Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to choose what they think is the best movie under a certain topic related to a recent release. So this week, with the release of the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick, we’re counting down our favorite plane movies! Let us know @SiftPop what your ranking is!
Films based off of true events could be stale — that is not the case with Doug Liman’s America Made. Tom Cruise brings American pilot/drug-runner Barry Seal brilliantly to the screen. Seal is one of those people within film that are charismatic in spite of the harmful acts they commit. His thrill-seeking quickly drops him down a rabbit hole that he seems incapable of crawling out of. The viewer roots for him, and that is largely due to both the performance of Cruise as well as the creative minds involved. The comedy spread throughout, as well as the way the film is shot, help keep it lively throughout. Films of this type usually don’t have the type of personality and style that American Made contains. Based on true events, the subgenre could use a punch up like American Made. (Joe Vargas)
Over the course of Denzel Washington’s lengthy and accomplished career as one of America’s greatest actors, he has played a multitude of personalities, who also carry significant character flaws. This description happens to match the protagonist of Flight. Directed by acclaimed director Robert Zemeckis, Washington plays William ‘Whip’ Whitaker, a skilled pilot who also has substance abuse problems. Before an early flight, Whip consumes alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. After takeoff, the plane malfunctions, then nosedives, and Whip performs a series of maneuvers that allows most people onboard to survive. Whip is praised as a hero in the media; after he wakes up in the hospital, his old friend and current union representative, Charlie (Bruce Greenwood), informs him of the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. His eccentric friend and drug dealer, Harling Mays (John Goodman) takes him to his late father’s farm to hide out from the media. The airline hires a lawyer, Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle), who tells Whip that he could face prison time if the board finds out he was intoxicated on the flight. Whip is advised to stay sober, and even gets the help of former addict Nicole (Kelly Reilly), but cannot, and questions begin to rise about his sobriety during the crash. Washington gives an incredible, Oscar-nominated performance, and has a fantastic supporting cast around him. Brilliantly grounded in reality and expertly executed by Zemeckis, Flight is not only a great showpiece for Washington, but a solid film all-around. (Jacob Kinman)
Sometimes, all it takes is one moment to define someone’s life. Captain Sullenberger’s moment came on January 15, 2009, when he was able to safely land his plane on the Hudson River after it was severely damaged, as told in Sully. His quick thinking and action saved hundreds of lives. Much of the strength of this story is owed to the performance of America’s Dad, Tom Hanks. Playing the titular pilot, his quiet strength and confidence endear him to the viewer. On top of this, director Clint Eastwood brings a seriousness to this movie that it sorely needed. His capable hands mold a focused narrative. Overall, it is an excellent movie. (Samuel Nichols)
Any film that starts with the elevator pitch, “Steven Spielberg directing Tom Hanks in a Cold War thriller written by the Coen Brothers,” is going to have a high floor. In Bridge of Spies, Hanks plays an American lawyer recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy (Mark Rylance) and helps facilitate an exchange for a captured American spy plane pilot. This one got an unfair rap initially for a couple of reasons. With the aforementioned trio involved, the bar was set absurdly high. So even when the result is a solid one, it still somehow felt like a disappointment. The Rylance Oscar win went firmly against public sentiment pulling for Sylvester Stallone. Now, we’ve got enough of a track record of great performances of Rylance to be able to appreciate how talented he really is. So, if you watched this one upon its release and found it leaving a sour taste in your mouth, it’s worth giving another shot. (Jake Bourgeois)
While it falls just short of being my favorite Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese collaboration, The Aviator is easily my pick for best plane movie. Howard Hughes’ obsessive nature in both his work ethic and his compulsions makes for a fascinating character study, and nobody plays manic quite like DiCaprio. The pioneering geniuses throughout history often ride a fine line between madness and brilliance, and you get to see Hughes toe the line before crossing it entirely over the course of the movie. There is nobody to root for as Hughes at his best is a charming jerk with the bravado of Tony Stark, and at his worst is a womanizing weirdo — but it is easy to pity him. Even if you don’t share the character’s eccentricities, Scorsese and DiCaprio make you feel the anxiety and frustration on a visceral level. The rest of the cast is also remarkable, with the most charming performance of Cate Blanchett’s career as Katharine Hepburn along with great showings from Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, and many more. The vibrant tones throughout The Aviator are stunning, as Scorsese proves once again to be a master at crafting the environment for a period piece. His creative choices like the use of split screen give it a unique identity, and the limited action sequences are breathtakingly intense. (Jason Mack)
Up in the Air opens with a title sequence that appears to show various landscapes as seen from the window seat of a plane. This introduces the audience to the importance of air travel as a location and as an analogy for life. George Clooney leads the film as Ryan Bingham, a man who flies from city to city to fire people at companies that are downsizing. At one point Bingham narrates, “To know me is to fly with me. This is where I live.” The plane represents his nomadic, playboy lifestyle that slowly evolves throughout the film. It also represents the lives of the individuals whose lives are turned upside down when they find themselves on the opposite side of the table from Bingham. Everything literally becomes up in the air. This film brilliantly uses flight as a metaphor for various truths in life. Clooney is joined by an excellent supporting cast that includes Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, Jason Bateman, and many more. The film is often funny, occasionally heartbreaking, and always relatable no matter how distant the story seems from your life. (Jack Grimme)
The 1927 film Wings is one of a few movies that I would call truly special, and not just because it is to date the only entirely silent movie to win Best Picture (then called Outstanding Picture, then on-par with the now-defunct Best Unique and Artistic Picture). For a movie made nearly a century ago, it has special effects and cinematography that wow even in the modern age. Set in the First World War, the first truly aerial war, and at the time taking an absurd nine months to film, you have camerawork and effects that don’t seem like they should belong in a film of the Roaring ‘20s. From feats of aerial combat, brilliant comedic moments, a transition shot that blows your socks off, and the absolutely dynamite performance of Clara Bow alongside Buddy Rogers, this movie holds up just as well as, if not better than, many more modern movies. The plot is great, it flows brilliantly, and you can’t help but find yourself on the edge of your seat by the climax of the film. If you have never seen a silent movie, or you have something against them, then I would highly recommend you take a hold of the stick and give Wings a spin. (Joseph Davis)
Surely, you can’t be serious. I am serious that this is one of the funniest films ever created… and don’t call me Shirley. This is but one of the endless jokes that fill out this lampooning spoof film that put Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker on the map. Airplane! takes a serious film and turns (almost) all the characters into jokes, and offers up silly turns. But one does not seem to be in on the joke… and that is the career-defining turn of veteran actor Leslie Nielsen. His performance as the doctor just might be one of the funniest of all time, with almost every line being iconic and hilarious. Throw in a love story, a dangerous tragedy waiting to happen, and some of the most absurd comedic sets in film, and you have a must-see comedy flying high above the rest on the wings of a plane. (Shane Conto)
If there was a textbook definition of tension in a movie, United 93’sposter would be in the definition. This is also a prime example of how to take a real life situation and make a competent film that tells an intriguing story while still being sensitive to the subject matter. United 93 is the story of the plane that crashed in the Pennsylvania wilderness while thwarting the terrorists on board on September 11th, 2001. Paul Greengrass writes and directs this great film that is anchored by great performances by relatively no-name actors. This is an amazing story that shows that anybody can be a light in a dark room. The story of United 93 is perfect for this event, showing how ordinary people can act with great bravery to prevent further tragedy. Most of the film takes place on the plane, and the ending is both heartbreaking, but oddly hopeful too. This is by far the best film involving September 11th, and it’ll be some time before another film can match its quality. (Mike Hilty)
“Two mice fell into a bucket of cream…” Catch Me If You Can tells the unbelievable story of Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo DiCaprio), avid liar and conman, who ran away from home when he was 17 and became an airline pilot, doctor, and lawyer before he was 21 by scamming Pan Am and running a check fraud scheme. Chasing him virtually all over the country is FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who specializes in check fraud. This movie is an incredible feat and only someone with the charisma and confidence of DiCaprio can pull it off to make it believable. Steven Spielberg brought out his own charm and made this film a true masterpiece, one I have watched many times. With Abagnale faking being an airline pilot, this film does take place on a lot of planes, and planes are almost a character all on their own, especially when Abagnale flies for the first time. This movie clearly is not one to be missed, not just because of the star power or the brilliant director, but John Williams was the composer — his talents truly shine here. (Austen Terry)
Die Hard 2
Die Hard 2: Die Harder is the followup to one of the best action movies of all time, and had some pretty huge shoes to fill. It takes place in a Washington D.C. airport and on several planes in the sky stuck circling the airport unable to land. On the ground, John McClane (Bruce Willis) is waiting to pick up his wife when he notices a ton of suspicious activity. This kicks off the action, which consists of gunfights, terrorists, and bureaucrats trying to keep the airport running on time. In 1990 this may have been normal, but in a post-9/11 world, this is a horror movie! A janitor lets a man with a LAPD badge into a restricted area without question, a man with a gun is then found dead in the same restricted area, and airport security is like, “This is a waste of time! Don’t shut anything down!” It is laughable the amount of pushback that McClane gets from everyone in a position of power, in a scary way. That nonsense aside, this is a really fun and action-packed movie. Everything is dialed to 11 compared to the first movie, from the violence to the profanity, to the cheesy one-liners. We even get a cameo from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Colm Meany as a British pilot who meets an untimely end! Die Hard 2 was never going to live up to its predecessor. However, it is a fun continuation. (Nick Ferro)
Red Eye
Very much a product of its time, Red Eye often gets lumped with other late ‘90s/early 2000s thrillers of its kind, but the film’s slick direction and dynamite lead performances put it a cut above the rest. If you are not yet convinced that Cillian Murphy is one of the greatest actors alive, you simply have not seen enough of his work. Murphy’s performance in Red Eye is as captivating as it is terrifying, making it impossible to lose interest when his character is onscreen. Taking place almost entirely in the air, Murphy’s character threatens to kill the father of hotel manager Lisa Reisert, played by the equally brilliant Rachel McAdams, lest she refuse to assist in the assassination plot of a high-ranking Homeland Security official. In the hands of a lesser director, this straightforward plot could result in an unmemorable, lukewarm viewing experience, but Red Eye boasts dynamic, fast-paced direction from horror master Wes Craven. Granted, the final act gets a little far-fetched, and the film has more than its fair share of early 2000s cheese, but it’s all in good fun. Red Eye is a tight, 85-minute adrenaline rush of a film anchored by two genuinely great performances, and I firmly recommend it to any movie fan in search of a good old-fashioned thriller. (Foster Harlfinger)
Hot Shots!
What is a better way of honoring Top Gun than talking about one of the best parody movies of all time that mainly pokes fun at Top Gun? Yeah, I can’t think of a better way either. Hot Shots! and its sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux, are two of those movies I grew up on, so I can quote them (albeit in Czech) back and forth, and we actually do on a semi-regular basis in my family. It’s a silly movie full of amazing gags that will make you laugh almost every single minute of the film. And even though I prefer the sequel, both of these parodies are excellent. And I don’t think young Charlie Sheen got the comedic credit he deserved, as his delivery works, and has to work. He is a perfect choice of playing “Tom Cruise”, as he manages to balance the craziness with some sincere moments. Before watching Hot Shots! make sure to watch Top Gun, Dances with Wolves, Rocky… And the list is going, and going, and going… Oh, shoot, that’s a quote from Part Deux! See, I told you I can quote both films by heart. If you haven’t seen either movie and you are familiar with films in general, give these two a try and you might just laugh your butt off. “American planes will always be superior as long as there are wonderful men like you in the cockpit. And German parts.” (Luke Burian)
Independence Day
Say what you want about Roland Emmerich these days; the man certainly knows how to stage a disaster movie. While some of the effects work he’s putting on screen these days is laughable, and however aged Independence Day looks at certain turns, there’s no question that the inventiveness necessary to put some of these set pieces to film represents the peak in his career. With the star power of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum at his disposal, there’s a reason this has turned into a classic blockbuster. There are things other than the effects at points that have not aged well — Randy Quaid comes to mind — but overall, this movie provides those oo-rah movies that a lot of films like it fail to properly deliver. The dog fights between the Air Force and the alien fleet are visceral and chaotic; the retooling of an alien ship to be flown by Smith and Goldblum is interesting; and tying it all together to an alcoholic who was abducted by aliens and flies a crop duster to pay the bills, while hammy and cheesy, makes for a pretty compelling story of a father trying to take care of his family as well. It’s one of those movies that just has everything you want in a popcorn flick, and it remains one of my favorite movies from the ‘90s. (Chris Bakker)
Air Force One
Of the Die Hard imposters (a.k.a. “Die Hard on a [blank]” films), no film is as fun or as star-powered as Air Force One. And, if we’re being really honest, distilling it down to a Die Hard rip-off is a bit harsh. Titled after the plane on which the president of the United State flies, the film finds Harrison Ford’s President James Marshall a rogue hostage on board as terrorists (led by Gary Oldman) try to negotiate the release of Communist comrades. With this and his series of Jack Ryan films, Ford is in full on leading man action star mode at this point of his career. Watching the cat-and-mouse game between him and the terrorist crew never fails to entertain or bring the tension. Director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Troy), an action thriller vet at his point, knows how to execute this type of story. While it’s certainly Ford and Oldman that are the scene stealers, having the likes of Glenn Close (as a female Vice President 20 years before we actually got there as a country) and William H. Macy round out a stellar cast. It’s undoubtedly one of the quintessential ‘90s action flicks, with a snappy one-liner for the ages to boot. (Jake Bourgeois)
Top Gun
Do you feel the need? The need… for speed? You know, I’m traditionally not one for pro-war, military industrial complex, propaganda movies, but Top Gun manages to do so much right that it can even make the most staunch hater fall in love with it. Whether it is the iconic soundtrack starring Kenny Loggins, the snide humor, the ridiculous beach volleyball scene, or the memorably over-the-top performances from the likes of Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, and the timeless Tom Cruise, this movie has it all. You even have a sports-esque competition at the Top Gun school that gives you a literal rooting interest in the results of the film. There’s so much to get wrapped up in, and that’s before you get into the aerial spectacle. I mean, damn. You can get mesmerized watching these jets swirling through the sky as they simulate combat and evade one another. And that’s just flight school! You still have the big finale of actual dog fighting with enemy combatants. Top Gun may be overly cheesy at times, or unrealistic. The brash idealization of the military and war at large is concerning. Yet when all is said and done, this is a fun and entertaining movie that you can’t help but enjoy. (Heath Lynch)
Con Air
Con Air was an instant classic the moment it was released. This high-octane adventure with Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, and John Malkovich delivers high-flying thrills as Cage stars as a convict at the end of his sentence just trying to make it home to his wife and daughter. After the convicts take over the prison transport flight, Cage is caught up trying to make sure his prison BFF doesn’t die from diabetes. Coming out in the heyday of Bruckheimer flicks, it knows exactly what it is. I do not know how I can live without this movie. If you haven’t seen it, then what are you doing here? (Frank Kemp)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel is another origin story for the MCU, but it’s the first female-led film for Marvel Studios. As the 21st feature, Captain Marvel has the same formula as Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, but Carol Danvers is in a league of her own. Danvers is an ex-Air Force fighter pilot, turned human-Kree hybrid with superpowers, thanks to the exposure of the Tesseract with no idea of who she really is and her true purpose. Carol, a.k.a. Vers, reaches her full potential after she stopped doubting herself and saying, “no more.” Captain Marvel is one of the strongest Avengers there is. The Avengers Initiative was named after her call sign: Carol “Avenger” Danvers. It’s only fair, right? Set in the ‘90s, you get the nostalgia of grunge rock, flannels, pagers, and the once-great Blockbuster Video; you found yourself stepping into a time machine. We also find out who the trusted someone that Nick Fury lost his eye to. With an amazingly talented cast of Jude Law, Annette Bening, Ben Mendelsohn, and Samuel L. Jackson, we have Brie Larson take the helm as the titular character with a nuanced performance. As a good entry for an origin story, the only way the sequel, The Marvels can go is “higher, further, faster, baby.” (Chantal Ashford)
Non-Stop
Unfortunately, most of Liam Neeson’s old man action thrillers post-Taken have been pretty unsuccessful. Fortunately, Non-Stop does not fit that description. When air Marshall Bill Marks receives in-flight text messages saying someone will die every 20 minutes unless $150 million is put into their account, Marks springs into action. This is a solid action thriller and mystery that will keep you guessing and have you surprised at every turn. Neeson’s character is the mostly basic alcoholic with lots of personal problems, but he’s a good enough actor to keep you invested. This is a bright spot among the Neeson action canon from the last decade-plus. (Robert Bouffard)