Aviation movies

[busdrver]

Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines. Actually a comedy. I believe Paul Mantz (or maybe it was Frank Tallman, his partner) worked on that movie.

 

[pilotyip]

Island in the sky

A great aviaiton movie, starring John Wayne based upon at rue strory written by E. Gann. Airplane froced landing in Cananda and the search and rescue to find them/

 

[Booker]

I might make some people laugh with this comment, but I think the most realistically executed "airline disaster" movie was CBS's depiction of the Aloha flight which suffered an in-flight breakup of the fuselage (Miracle Landing).

And in case anybody missed it, this is the movie Chunk was referring to as being on Lifetime. I agree that is fairly accurate. I even have a picture of the real FO standing at the top of the 1L escape slide as the pax were de-planing.

 

[bozz66]

I remember seeing a TV movie about the DC-10 that lost all it's hydraulic systems and crashed in Sioux City. It starred Charleton Heston as the captain. I don't think I was a pilot yet when it came out so I can't really remember if it was very realistic. Anyone remember seeing it?

 

[RunUp]

Twelve O'clock High

and of course......

The Stewardesses in 3-D

 

[dmspilot00]

I remember seeing a TV movie about the DC-10 that lost all it's hydraulic systems and crashed in Sioux City. It starred Charleton Heston as the captain. I don't think I was a pilot yet when it came out so I can't really remember if it was very realistic. Anyone remember seeing it?

Yes, that was the United 232 movie I mentioned. I believe they followed actual ATC tapes pretty closely. They also used actual news footage of the crash. However the movie itself just wasn't that good. The actual flight only covered maybe 20 minutes of the movie, before that was a long boring introduction which took place at the airport while they were having emergency practice drills, and the rest focused on rescuing the survivors, I think.

 

[SIGman]

Its a mad mad mad mad world

Great airplane scenes - flying through the bilboard and under that hanger.

--

Flight of the Intruder. (plenty of cheeze, but fun)

 

[Typhoon1244]

I remember seeing a TV movie about the DC-10 that lost all it's hydraulic systems and crashed in Sioux City. It starred Charleton Heston as the captain.

Captain Al Haines, the real-life captain of United 232, has got to be the most humble, unassuming man I've ever come across. I wonder how he felt having "Moses" portray him in the movie...?

Somebody mentioned Capticorn One...one of my all-time favorites, even though it has O.J. playing an astronaut. This movie has at its end the greatest aerial chase scene ever filmed, a pair of OH-6's versus a biplane crop-duster. Really exciting!

One other cool thing about Capricorn...: the periodic voice-overs by "Paul Cunningham, Capricorn control." These are basically summaries of what's going on throughout the mission for the benefit of the press. At the beginning of the movie, Cunningham even describes what the astronauts had for breakfast. It lends a lot of credibility and realism to a movie that would otherwise have problems.

Here's another one. I was recently re-watching 2001, probably the most realistic movie ever made about space travel. Anyway, I got thinking about the Pan Am Orion III shuttle that's depicted in this movie. In a time where orbital and lunar airline travel become routine, what kinds of things would pilots be bitching about? Is there anything to do while you're on a layover on the Moon? Are there any decent restaurants on that "wagon-wheel" space station? (We know it has a Hilton, so there's probably a restaurant that has 8-oz. steaks for $65.) Is Chataqua flying 777's by now? Do the approach controllers in the Sea of Tranquility always take two or three calls to answer?

Of course, 2001 was two years ago...my, what progress we've made.

 

[Low & Slow]

Memphis Belle, The Tuskegee Airmen and I've heard High Road to China is good but I haven't been able to find it.

 

[Low & Slow]

Also, Empire of the Sun. Spielberg camera work of the P-51 Mustang "Cadillac of the Sky".

 

[Whirlwind]

High Road to China is WELL worth finding and watching.

I've got a copy on VHS, and no, you can't have it!

Very, very good movie about flying, saw it for the first time as a kid and have always dreamed of flying like that.

Part of me wishes I lived back then, flying from grass strip to grass strip in a little biplane, no fancy weather reporting, no control towers, no jetliners flying around, clean air, beautiful sky...

Ahh...

 

[46Driver]

Ahem, to all of your fixed wing types, the best aviation sequence is without a doubt the helicopter raid from Apocalypse Now....

 

[Typhoon1244]

...to all of your fixed wing types, the best aviation sequence is without a doubt the helicopter raid from Apocalypse Now....

Hey, what about Firebirds? (Have you ever flown a Sea Knight with panties and a periscope strapped to your head?)

 

[46Driver]

Actually, I've nevers seen Firebirds - I heard it was horrible. Can't say I ever flew a Phrog like that kind of hoping to pick up a Mercedes with a giant magnet like they did in "You Only Live Twice!"

 

[Publishers]

best

The two best I ever saw--

Fate is the Hunter -- from the book and staring Rod Taylor

There was also a helicopter movie I forget the name where a news tv guy chases some crooks who robbed a bank and fled in a helicopter. Some of the neatest flying ever seen,

 

[Typhoon1244]

Re: best

Fate is the Hunter -- from the book and staring Rod Taylor

Not a bad movie...but it had almost nothing to do with the book.

Originally posted by 46Driver
...kind of hoping to pick up a Mercedes with a giant magnet like they did in "You Only Live Twice!"

That reminds me...do y'all remember License to Kill, the one were 007 wages a personal war on a drug cartel kingpin? There's a scene that takes place down in the Keys someplace where the bad guy tries to get away in a 172...or maybe a 182. I can't remember. James and Felix catch up to him in a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin, wrap the line from the winch around the Cessna's tail and "tow" him right out of the air and into the hands of the waiting Feds.

I could never tell if it was done with models or if it was real. Could a '65 (or any other medium-sized helicopter) really jerk a plane out of the air like that? It sure looked real!

There's always some interesting flying in 007 films, isn't there? Remember Goldfinger...with the attack of the killer Piper Cherokees?

Oh yeah, you rotor-heads, don't forget about The Bridges at Toko-Ri! When I was a kid, that movie showed me that helicopters could be cool, too.

 

[jergar999]

Typhoon

They say in Cast Away that the crash was a result of mislabled HazMat in combination with the weather.

 

[jetdriven]

what was the movie about an airline pilot who has two wives and later marries a third one? The first two got together with the third and really screwed him over.
I think it was on HBO about 10 years ago but I sure would like to see it again.

 

[bobbysamd]

Avatar

what was the movie about an airline pilot who has two wives and later marries a third one? The first two got together with the third and really screwed him over.
I think it was on HBO about 10 years ago but I sure would like to see it again.

I don't know, but your avatar says it all about Mesa.

 

[Swass]

What about that Harrison Ford movie with Ann Heche, stupid movie but a kick butt Beaver if you know what I mean. Nice.

 

[crash-proof]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Die Hard II.


How about the fact that all the pilots had to do was talk to center and go somewhere else...and the whole movie would never have happened?

Doh, I was gonna mention that. I figure you don't have to be a pilt to figure that one out.


Other movies...

How bout "Airplane", where:
* the 707 sounds like a WWII bomber
* Takes off without its landing gear
* Turns magically into a 727 on the final scene
Great flick though... (picked the wrong day to stop sniffin glue!!!)

There was an old Stewart film based on the B-25 carrier takeoffs in WWII. It was a lil cheesy but then again, I love B-25s!!!

here's another point regarding movies. Have you ever noticed that NO plane sounds like it really is? For example, a Stearman will sound like a Cessna. Or a Huey will sound like a jet ranger..
Or a Cessna will sound like a Stearman.

 

[79%N1]

Hands down, the funniest....Fandango. Truman Sparks landing on the highway, pulling up next to the car at the light, and sticking his arm out the window to signal a left turn was hysterical. Plus the cops chasing his 172 in the police helicopter was classic.

 

[EagleRJ]

here's another point regarding movies. Have you ever noticed that NO plane sounds like it really is? For example, a Stearman will sound like a Cessna. Or a Huey will sound like a jet ranger..
Or a Cessna will sound like a Stearman.

Or how about the fact that when any airplane is in trouble, diving out of control, whatever- in a Hollywood movie, it always makes a sound like the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka? The Stuka dive bomber had a wind-driven siren on one of its landing gear struts for psychological effect, and no other plane in the world makes that wailing sound!

 

[Draginass]

High and the Mightly. Best by far of any aviation related movie. Never been equaled and given new Hollywood's propensity to produce expensive eye candy backed up by stupid, inane, and politically correct screenplays, probably never will.

 

[Typhoon1244]

...another point regarding movies. Have you ever noticed that NO plane sounds like it really is?

I've noticed that Hollywood sound technicians think all helicopters--from the NOTAR Hughes 500's to the Chinook--sound like the H-13's on M*A*S*H. That annoys the crap out of me.

How about Turbulence? Did y'all enjoy that one? Best line--and I forget the exact words, but it went something like this:

Controller: "Oh, c'mon! She can't handle that plane! She's only a stewardess!"

In-Flight Manager: [with powerful confidence] "She's not a 'stewardess.' She's a flight attendant."

The best part is that whoever wrote that dialogue didn't intend for it to be a joke...they were serious! She's a flight attendant, so of course she can fly that plane! If she was a 'stewardess,' she'd be screwed. (Probably in more ways than one...)

One other rape of reality that movies often commit: would somebody please tell the folks in Hollywood that two or three people with radios can not talk on the same frequence at the same time? Even Pushing Tin, which tried really hard to get some things right, dropped the ball on this one! (That movie had other problems, too. I guess the writer believed that pilots just blindly do whatever controllers tell them...)

 

[MetroSheriff]

"...because it's so beautifully filmed..."

"...--will take your breath away..."

"...is exquisite in its faithfulness to reality..."

Ummmm....Skipper,

Are you feeling ok? Or did the Mrs. get ahold of your laptop again?

 

[Typhoon1244]

Ummmm....Skipper, are you feeling ok? Or did the Mrs. get ahold of your laptop again?

Wow. Did I really write all that? I sound like the Leonard Maltin of Flightinfo.com. Maybe I missed my calling...

And no, the Missus didn't get hold of the computer. She doesn't know any flowery words like that!

Hey, what can I say? I've always been an airplane-movie junkie, and I'm lovin' this thread! Thanks for starting this, 172Driver!

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Leave it to BobbySam to first come up with Twelve O'Clock High. I really enjoyed some of the flight scenes (actual shots from B-17 bombing missions). You can see how close the formations really were. Towards the end it got a little cheesy but I'd always give it a thumbs up.

I can't recall the name of the movie with the B-25's off the carrier deck but it had to be the one about the Doolittle Mission raid over Tokyo in April 1942. Great low level flying shots.

 

[Sniper Bob]

Cast Away

Cast Away...

1. Who got their wx brief?
2. With that much red on their radar, why not turn the F%$K around.(Do you Heavy cargo guys and gals fly through that crap?)
3. How about the FedEx Superbowl commercial.

Memphis Belle I thought was a pretty good flick. I don't get naucious watching it like I do Top Gun.

Hot Shots! In my opinion, gives Airplane! a run for its money.

Roger that, Milli Vanilli Chili Willie!

 

[dmspilot00]

URL

I just found a website with reviews of numerous aviation movies. Most of the ones I talked about are on here.

http://www.airodyssey.net/articles/movies.html

Here's a list:

Airplane!
Airplane II: The Sequel
Airport
Airport 1975
Airport '77
Airport '79 (The Concorde)
Blackout Effect
Crash Landing: The Rescue
of Flight 232 [Based on United DC-10 Accident]
Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501
Falling from the Sky: Flight 174 [Based on Canadian 767]
Final Descent
Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac
Freefall
Mercy Mission: The Rescue
of Flight 771
Miracle Landing [Based on Aloha 243]
Pandora's Clock
Panic in the Skies!
Peter Benchley's Amazon
Tailspin: Behind the Korean
Airliner Tragedy