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15 Famous Airplane Movies

The randy I’m So Excited got us thinking of other films that take to the skies

15 Famous Airplane Movies
Photo: Sony Pictures Classics

Pedro Almodóvar is back this week with I’m So Excited, a high-flying lark about sex, drugs, and past and present Spanish politics, all set on a commercial jet that can’t find a decent place to land. The characters, played by Almodóvar alums like Javier Cámara and Cecilia Roth, and international breakouts like Raúl Arévalo, do whatever they can to distract themselves from potential doom, while the aircraft flies in limbo-like circles. The randy comedy got us thinking of other films that take to the skies, from sci-fi nightmares and fact-based dramas to war flicks and ensemble classics. Read on to see which movies made it on board.


The Twilight Zone: The Movie

The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

“There’s someone on the wing!” shrieks a freaked-out John Lithgow, who, in this anthology film based on the classic series, inherits a role originated by William Shatner, and descends into madness while watching a gremlin attempt to destroy the plane.


The Flight of the Phoenix

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

Not the remake with Dennis Quaid and Tyrese, but the one that actually mattered, wherein Jimmy Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, and Ernest Borgnine fight to survive after having to land their C-82 Packet in the Sahara Desert.


The Aviator

The Aviator (2004)

Martin Scorsese’s undersung masterpiece about Hollywood hotshot Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) homes in on the man’s obsessions with airplanes, leading ladies, soap, and other must-haves.


Zero Hour!

Zero Hour! (1957)

One of multiple gravity-defying titles in this lineup to employ an exclamation point, Hall Bartlett’s World War II flick Zero Hour!, which sees Dana Andrews and Sterling Hayden bring plawright Arthur Hailey’s script to life, was all but photocopied by Airplane!, a movie we’ll get to in due course.

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Executive Decision

Executive Decision (1996)

In this solid, yet boilerplate, nineties actioner, Kurt Russell is the competent geek, Halle Berry is the kitten-ish stewardess, David Suchet is the exotic-looking terrorist, and Steven Seagal is the militaristic cavalry leader who (spoiler alert!) bites it at the start of the second act.


Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Playing a U.S. Air Force General, Sterling Hayden also appears in Stanley Kubrick’s seminal wartime satire, co-starring George C. Scott, Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers, and Peter Sellers, and boasting the most memorable bomb-drop in movie history.


Flight

Flight (2012)

In order to keep his 747 from crashing and killing everyone on board, ace pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) flies the plane upside down and slows its speed for an emergency landing, all while drunk and high on cocaine. His own descent ensues.


The High and the Mighty

The High and the Mighty (1954)

Based on Ernest Gann’s novel, this all-American disaster movie, about a passenger jet that ekes its way from Hawaii to California while basically running on fumes, features John Wayne doing what he does best: Giving people orders and saving the day.

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United 93

United 93 (2006)

Upon release, and well after, wherever Paul Greengrass’s United 93 went, the words “too soon” seemed to follow, and many would argue there’ll never be a good time to catch the 9/11-inspired drama, one of the most divisive films of the aughts.


Memphis Belle

Memphis Belle (1990)

A fictional spin on William Wyler’s 1943 doc Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, which also chronicled the last mission of the titular B-17 Bomber, this period pic is largely remembered as a showcase of square-jawed studs, including Billy Zane, Matthew Modine, Harry Connick Jr., and Eric Stoltz.


Red Eye

Red Eye (2005)

Quite possibly Wes Craven’s tightest film, this nifty dance of intimate terrorism stars Rachel McAdams as an impressionable gal hopping an all-night flight, and Cillian Murphy as the psychopath who first woos then tries to kill his co-passenger, who should have leapt for the exits when she learned his name was Jackson Rippner.


Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)

Starring Stuart Whitman and Sarah Miles, and directed by Ken Annakin, this aptly buoyant British comedy, about an air race from London to Paris, cast a far-reaching spell, enchanting critics, netting ample award noms, and launching a titular song that became a pop hit across the pond.


Airport

Airport (1970)

Airport is the flagship film of what might be the definitive airplane franchise, for better or worse, and features Dean Martin as a pilot who has to talk down a suicide bomber (and, no, he doesn’t use crooning as a negotiation tactic).


Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

Meryvn LeRoy’s Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo tells of the Doolittle Raid, America’s counter-attack on Japan after Pearl Harbor, and it’s considered by most as a patriotic landmark of a war movie, with an impressive Spencer Tracy starring as the Lt. Colonel for whom the raid was named.


Airplane!

Airplane! (1980)

Shirley you’ll never look at the word “autopilot” the same way again.

R. Kurt Osenlund

R. Kurt Osenlund is a creative director and account supervisor at Mark Allen & Co. He is the former editor of Out magazine.

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