pilot and fighter ace known as the Red Baron. As he fights for his country and struggles with his own personal demons, von Richthofen must also confront the changing nature of war and the cost of victory.

The Terminal (2004)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 6m
  • Director: Steven Spielberg
  • Staring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chi McBride, Stanley Tucci
  • Plot: When a Eastern European man becomes stranded in New York’s JFK Airport due to a technicality, he must find a way to live and survive in the airport terminal while he waits for his situation to be resolved. As he makes new friends and encounters a variety of colorful characters, he must also confront the challenges and limitations of life in a confined space and the bureaucracy of the immigration system.

Top Gun (1986)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Drama
  • Duration: 1h 50m
  • Director: Tony Scott
  • Staring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards
  • Plot: The story of Maverick, a talented but rebellious fighter pilot who enrolls in the Top Gun naval aviation school. As he competes against his rivals and battles his own personal demons, Maverick must also confront the realities of war and the loss of his mentor. Along the way, he falls in love with a civilian instructor and learns the importance of teamwork and friendship.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Drama
  • Duration: 2h 11m
  • Director: Joseph Kosinski
  • Staring: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Val Kilmer
  • Plot: Decades after the events of the original “Top Gun,” Maverick is now a seasoned instructor at the Top Gun school. When he is called back into action to confront a new generation of highly skilled pilots, he must also confront the ghosts of his past and the challenges of aging. As he trains a new crop of Top Gun students and battles a rising threat, Maverick must also come to terms with his own mortality and the changing nature of warfare.

Turbulence (1997)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Action, Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 44m
  • Director: Robert Butler
  • Staring: Ray Liotta, Lauren Holly, Craig Sheffer, Louis Gossett Jr.
  • Plot: When a group of bad guys take over a transatlantic flight and plan to crash it into a major city, a lone passenger must find a way to stop them and save the lives of hundreds of people. As he battles the bad guys and the turbulence of the plane, he must also confront his own fears and personal demons in order to survive.

Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 39m
  • Director: David Mackay
  • Staring: Tara Reid, Craig Sheffer, David Chokachi, Gabrielle Anwar
  • Plot: When a group of bad guys threaten to blow up a commercial airline, a young woman with a fear of flying must overcome her phobia and help the passengers and crew fight back against the take overers. As she battles the bad guys and the turbulence of the plane, she must also confront her own inner demons and the memories of a traumatic event from her past.

Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal (2001)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 40m
  • Director: Robert Butler
  • Staring: Gabrielle Anwar, Craig Sheffer, Jason London, Clayton Rohner
  • Plot: When a group of bad guys take over a 747 jumbo jet and plan to use it as a weapon of mass destruction, a young rock band and their manager must use their knowledge of the plane’s design and their musical skills to thwart the attack and save the lives of the passengers and crew. As they battle the bad guys and the turbulence of the flight, they must also confront their own personal issues and the challenges of working together under pressure.

United 93 (2006)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Drama, Thriller
  • Duration: 1h 56m
  • Director: Paul Greengrass
  • Staring: David Alan Basche, Olivia Thirlby, Liza Colón-Zayas, J.J. Johnson
  • Plot: On September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 was taken over by bad guys as part of the 9/11 attacks. The film tells the story of the passengers and crew who fought back against the take overers and attempted to regain control of the plane, ultimately sacrificing themselves to prevent the bad guys from reaching their intended target. The film is based on actual events and uses a mix of reenactments and real-time audio recordings to create a realistic and poignant portrayal of the heroic actions of the people on board.

Wings (1927)

  • Release Year:
  • Genre: Adventure, Romance
  • Duration: 2h 18m
  • Director: William A. Wellman
  • Staring: Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Clara Bow, Richard Arlen, Jobyna Ralston
  • Plot: Set during World War I, “Wings” tells the story of two young men who compete for the love of a woman while also serving as fighter pilots in the war. The film follows their experiences in the military and on the home front, and showcases the bravery and sacrifices of the soldiers and their loved ones. “Wings” was a pioneering film in the use of special effects and is notable for its realistic depiction of aerial combat.

Have I left out any obvious ones? Hopefully not. But if I did, please let me know.

My name is Sean Walsh, and I'm the founder and writer of this website. For as far back as I can remember, I've always been interested in flying. A few years ago, I passed my check ride and got my PPL certificate! I'm now a private pilot with over 500 hours of flying time. Read more about me here.