Posted on 03/14/2014 6:13:28 AM PDT by ken5050
Aviation and movies pretty much got their start about the same time, and ever since, they've been making movies about the drama of flight. With the mystery of the lost Malaysia Airlines 777 dominating the news, (and no doubt there are already plans being made for a movie) I was wondering what movies about airplanes and flight are FReepers' favorites?
There are several obvious choices: All the "Airport" films come to mind, and of course, "Airplane!" which is one of the funniest movies ever made.
There's one hysterical scene after the other...nonstop..but the classic moment for me is June Cleaver's (a.k.a Barbara Billingsly) "I speak jive"
And there's that one line that somehow escaped the censors, when Julie Hagerty reflects on her relationship with Robert Hays, especially the romantic evening they spent on the beach, "when she sat on his face and watched the sun come up." (I looked for the clip..couldn't find it...darn..)
One of the first, and maybe still the best, is "The High and the Mighty." Tremendous cast,( John Wayne, Robert Stack) and a haunting theme.
Here's the original trailer for the film and if you don't recall, the theme is whistled, beautifully...a first. Listen here
"United 93" is superbly done, and IMHO, far and away the best film about the events of 9/11. You can watch the entire movie here
I'm partial to the older films, the classics, if you will. Two of my favorites:
"The Spirit of St. Louis," with Jimmy Stewart's low-key portrayal of Charles Lindbergh. Here's the original trailer
"No Highway in the Sky" is a loosely fictionalized version of the story of the DeHavilland Comet, the British built first commercial jet, which had the unfortunate problem of coming apart in mid-air. The movie stars Jimmy Stewart ( given his service with the UAAAF in WW II, he made a slew of really good aviation movies..both civilian and military themed) and Marlene Dietrich. Here's the trailer
Note: If you're curious, in the film, the tail of the plane falls off because of metal fatigue. The actual Comet also came apart due to metal fatigue, but it was due to the windows being too large. They couldn't survive the stresses of multiple pressurization cycles.
One of the best TV movies about aviation is "Falling From the Sky", about the "Gimli Glider," the Air Canda 767 that ran out of fuel at 41,000. Somehow the crew managed to glide it to a safe landing.
The movie is especially interesting as we wonder today just how could an airplane completely vanish? Well, could anyone think that it was possible for an airliner to take off, and despite multiple systems and built in redundancies, nobody noticed that it was running out of fuel, until the engines cut out. Here's a look back at the story, 30 years later.
Think about it....as we await news about the Malaysia Air flight.
One more, which also shows how the unexpected can happen without warning, sneak up, and bite you on the ass. Speedbird 9 was a British Air 747, which lost power in all FOUR engines while flying through a cloud of volcanic ash from a recent eruption...( again, over Indonesia. Hmmm?)Really good docudrama tells the story here .
Hope you all enjoy this. Please post your favorites, and don't forget the links to the video clips.
We did this last week, lol! Or maybe the week before.
12 O’clock High
“Airplane!”
Do you like gladiator movies?
Ditto.
Island in the Sky and The High and the Mighty.
“Always”
Surely you can’t be serious! It’s “Airplane!”
didn’t we just have this discussion?
The scene where passengers are watching a video... of airline disasters.
my name's not Shirley... quit calling me Shirley...
My favorite would be the movie Strategic Air Command starring Jimmy Stewart.The movie was made during the 1950’s but it showed the establishment of SAC and the reasons it was developed.
Randy Quaid in Independence Day.
okay, the other day i said Spirit of St. Louis and Flight Angels... today i will say Soul Plane—just to change it up...
I was going to post that before "Flight of The Phoenix".
But...I have seen that movie 10 times. I can no longer watch "Always". I simply cannot handle the flood of tears any longer. It borders on self abuse.
12 O’clock High
Empire of the Sun
The Great Waldo Pepper
The Aviator
Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days”
Memphis Belle
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Flying Leathernecks
Flying Tigers
Midway
There’s more good ones I haven’t even mentioned
The Rocketeer and Flightplan
Mrs.Esopman
“Oh, stewardess, I speak jive.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.