Ultimate Airplane Movie List
by Cine-Maniacal | created - 18 Feb 2018 | updated - 02 Jul 2018 | PublicAn aggregate, unranked list of the best movies about Airplanes, Helicopters, and Jets. Ever. Period.
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1. Flight (I) (2012)
R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller
An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez, Don Cheadle, John Goodman
Votes: 330,551 | Gross: $93.77M
2. Sully (2016)
PG-13 | 96 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Valerie Mahaffey
Votes: 244,463 | Gross: $125.07M
3. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 110 min | Action, Drama
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Votes: 301,560 | Gross: $179.80M
4. Flightplan (2005)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet, the child vanishes, and nobody will admit she was ever on the plane.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Kate Beahan
Votes: 154,013 | Gross: $89.71M
5. Red Eye (2005)
PG-13 | 85 min | Thriller
A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the potential murder of her father, she is pulled into a plot to assist her captor in a political assassination.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Laura Johnson
Votes: 114,050 | Gross: $57.89M
6. Executive Decision (1996)
R | 133 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
When terrorists seize control of an airliner, an intelligence analyst accompanies a commando unit for a midair boarding operation.
Director: Stuart Baird | Stars: Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, Steven Seagal, John Leguizamo
Votes: 51,683 | Gross: $56.57M
7. Air Force One (1997)
R | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Communist Radicals hijack Air Force One with The U.S. President and his family on board. The Vice President negotiates from Washington D.C., while the President, a Veteran, fights to rescue the hostages on board.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 182,754 | Gross: $172.96M
8. Con Air (1997)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Newly paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner transport plane when the passengers seize control.
Director: Simon West | Stars: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Colm Meaney
Votes: 279,980 | Gross: $101.12M
9. Iron Eagle (1986)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Thriller, War
A young pilot plans a rescue mission when his father, an Air Force Colonel, is shot down over enemy territory and captured.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Louis Gossett Jr., Jason Gedrick, David Suchet, Tim Thomerson
Votes: 13,646 | Gross: $24.16M
10. Flight of the Intruder (1991)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
During the air war over Vietnam, a U.S. Navy A-6 Intruder bomber pilot schemes with a hardened veteran to make an unauthorized air strike on Hanoi.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, Brad Johnson, Rosanna Arquette
Votes: 6,490 | Gross: $14.59M
11. Fire Birds (1990)
PG-13 | 85 min | Action, Adventure
Elite Apache helicopter pilots are tasked with destroying powerful armed drug cartels operating in South America.
Director: David Green | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Young, Bryan Kestner
Votes: 5,970 | Gross: $14.76M
12. The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
PG | 113 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A supersonic airborne disaster. In order to survive a flight headed for the Moscow Olympics, passengers of the Concorde must endure aerial acrobatics to dodge missiles and survive a device that decompresses the plane.
Director: David Lowell Rich | Stars: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
Votes: 5,789 | Gross: $13.00M
13. Airport (1970)
G | 137 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
Directors: George Seaton, Henry Hathaway | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jean Seberg
Votes: 17,747 | Gross: $100.49M
14. The Hindenburg (1975)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A film that chronicles the events of the Hindenburg disaster in which a zeppelin burst into flames.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes
Votes: 5,359 | Gross: $27.95M
15. Broken Arrow (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Terrorists steal nuclear warheads from the U.S. military but don't count on a pilot and park ranger spoiling their plans.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Delroy Lindo
Votes: 92,006 | Gross: $70.77M
16. Passenger 57 (1992)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An airline security expert must take action when he finds himself trapped on a passenger jet when terrorists seize control of it.
Director: Kevin Hooks | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, Tom Sizemore, Alex Datcher
Votes: 45,699 | Gross: $44.07M
17. Snakes on a Plane (2006)
R | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly venomous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.
Director: David R. Ellis | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Nathan Phillips, Rachel Blanchard
Votes: 133,639 | Gross: $34.02M
18. Non-Stop (2014)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
An air marshal springs into action during a transatlantic flight after receiving a series of text messages demanding $150 million into an off-shore account, or someone will die every 20 minutes.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra | Stars: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery
Votes: 252,637 | Gross: $92.17M
19. The Mountain Between Us (2017)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.
Director: Hany Abu-Assad | Stars: Kate Winslet, Idris Elba, Beau Bridges, Dermot Mulroney
Votes: 69,141 | Gross: $30.35M
20. Black Hawk Down (2001)
R | 144 min | Drama, History, War
160 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana
Votes: 368,990 | Gross: $108.64M
21. Pearl Harbor (2001)
PG-13 | 183 min | Action, Drama, History
A tale of war and romance mixed in with history. The story follows two lifelong friends and a beautiful nurse who are caught up in the horror of an infamous Sunday morning in 1941.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, William Lee Scott
Votes: 314,795 | Gross: $198.54M
22. Sky Riders (1976)
PG | 91 min | Action, Adventure
When an industrialist's wife and kids are kidnapped by terrorists in Greece, the woman's ex-husband comes to the rescue with a plan involving hang gliders.
Director: Douglas Hickox | Stars: James Coburn, Susannah York, Robert Culp, Charles Aznavour
Votes: 941
23. Breakout (1975)
PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A bush pilot is hired for fifty thousand dollars to go to Mexico to free an innocent prisoner.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: Charles Bronson, Robert Duvall, Jill Ireland, Randy Quaid
Votes: 3,481 | Gross: $16.00M
24. Drop Zone (1994)
R | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A tough cop teams up with a professional skydiver to capture a renegade computer hacker on the run from the law.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey, Yancy Butler, Michael Jeter
Votes: 19,415 | Gross: $28.72M
25. Turbulence (1997)
R | 100 min | Action, Thriller
After a shootout on a flight transporting prisoners, a flight attendant must outwit a smooth-talking serial killer and land the plane herself.
Director: Robert Butler | Stars: Ray Liotta, Lauren Holly, Brendan Gleeson, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 10,907 | Gross: $11.47M
26. Cliffhanger (1993)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A botched mid-air heist results in suitcases full of cash being searched for by various groups throughout the Rocky Mountains.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner
Votes: 121,392 | Gross: $84.05M
27. The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper (1981)
PG | 100 min | Adventure, Crime, Thriller
A speculation on the fate of the famous hijacker who parachuted with his ransom and disappeared in the mountains, has Cooper following a meticulous plan to disappear into anonymity despite the best efforts of a dogged cop.
Directors: Roger Spottiswoode, Buzz Kulik | Stars: Robert Duvall, Treat Williams, Kathryn Harrold, Ed Flanders
Votes: 1,058 | Gross: $3.70M
28. Firefox (1982)
PG | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neuralink.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke
Votes: 25,505 | Gross: $46.71M
29. Die Hard 2 (1990)
R | 124 min | Action, Thriller
John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Bruce Willis, William Atherton, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 341,614 | Gross: $117.54M
30. Flash Gordon (1980)
PG | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol
Votes: 52,034
31. The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Drama
After WW1, an ex-pilot takes up barn-storming and chance-meets a former German ace fighter pilot with whom he co-stars in Hollywood war movies depicting aerial dog-fights.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Robert Redford, Bo Svenson, Bo Brundin, Susan Sarandon
Votes: 5,446 | Gross: $20.64M
32. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Passed | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
At a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess
Votes: 12,797
33. Night Crossing (1982)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Family, History
True tale about two men planing to escape from communist East Germany in a hot air balloon, but only if they can take their families with them.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: John Hurt, Jane Alexander, Doug McKeon, Keith McKeon
Votes: 1,294 | Gross: $8.00M
34. The Terrorists (II) (1974)
PG | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In a Scandinavian country, national security chief Colonel Tahlvik is tasked to rescue the passengers of a hijacked British airliner while the British Ambassador is being held hostage at his residence by another terrorist team.
Director: Casper Wrede | Stars: Sean Connery, Ian McShane, Jeffry Wickham, Isabel Dean
Votes: 1,907
35. Zero Hour! (1957)
Passed | 81 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In 1950s Canada, during a commercial flight, the pilots and some passengers suffer food poisoning, thus forcing an ex-WW2 fighter pilot to try to land the airliner in heavy fog.
Director: Hall Bartlett | Stars: Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Sterling Hayden, Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch
Votes: 1,575
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