Greetings All!
Ok now for something completely different!
See how much we all love aviation – I thought it would be fun to ask a quick question –
Given the wide assortment of movies out there –
Whats your favorite aviation based film?
Things like BAT21, Top Gun etc. –
Anyone have a favorites list?
I still love The Blue Max and The Great Waldo Pepper
Just curious
For me, it wasn’t an aviation movie per se, but the Huey scenes from We Were Soldiers were just crazy intense and really showcased the role of helicopters in modern warfare. I really like that movie. Black Hawk Down was also a favorite of mine.
Memphis Belle was another movie I really enjoyed watching.
Perhaps due to my love of aviation I find the list of films I actually like is very small. Most of the time I’m just disbelieving this or that aspect.
I do like Top Gun despite all its foibles, but that might be because I was still young to know just how off it was when I first saw it.
My other favorite is The Final Countdown, because while the SF makes no sense the aviation part was done right. Of course, I was even younger when I saw that but the SF part hooked me.
Tora Tora Tora isn’t strictly aviation but it figures prominently and their commitment to historical accuracy makes it shine.
Darn right! Forgot about those. Seems (just to my faith memory) we don’t have many true ’aviation’ based movies. Oh btw, do you remember one called Strategic Air Command 1955? Fantastic images from B36 and B58 Hustler
I understand that! There are a few old ones out there that seem to stand the test of time.
On top of what Chuck and JM mentioned I would add The Right Stuff. and Flight of the Intruder.
I heard that “By Dawn’s Early Light” is quite good, never seen it though.
Who’s the best pilot you’ve ever seen?.. Lol
There are many to choose from, but my favourite has to be Battle of Britain.
633 Squadron.
Mossie’s & Merlins… Magic. 
Let me add two french movies here.
Because french movies are always special.
Les Chevaliers du Ciel
and
BILL et JOHN - danger dedans le ciel
Ok, the second one is just a short movie. But it‘s my fav 
By Dawn’s early light.
Dr strangelove
Battle of Britain
Top gun
Flight of the intruder
American made.
The right stuff
Memphis belle.
Hot shots (folland gnats are awesome)
I’m gonna stop here or I’m gonna keep editing the same post all night
Nono, you finish up later, but you ain’t done mate!
Oho so good!
@Sine_Nomine and dont call me shirley please
I love how a jet liner has prop engine sounds…
Shirley you can’t be serious? 
I’m confused…there is another film besides Topgun? Even if there is…why would oner want to see it? 
The Battle of Britain (1969)… over 100 WWII aircraft were used. You’ll never see as many real Heinkels, Spitfires and Hurricanes in one shot!
Let’s be real, Firebirds sucked big ones, but there’s been no other film that really starred the AH-64 since that one. As a kid, wasn’t much better than watching all the helicopter action scenes and fast forwarding through all the dopey parts. Being deaf probably helped with the dialogue…
Fun fact: a lot of cockpit scenes and imagery were actually taken from AH-64D prototypes and concepts rather than real AH-64As.
Les Chevaliers du Ciel is basically the french Top Gun. Script is equally terrible, but the aircraft dogfight scenes and cinematography are just incredible.
The movie Sher Dil (with the Chinese/Pakistani JF-17) is done mostly with CGI, but it’s one of the better CGI I’ve seen. Some things are a bit poorly researched (i.e. Indian Mirages dogfighting with their external tanks) but overall it’s entertaining. There’s also a nice scene at the beginning of F-86 Sabres against Folland Gnats. An unlikely match, when you think about it.
The thing that annoyed me with Sher Dil is the thing that annoys me with almost EVERY aviation movie. There is always a pointless love story, a rivalry that ends in eternal friendship, and an unbearable, shameless chauvinism that only shows the “Good Guys vs Bad Guys” side of things…(I swear to God… this german pilot in Red Tails was “that” close to wear a monocle and start twirling his mustache).
One last point: the most haunting scene I have seen that’s sort of aviation-related is a short, seemingly insignificant but very powerful scene in the movie Fury. As the tank convoy rolls around, they see a glimpse of about a dozen German pilots going against hundreds of American Mustangs and Flying Fortresses… a glimpse of the hopelessness of the situation and the insanity of the last few pilots who survived such odds like Gunther Rall.
So many good movie listing here. I’ve seen most of them and agree with poster how good they are. One I don’t see listed but I remember it being good was the old Gregory Peck movie “Twelve O’clock High.”
Another one I really liked in terms of the fighter combat scenes was the Korean War movies “The Hunters” and “The Bridges at Toko Ri.”
