Though the subgenre has evolved considerably over the years, films about pilots will always capture the attention of the audience. Placing a camera in the cockpit to document the visceral emotion of flight provides gripping cinema that grounded transportation just cannot replicate.
Movies about pilots send moviegoers to the Heavens and keep them up there until the directors are ready to commence their descent.
Captain Marvel (2019)
The hero's first feature-length iteration that played like Amelia Ehrhardt-meets-Tarzan did not meet the universal acclaim it could have. However, the Brie Larson-fronted Marvel flick still collected a well-earned loyal backing - and is currently available to stream on Disney Plus.
With a marketing campaign tailored to evoke shades of Top Gun, Larson plays a human displaced among aliens who assumed the powers of those who "discovered" her. Throughout the film, she uncovers her past life as top pilot Carol Danvers, who raked in many non-superpowered exploits before the mission gone awry that left her with a significant lapse in memory.
Sully (2016)
Clint Eastwood - who very nearly played an older Bruce Wayne in a live-action Batman Beyond - and Tom Hanks collaborated on this incredible film about the Miracle on the Hudson. As well as covering the event itself, Sully focuses on the internal investigation of the pilot to the immediate aftermath.
Ultimately, Sully is remembered for the hero he was on that January morning in 2009; however, the film takes you through all the highs and lows.
Star Wars (1977)
Before becoming one of the biggest franchises in the world, Star Wars focused on the journey of one pilot: Luke Skywalker. From Tattooine native to galaxy-saving, Deathstar-destroying, fighter pilot.
Plus, Luke's badass mentor Han Solo (Harrison Ford) manned the Millenium Falcon aircraft to more acclaim in '77 than his origin spin-off counterpart (Alden Ehrenreich) could in 2018. As for what became of Luke, the prequels/sequels surely proved you could take the Jedi out of a pilot, but that you could never take the pilot out of the Jedi.
Wings (1927)
The epic is best remembered as one of the last silent films to tackle the big bad war in a big-budgeted, yet silent capacity. Directed by and starring experienced combat pilots and military aviators, the film deployed thousands of extras for extensively rehearsed battle scenes. This helped the film secure the 1929 Oscars for Best Picture and Effects Engineering, respectively. In 1997, Wings was selected for cultural preservation by the National Film Registry.
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
While not one of Billy Wilder's more successful outings at the time of its release (the consensus found middle-aged James Stewart to be miscast as the 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh) the film plays better today than much modern cinema.
In his quest to bring the West to Paris via aircraft, Lindbergh must build both the right plane and find a collection of backers to pull off the unimaginable. Stewart gives it his all with a cocktail blend of his wide-eyed younger self and the signature inner torment of his late-game Hitchockian form.
Airplane! (1980)
Despite its spoof nature, the disaster-lampooning landmark surely is about a traumatized war pilot's quest to save the plane he is a passenger on from pending doom. Just don't call him Shirley.
Star-studded and irreverently in-tune with the tastes and (tastelessness) of the time, The Zucker Brothers' and Jim Abrahams peaked with this outing. Save for a few flashbacks, it takes place exclusively over the course of one flight that sees all its passengers who ate the fish for dinner going down left and right.
Top Gun (1986)
Goose was Maverick's eyes, and Maverick was the audiences' lens into the high stakes world of Tony Scott's stealthily-ensembled and beautifully-soundtracked action/romance.
Those awaiting the release of its equally star-studded and Tom Cruise-fronted sequel, Top Gun: Maverick - delayed due to coronavirus pandemic concerns - will see director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Oblivion) lend the Top Gun universe a much-deserved iMax glow-up. Originally slated for the summer, moviegoers must now wait until Christmas to harness their need; their need for speed.
Flight (2012)
Robert Zemeckis had never failed to thrill an audience. Neither had Denzel Washington. A match made in heaven, indeed.
Though Washington's "Whip" Whitaker was intoxicated, he improbably crash-landed his engine-failed commercial airline - losing six passengers in the process. Despite saving countless others, the persistence of an investigation to find him at fault provides for a thrilling drama that does not waver in intensity even after the act I-contained flight in question.
A Matter Of Life And Death (1946)
Before plummeting in his failing aircraft without a parachute, wartime pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) strikes up a conversation with an American radio operator (Kim Hunter) who helps him become at ease with meeting his fate.
This technicolor-savvy film is about the inexplicably-spared pilot pleading before a celestial court to keep his life. Despite moving afterlife aesthetics, Carter had no intention to park it "upstairs," especially after cheating the death he was "owed."
The Aviator (2004)
Their first collaboration may have been 2002's Gang's of New York; but their follow-up was the first to begin with Leonardo DiCaprio bringing material to Martin Scorsese, and not the other way around.
In the film taking place over several years, DiCaprio wowed as the obsessive-compulsive eccentric filmmaker/aircraft operator. The film itself played a large part in setting the current standard for period-encompassing production and costume design.