Aviation Film Almanac - Current Films to Classics
Complete List of Aviation Films - old, new; domestic & foreign.
Films with significant aviation themes, not merely a scene or two aboard a plane.
Films with significant aviation themes, not merely a scene or two aboard a plane.
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- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
- DirectorBrian J. TerwilligerStarsHal FishmanLily GagnierLucas GragnierAn exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport.
- DirectorRobert SchwentkeStarsJodie FosterPeter SarsgaardSean BeanA 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.
- DirectorHall BartlettStarsDana AndrewsLinda DarnellSterling HaydenIn 1950s Canada, during a commercial flight, the pilots and some passengers suffer food poisoning, thus forcing an ex-WWII fighter pilot (Dana Andrews) to try to land the airliner in heavy fog.
- DirectorTony BillStarsJames FrancoJean RenoJennifer DeckerThe adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
- DirectorJim AbrahamsDavid ZuckerJerry ZuckerStarsRobert HaysJulie HagertyLeslie NielsenAfter the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.Airplane is based on the movie Zero Hour ('57). Not only same basic plot, but script as well in many places. Amazing as this is considered one of the best comedies of all time.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsDenzel WashingtonNadine VelazquezDon CheadleTroubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.
- DirectorAnthony HemingwayStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Gerald McRaneyDavid OyelowoA crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program, having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsIn 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.
- StarsScott GrimesDamian LewisRon LivingstonThe story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsTom CruiseTim RobbinsKelly McGillisAs 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.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJames StewartMurray HamiltonPatricia SmithCharles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
- DirectorJan SverákStarsOndrej VetchýKrystof HádekTara FitzgeraldThe friendship of two men becomes tested when they both fall for the same woman.
- DirectorHoward HughesEdmund GouldingJames WhaleStarsBen LyonJames HallJean HarlowBrothers Monte and Ray leave Oxford to join the Royal Flying Corps. Ray loves Helen; Helen enjoys an affair with Monte; before they leave on their mission over Germany they find her in still another man's arms.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsShûichirô MoriyamaTokiko KatôBunshi Katsura VIIn 1930s Italy, a veteran World War I pilot is cursed to look like an anthropomorphic pig.
- DirectorAmanda PopeStarsTom SkerrittKathy BatesBuzz AldrinA documentary profile of Pasadena society girl turned adventurer and aviator, Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes. In the 1920's and 30's, Barnes was Hollywood's top woman stunt pilot. In the 1940's and 50's, she owned and operated the (in)famous "Happy Bottom Riding Club" - a fly-in resort located near Edwards Air Force Base.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsSandra BullockGeorge ClooneyEd HarrisDr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first time on a space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
- DirectorMichael BayStarsBen AffleckKate BeckinsaleJosh HartnettA 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.
- DirectorMira NairStarsHilary SwankRichard GereEwan McGregorA look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRita HayworthAt 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 as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
- DirectorLarisa ShepitkoStarsMayya BulgakovaSergey NikonenkoZhanna BolotovaA fascinating and human portrayal of a once-famous fighter pilot and loyal Stalinist named Nadezhda Petrovna. Now a 41-year-old provincial schoolmistress, she has so internalized the military ideas of service and obedience that she cannot adjust to life in peacetime.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsRobert RedfordBo SvensonBo BrundinAfter 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.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsRachel McAdamsCillian MurphyBrian CoxA 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.
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsFlorian LukasDavid KrossLachlan NieboerWorld War II: After an aerial battle over Norway, British and German airmen find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Finding shelter in the same cabin, they realize the only way to survive the winter is to set aside the rules of war.
- 19641h 35mPG8.4 (519K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
- DirectorRocco DeVilliersStarsJesse JamesReiley McClendonStephen BaldwinTwo boys from a small town find their courage tested when they accidentally stow away aboard an airplane owned by the mob.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsJohn BowersColleen MooreDavid ButlerThe sky pilot is a preacher who helps Gwen walk again after a near-fatal accident.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsDavid Alan BascheOlivia ThirlbyLiza Colón-ZayasA real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on September 11th, 2001 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
- StarsNeil DudgeonGeorge AntonBoyd GainesStories of the men of the RAF Hornet Squadron during the early days of World War II.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsWill SmithBill PullmanJeff GoldblumThe aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsSophia LorenGeorge PeppardTrevor HowardAllied agents attempt to infiltrate a German rocket research site.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsCharlton HestonHenry FondaJames CoburnA dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
- DirectorPeter MarkleStarsJeffrey NordlingBrennan ElliottKendall CrossFlight 93 is the story of the heroic passengers that took back their plane in an effort to stop a 9-11 terrorist attack.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsJavier CámaraPepa CharroCecilia RothWhen it appears as though the end is in sight, the pilots, flight crew, and passengers of a plane heading to Mexico City look to forget the anguish of the moment and face the greatest danger, which we carry within ourselves.
- DirectorCarla Subirana
- DirectorJim HanonStarsLouie LeonardoChad AllenJack GuzmanTwo people come to the end of a spear in order to realize that the divisions between them are not real.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsSam ShepardScott GlennEd HarrisThe U.S. space program's development from the breaking of the sound barrier to selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts, from a group of test pilots with a more seat-of-the-pants approach than the program's more cautious engineers preferred.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsAlan ArkinMartin BalsamRichard BenjaminA man is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsJohn WayneJohn CarrollAnna LeeCapt. Jim Gordon's command of the famed American volunteer fighter group in China is complicated by the recruitment of an old friend who is a reckless hotshot.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJohn WayneLloyd NolanWalter AbelA C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastes of Quebec, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while waiting for rescue.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsGeorge ClooneyVera FarmigaAnna KendrickRyan's job is to travel around the country firing off people. When his boss hires Natalie, who proposes firing people via video conference, he tries to convince her that her method is a mistake.
- DirectorCarroll BallardStarsJeff DanielsAnna PaquinDana DelanyA father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJames StewartRichard AttenboroughPeter FinchAfter an oil company plane crashes in the Sahara, the survivors are buoyed with hope by one of the passengers, an airplane designer who plans for them to build a flyable plane from the wreckage.
- DirectorEnrique PiñeyroStarsEnrique PiñeyroMercedes MoránAlejandro AwadaThe film tells the story prior to the accident LAPA Boeing 737 on 31 August 1999 after hitting an embankment in central Buenos Aires, killing 67 people. Directed and performed by a former pilot of the same company, this film reveals a complex web of complicity between the Air Force and the company to circumvent security controls in order to obtain greater economic benefit in operations.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaWalter MatthauFritz WeaverA technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
- DirectorWilliam WinshipStarsBrad CurtisProfiles two of America's legendary aerospace pioneers: William Boeing and Donald Douglas. Interweaving the stories of the two men and the companies they founded, "PIONEERS" features rare film footage from the early decades of the century, together with historical photographs, period music, and narration. The age-old wish to defy the law of gravity found its fruition in turn-of-the-century America. William Boeing and Donald Douglas each came of age at this renaissance moment in the country's history, and their achievements are infused with the indomitable spirit of their time.
- DirectorDick PowellStarsRobert MitchumRobert WagnerRichard EganIn 1952, during the Korean War, two American pilots become bitter enemies over the same woman but must shelf their personal feud when confronted by deadly Chinese MIG fighter jets in battle.
- DirectorRenny HarlinStarsBruce WillisWilliam AthertonBonnie BedeliaJohn McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsGeorge PeppardJames MasonUrsula AndressA young pilot in the German air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous, tries ambitiously to earn the medal offered for 20 kills.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerBetty GrableJohn SuttonAn American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorLaraine DayWhen a commercial airliner develops engine problems on a trans-Pacific flight and the pilot loses his nerve, it is up to the washed-up co-pilot Dan Roman to bring the plane in safely.
- DirectorGeorge SeatonHenry HathawayStarsBurt LancasterDean MartinGeorge KennedyA bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
- DirectorFord BeebeRay TaylorStarsDonald WoodsBilly HalopRobert ArmstrongEnemy spies try to steal a new fighter plane.
- DirectorDon TaylorStarsKirk DouglasMartin SheenKatharine RossA modern aircraft carrier is thrown back in time to 1941 near Hawaii, just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsShûichirô MoriyamaTokiko KatôBunshi Katsura VIIn 1930s Italy, a veteran World War I pilot is cursed to look like an anthropomorphic pig.
- DirectorWalter GraumanStarsCliff RobertsonGeorge ChakirisMaria PerschyA RAF squadron is assigned to knock out a German rocket fuel factory in Norway. The factory supplies fuel for the Nazi effort to launch rockets on England during D-Day.
- DirectorSimon WestStarsNicolas CageJohn CusackJohn MalkovichNewly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.
- DirectorLewis D. CollinsRay TaylorStarsJohnny DownsBobby JordanWard WoodA group of flying cadets have to clear themselves of a murder charge, while trying to stop a traitorous scientist from selling secrets to the Nazis.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsHarrison FordGary OldmanGlenn CloseCommunist 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.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsDavid BowieRip TornCandy ClarkAn alien must pose as a human to save his dying planet, but a woman and greed of other men create complications.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsJosh HartnettEwan McGregorTom SizemoreThe story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.
- DirectorKen FinklemanStarsRobert HaysJulie HagertyLloyd BridgesA faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the Sun. Can Ted Striker save the day and get the shuttle back on track - again?
- DirectorJim AbrahamsStarsCharlie SheenCary ElwesValeria GolinoA parody of Top Gun (1986) in which a talented but unstable fighter pilot must overcome the ghosts of his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsMatthew ModineEric StoltzTate DonovanIn 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in the UK prepares for its 25th and final bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsRonald ColmanJane WyattEdward Everett HortonWhen a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsStuart WhitmanSarah MilesJames FoxHoping to push Britain to the forefront of aviation, a London publisher organizes an international air race across the English Channel, but must contend with two entrants vying for his daughter, as well as national rivalries and cheating.
- DirectorGreg MacGillivrayStarsTom SelleckThe Magic of Flight places viewers in the cockpit of a Blue Angels jet aircraft so they can experience the thrill of high performance flight. Narrated by Tom Selleck, The Magic of Flight shows the path of flight starting with the Wright Brothers at Kittyhawk in 1903 all the way through to the supersonic maneuvers of today's aircraft. This high-energy film affirms the importance of training and skill as it conveys the pure joy of flight.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsSpencer TracyVan JohnsonRobert WalkerIn the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRichard DreyfussHolly HunterBrad JohnsonThe spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
- DirectorRichard FleischerKinji FukasakuToshio MasudaStarsMartin BalsamSô YamamuraJason RobardsThe story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsClark GableWalter PidgeonVan JohnsonArmy generals struggle with the decision to prioritize bombing the German factories producing new jet fighters over the extremely high casualties the mission will cost.
- DirectorDel LordStarsMoe HowardLarry FineCurly HowardAfter being accidentally dropped behind enemy lines, the Stooges disguise themselves and steal important plans from the Nazi high command.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsJohn WayneJanet LeighJay C. FlippenAir Force Colonel Jim Shannon is tasked to escort a defecting Soviet pilot who is scheming to lure Shannon to the USSR.
- DirectorSemyon AranovichStarsRodion NakhapetovAleksey ZharkovAndrei BoltnevIn 1944,when British navy convoys try to supply the Soviets with war matériel under the lend-lease agreement,the Soviet naval aviation base in Murmansk is attacked by German bombers.
- DirectorEbrahim HatamikiaStarsHamid FarrokhnezhadLeila HatamiGohar KheirandishA domestic Iranian flight is taken hostage by a man Ghasem who is a refugee of war and has financial problems. He will go any distance for his family and wants to find a better place for living.
- DirectorGeorge SeatonStarsJames GarnerEva Marie SaintRod TaylorGermans kidnap an American Major and try to convince him that World War II is over so they can get details about the Allied invasion of Europe out of him.
- StarsJack Perkins
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn GarfieldJohn RidgelyGig YoungThe crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSean ConneryRyan O'NealMichael CaineOperation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
- DirectorJason McKinleyStarsPhil CrowleyThe story and battles of a group of African American pilots who overcame racist opposition on their own side to become some of the finest fighter pilots of World War II.
- DirectorRobert MarkowitzStarsLaurence FishburneAllen PayneMalcolm-Jamal WarnerThe true story of how a group of African-American pilots overcame racist opposition to become one of the finest United States fighter groups in World War II.
- DirectorJack SholderStarsPowers BootheRebecca De MornayJames Earl JonesA non-NATO nuclear missile is fired from Turkey at USSR, where it detonates. Soviet response is automatic as it's seen as a NATO missile. Can continued escalation be avoided? We follow the US president and a bomber crew.
- DirectorMcGStarsMatthew McConaugheyMatthew FoxAnthony MackieWhen a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsDon AmecheDana AndrewsWilliam EytheIn WW2, an American aircraft carrier sails around the Pacific on a decoy mission until it joins the battle of Midway against the Japanese forces.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJohn WayneKirk DouglasPatricia NealA Naval officer, reprimanded after Pearl Harbor, is later promoted to Rear Admiral and gets a second chance to prove himself against the Japanese.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRalph RichardsonAnn ToddNigel PatrickFictionalized story of British aerospace engineers solving the problem of supersonic flight.
- CreatorGerry AndersonSylvia AndersonStarsSylvia AndersonPeter DyneleyDavid GrahamIn the year 2065, the Tracy family run International Rescue - a top-secret organization whose ongoing mission is to rescue people trapped in extraordinarily dangerous situations using their advanced Thunderbirds machines.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsWilliam HoldenGrace KellyFredric MarchSet during the Korean War, a Navy fighter pilot must come to terms with with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. The ending of this grim war drama is all tension.
- DirectorAleksandr MittaStarsGeorgi ZhzhyonovAnatoliy VasilevLeonid FilatovStory of the lives of three Soviet pilots who are united by disaster in a small town in the mountains.
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- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsSterling HaydenRichard CarlsonWilliam PhippsDuring the Korean War, aboard the U.S.S. Princeton, Navy Commander Dan Collier reminisces about his first assignment on the same aircraft carrier in the war against Japan.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsPeter O'TooleSiân PhillipsPhilippe NoiretA lone survivor from a British naval ship is obsessed with getting revenge on a German U-boat crew that massacred his shipmates in the water.
- DirectorMichael AndersonJohn FarrowStarsDavid NivenCantinflasFinlay CurrieA Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDan O'BannonDre PahichBrian NarelleIn the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
- DirectorJames WongStarsDevon SawaAli LarterKerr SmithAfter getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them.
- DirectorRobert ParrishStarsGregory PeckBernard LeeWin Min ThanIn World War II Burma, a Canadian bomber pilot becomes reckless after losing his bride in a Luftwaffe air-raid.
- DirectorGeorge More O'FerrallStarsJack HawkinsMichael DenisonAndrew OsbornThe story of an RAF fighter squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsJulie AndrewsRock HudsonJeremy KempSet during World War I, this movie is a cute spin on the Mata Hari legend.