Popular AVIATION movies you've watched and liked!

[+ojcar 157]

We are forgetting Dr Strangelove! And speaking about popcorn films, I'll take Final Countdown or Firefox over Top Gun everyday...

[MigBuster 2,884]

Air Force 1 anyone?

 

 

Yes Top Gun is actually pretty good - one of the stronger Hollywood offerings IMO

[pandaman 0]

Top Gun did one thing I haven't seen before or after - it depicted the more physical aspect of air combat from the cockpit. In other movies, you have folks looking straight ahead, never/rarely loosing sight of an enemy, or having an enemy just randomly go from defensive to offensive somehow. Top Gun has the aircrews twisting and turning, looking back, left, right, up, down, straining to maintain SA. They are fighting against "g", loosing sight, reacquiring, no "radar vision" shown there. Enemies generally maneuver into position, or when they show up unnoticed there is a good reason (overt focus on one bandit, radar/sort group 1 while not paying attention to possible threats hooking behind the 3/9 line.) In that regard, I haven't seen another movie that matches Top Gun. I would never put it in the same league as Pearl Harbor, and Iron Eagle/the series might well be a contender as one of the worst movies/series of all time IMHO (a friend and I watched III last weekend; he felt his Netflix had been soiled - hell, I prefer Plan 9 from Outer Space!).

 

That said, yes TG is gimmicky, has a less-than-ankle-deep plot, and makes plenty of errors, but you really do have to take it as a popcorn movie. Heck, I enjoy "War Games" in spite of all the blunders they make with the ITW/AA network (among other things). As a popcorn movie, I think Top Gun is great. Other good ones IMO that I see listed include The Final Countdown, Flight of the Intruder and Memphis Belle.

 

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

[JediMaster 451]

My problem with The Final Countdown is the SF part of it is weak, while the aviation side is strong.

That said, TFC and TG are the only 2 "aviation" film I own, both featuring the F-14. Well, some have included Tora, Tora, Tora, and I have that, but that's not quite the same.

[macelena 1,070]

Anybody ever watched Porco Rosso?

[Wrench 9,874]

There's another one, well kinda.

 

Recall when we nucked Spain back in 62? Somebody made an oddball movie about that, apparently fictionally following the surviving air crew after bailout. All I remember was WEIRD and even surreal. Very, extremely strange movie. Some cool but equally bizarre music score also. Don't recall the movie's name, and can't find it easily.

 

 

Not actally about the KC=135/B-52 crash, but a bomber goes down off a Greek or Italian island, iirc. The 2-man cres wanders around the island (one in his underwear) getting into all kinds of mischief. I remember the water gets contaminated, somehow or another

 

"The Day The Fish Came Out"

Edited November 7, 2011 by Wrench

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

W:

The Day The Fish Came Out

 

I'm on it like blue bonnet. Looking it up now. ThanksW!

[colmack 662]

all the above

 

A Gathering of Eagles:

Midway

flight of the Phoenix

Fate is the Hunter

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Interesting.

 

Harley Dahler::

:

:

Last Item. Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson starred in Strategic Air Command, which was made at MacDill in part. Our plane was parked by the main hanger in the background, and I remember seeing them sitting on the grass waiting for another take. One sequence called for losing a canopy and a canopy was removed from one B-47 and our Deputy Wing Commander took it up for aerial shots. He said it flew fine but despite the best effort of the ground crew there was a lot of dirt flying around.

 

Hope these adventures reveal a little of the B-47 early history from a mechanic's end.

 

~ http://www.b-47.com/stories/Dahler/dahler.htm

[Echarlie 0]

"The High and the Mighty" by Ernest K Gann

 

John Wayne flying a sick DC-4

 

Might be a bit hard to find but it is out there on DVD.