International Pilots' Day (26 April)
by Gabrielfox | created - 3 weeks ago | updated - 1 week ago | PublicThe role of pilots, including commercial pilots, flight instructors, private flight crew, fighter jet pilots and recreational pilots, is recognized across the globe during International Pilots' Day.
Which one of these movies about pilots is your favorite?
Discuss this poll here.
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1. Fighter (2024)
166 min | Action, Thriller
A reckless yet brilliant squadron leader and his team of elite fighter pilots face mortal dangers and inner demons as they unite for a deadly mission.
Director: Siddharth Anand | Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover
Votes: 44,606
2. On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
PG | 102 min | Drama
After their pilot dies unexpectedly mid-flight, Doug White (Dennis Quaid) has to safely land the plane and save his entire family from insurmountable danger.
Director: Sean McNamara | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Jesse Metcalfe, Tonglan Qiu
Votes: 5,302
3. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Drama
After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.
Director: Joseph Kosinski | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer
Votes: 697,747 | Gross: $718.73M
4. Midway (2019)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans
Votes: 94,492 | Gross: $56.85M
5. The Captain (2019)
111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When the windshield of his commercial airplane shatters at 30,000 feet in the air, a pilot and his flight crew work to ensure the safety of the passengers and land the plane.
Director: Andrew Lau | Stars: Hanyu Zhang, Hao Ou, Jiang Du, Quan Yuan
Votes: 2,460 | Gross: $0.71M
Also known as 'The Captain'
6. Sky Hunter (2017)
115 min | Action, Drama, Romance
After graduating from flight school, a group of pilots join an elite military group.
Director: Chen Li | Stars: Bingbing Fan, Chen Li, Tomer Oz, Qianyuan Wang
Votes: 1,735
Also known as 'Sky Hunter'
7. Sully (2016)
PG-13 | 96 min | Biography, Drama
When pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger lands his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew, some consider him a hero while others think he was reckless.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Valerie Mahaffey
Votes: 298,220 | Gross: $125.07M
8. Flight (I) (2012)
R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller
Troubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez, Don Cheadle, John Goodman
Votes: 376,277 | Gross: $93.77M
9. Red Tails (2012)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Drama, History
A 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.
Director: Anthony Hemingway | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Gerald McRaney, David Oyelowo, Andre Royo
Votes: 37,255 | Gross: $49.88M
10. Amelia (2009)
PG | 111 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A 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.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston
Votes: 13,627 | Gross: $14.24M
11. The Red Baron (2008)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.
Director: Nikolai Müllerschön | Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger, Joseph Fiennes
Votes: 13,159 | Gross: $0.04M
Also known as 'The Red Baron'
12. Sky Kids (2008)
PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two boys from a small town find their courage tested when they accidentally stow away aboard an airplane owned by the mob.
Director: Rocco DeVilliers | Stars: Jesse James, Reiley McClendon, Stephen Baldwin, Tom Sizemore
Votes: 3,458
13. Flyboys (2006)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Drama, History
The 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.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: James Franco, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, Scott Hazell
Votes: 44,500 | Gross: $13.08M
14. Sky Fighters (2005)
Not Rated | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An advanced, armed, French Mirage fighter jet is stolen during an air show in UK. 2 other fighter jets locate it. They're forced to shoot it down. Terrorists make another attempt to steal armed Mirages. Why?
Director: Gérard Pirès | Stars: Benoît Magimel, Clovis Cornillac, Géraldine Pailhas, Alice Taglioni
Votes: 4,741
Also known as 'Sky Fighters'
15. Stealth (2005)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program, three pilots struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control before it initiates the next world war.
Director: Rob Cohen | Stars: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard
Votes: 56,277 | Gross: $32.12M
16. The Aviator (2004)
PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly
Votes: 384,176 | Gross: $102.61M
17. Pearl Harbor (2001)
PG-13 | 183 min | Action, Drama, Romance
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: 351,907 | Gross: $198.54M
18. The Tuskegee Airmen (1995 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, History, War
The 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.
Director: Robert Markowitz | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Allen Payne, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Courtney B. Vance
Votes: 7,087
19. 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: 7,721 | Gross: $14.59M
20. Memphis Belle (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, War
In 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.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney
Votes: 30,543 | Gross: $27.44M
21. Air America (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Comedy, War
A young pilot finds himself recruited unwittingly into a covert and corrupt CIA airlift operation in Laos during the Vietnam conflict.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., Nancy Travis, Ken Jenkins
Votes: 30,551 | Gross: $31.05M
22. Always (1989)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Brad Johnson, John Goodman
Votes: 32,804 | Gross: $43.86M
23. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 109 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: 502,860 | Gross: $179.80M
24. 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: 16,008 | Gross: $24.16M
25. 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: 29,265 | Gross: $46.71M
26. Airplane! (1980)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Votes: 261,224 | Gross: $83.40M
27. 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: 6,602 | Gross: $20.64M
28. Sole Survivor (1970 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Fantasy
This story is loosely based on the discovery of the B-24 "Liberator" bomber the "Lady Be Good" that was found in the Libyan desert after the crew got lost on their 1st bombing mission to Italy.
Director: Paul Stanley | Stars: Vince Edwards, Richard Basehart, William Shatner, Lou Antonio
Votes: 984
29. Mosquito Squadron (1969)
G | 90 min | Drama, War
In World War II, an RAF squadron leader mourns the death of a comrade and receives a bombing mission against a secret German V-2 rocket testing facility in France.
Director: Boris Sagal | Stars: David McCallum, Suzanne Neve, Charles Gray, David Buck
Votes: 1,685
30. The Blue Max (1966)
Approved | 156 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Jeremy Kemp
Votes: 7,626
31. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Approved | 135 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith, Bartlett Robinson
Votes: 8,613
32. The Dam Busters (1955)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, History, War
Drama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Basil Sydney
Votes: 11,370
33. Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, War
A tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell
Votes: 15,806
34. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
Passed | 138 min | Drama, History, War
In 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.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Tim Murdock
Votes: 6,462
35. The Battle of Midway (1942)
TV-PG | 18 min | Documentary, Short, War
The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, Logan Ramsey, James Roosevelt
Votes: 2,272
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