With Top Gun: Maverick currently soaring atop the box office, it's worth pondering where the acclaimed high-flying action event stacks up in the pantheon of the all-time great aviation movies. To get a pulse on the best of the bunch, which often feature wartime stories and recreational barnstorming, movie fans at Ranker have spoken loudly and clearly about a subgenre of film that seems to belong to a bygone era. Hopefully, Top Gun: Maverick alters the trend and ushers a new crop of dazzling cinematic airshows.
From big-budget and obscure war movies to a couple of space exploration films and everything in between, the most memorable aviation movies offer something for the whole family to enjoy.
Those Magnificent Men And Their Flying Machines (1965)
One of the only outright comedies to make the grade, Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines has a delightfully playful plot that also pays homage to those who dedicate their lives to professional aviation. The adventure film follows a publisher in 1910 London who mobilizes an air race across the English Channel in order to promote their nascent aviation industry, leading to a slew of wacky hijinks and aerial acrobatics.
Despite being set in 1910, director Ken Annakin injects the proceedings with a sexy swinging '60s vibe as the men competing in the race begin vying for the affections of the publisher's daughter. The film earned an Oscar nod for Best Writing & Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
Robert Redford gives a highly convincing turn as The Great Waldo Pepper, a post-WWI barnstormer who entertains the masses across the United States during the 1920s by flying trick planes and doing incredibly daring stunts on the wings of the plane while up in the air. After meeting a former German fighter pilot, the two find work in Hollywood making aerial war movies.
Directed by George Roy Hill from a William Goldman script, the film has an incredible sense of realism due to the fact that Hill was a former Marine pilot who insisted on the utmost authenticity, requiring Redford and recently departed Bo Svenson to do real stunts without parachutes and safety measures whatsoever. This is a truly thrilling ride!
Midway (1976)
Remade in 2019, Midway is a sprawling war epic that marked a major turning point in World War II. Directed by Jack Smight, the star-studded affair concerns Japan attempting to raid Midway Island after their successful attack on Doolittle. Alas, when the U.S. soldiers intercept their mission call, they race to prevent and counter the raid.
While the film entails battle by land, sea, and air, the Japanese air raid scenes were actually lifted from Tora! Tora! Tora! released six years earlier. The other dogfighting footage came from genuine newsreels, giving the film an authenticity rarely matched before or since.
The Spirit Of St. Louis (1957)
One of Billy Wilder's most underrated movies includes The Spirit of Saint Louis, in which James Stewart plays real-life aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh. A rousing celebration of Lindbergh's ambition, self-actuation, and contributions to aviation, the story chronicles Lindbergh's historical attempt to fly the first solo Transatlantic mission from New York to Paris.
With jaw-dropping aerial scenes that earned the film an Oscar nod for Best Visual Effects, Wilder does a great job of conjuring sympathy for Lindbergh before he even takes flight, which makes his journey so inspiring and his success so satisfying in the end.
Apollo 13 (1995)
A classic aviation movie of a different stripe, the veracity of Apollo 13 and its unbelievably inspiring true story are just as impressive as some of the real-life war movies mentioned. With a stellar cast led by Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard as one of his best movies, the tale of American ingenuity, teamwork, and collective heroism is an all-time great.
One year after landing on the moon, the American Apollo 13 mission is launched, leading to a major spacecraft malfunction that requires rapid repair to save the lives of the three astronauts on board. With scintillating flight sequences, heartfelt human pathos, and top-tier performances, Apollo 13 shows what America can be at its absolute best.
The Right Stuff (1983)
The great Ed Harris stars in both Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff, another all-time great movie about the real-life U.S. space program. Adapted from the Tom Wolfe book by Philip Kaufman, the film charts the evolution of the space program from Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier to choosing and training the proper astronauts for the impending Mercury 7 mission. At 3 hours and 13 minutes, the film is epic, exhaustive, and extremely enlightening.
Aside from the tremendous story and excellent acting, the movie's Oscar-winning sound, editing, score, and special sound effects really create a visceral sense of being suspended in the cosmos, earning its place as a truly memorable aviation film.
The Battle Of Britain (1969)
Sir Michael Caine leads a superb English cast in The Battle of Brittain, one of the biggest real-life WWII skirmishes that took place almost entirely in the air. Set in 1940, the story follows a depleted Royal Air Force doing their best to stave off the Luftwaffe's raid on the English Channel, with the fate of the Axis Powers on the line.
Named as one of the Top 10 Films by the U.S. National Board of Review in 1970, the movie is an important retelling of a landmark event in the early days of WWII, showing the British undying spirit and triumph of will by besting the Germans despite being outnumbered 640 to 2,500 in fighter planes. A true underdog success story that altered the fate of history, it's hard to discount the film's importance.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
The aforementioned Tora! Tora! Tora! is another epic war film that recounts the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor that took place on December 7, 1941. Told with great sympathy from the American and Japanese perspectives, the film has hailed at the time for its vivid fight scenes, intense action, and flight sequences. The film won an Oscar for Best Visual Special Effects.
With both American and Japanese directors on board to tell both sides of the story, legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa was hired to direct the Japanese sequences. However, he was fired after producing roughly one minute of footage that made it into the final cut.
The Blue Max (1966)
Thanks to some of the most genuine, awe-inspiring flight sequences on record, John Guillerman's The Blue Max is able to overcome its macabre premise and unlikable lead character to become one of the most beloved aviation movies ever. George Peppard stars as Bruno Stachel, a German fighter pilot in WWI who sets out to obtain The Blue Max, the country's highest medal of valor. To do so, Stachel must successfully shoot down 20 fighter planes.
With marvelous dogfighting devoid of phony-looking CGI, spectacular scenery, and a classy production design, the splendid World War I movie captures the spirit of aerial dynamism like few others before or since.
The Dam Busters (1955)
According to Ranker, The Dam Busters is the most memorably gratifying aviation movie on record. The historical WWII drama follows the strategic use of bouncing bombs that the British RAF dropped in order to thwart the Germans' advancement by targeting specific water dams at nighttime.
Directed by Michael Anderson, the film earned an Oscar nod for its excellent Special Effects, which were used to recreate some of the most death-defying flight scenes and eye-popping airplane attacks. The film has become an annual staple on British television due to its immense popularity and authentic representation of true events.