Movies like Pilot (2021)
The best movies like Pilot (2021) are On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), Top Gun (1986) and The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941). If Pilot hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Pilot
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMayday (2026)7.8/10 from 1,065 votes
- NewestHeart of the Beast (2026)Released 2026
On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
After their pilot dies unexpectedly mid-flight, passenger Doug White must safely land a plane and save his entire family from insurmountable danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTop Gun (1986)
For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But a tragedy, as well as personal demons, will threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an ace pilot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAirplane! (1980)
An ex-fighter pilot is forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMayday (2026)
When a U.S. Navy pilot on a top-secret mission during the Cold War gets trapped behind enemy lines, his only chance at survival is to form an alliance with an eccentric ex-KGB agent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
A cargo aircraft crashes in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the basis for a replacement aircraft they need to build before their food and water run out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSunday in New York (1963)
An innocent upstarter visits her airline pilot brother and meets a stranger she tries to seduce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Snow Walker (2003)
A bush pilot in nothern Canada who with the aid of modernity thinks he can handle it all & knows it all. After reluctantly agreeing to transport a local indian girl to a medical facility his light plane crashes & they have to survive whilst finding their way back to civilization. Along the journey the man finds a new respect for the native ways as they battle to survive the elements.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlight (2012)
Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hindenburg (1975)
Colonel Franz Ritter, a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dog Stars (2026)
After the world's population has been ravaged by a pandemic, a man lives a lonesome existence in a Colorado airplane hangar with his dog and a dour gunman he has befriended. When a mysterious transmission comes through on the radio while he’s flying his old Cessna, it sparks a hunt for the provenance of the sound.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPropeller One-Way Night Coach (2026)
During the golden age of aviation, a young airplane enthusiast and his mother embark on a cross-country journey to Hollywood—and their simple flight transforms into the trip of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Aviator (2004)
A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe High and the Mighty (1954)
Dan Roman is a veteran pilot haunted by a tragic past. Now relegated to second-in-command cockpit assignments he finds himself on a routine Honolulu-to-San Francisco flight that takes a terrifying turn when disaster strikes high above the Pacific Ocean after the point of no return.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFlight of the Phoenix (2004)
When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are sent to shut the operation down and fly them out. On the flight out over the desert on the way to Beijing, Capt. Frank Towns and co-pilot A.J. are unable to keep their cargo plane, a C-119 Flying Boxcar, in the air when a violent sandstorm strikes. Crash-landing in a remote uncharted part of the desert, the two pilots and their passengers -- a crew of oil workers and a drifter -- must work together to survive by rebuilding the aircraft. Soon, low supplies and a band of merciless smugglers add even greater urgency to their task.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeart of the Beast (2026)
After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces officer James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grey (2012)
After their plane crashes in Alaska, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Right Stuff (1983)
At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFate Is the Hunter (1964)
An airline executive refuses to believe that pilot error, by his friend, caused a fatal crash and persists in looking for another reason.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlways (1989)
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Pilot?
The closest matches to Pilot are On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), Top Gun (1986) and The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Pilot?
Start with On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), the closest match to Pilot.
What is the highest-rated movie like Pilot?
Mayday (2026), rated 7.8/10 by 1,065 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Pilot?
Heart of the Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Pilot?
Yes: On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), Top Gun (1986) and The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941).
How are movies similar to Pilot chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Pilot, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.