Movies like Airplane Film (1973)
The best movies like Airplane Film (1973) are On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), Top Gunner: Danger Zone (2022) and The Skywalker Legacy (2020). If Airplane Film hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTop Gun: Maverick (2022)8.2/10 from 11,901 votes
- NewestBlack Box (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 Gunner: Danger Zone (2022)
An airliner filled with 800 passengers is forced to fly fast and low, above farmlands, suburbs and skyscraper-packed cities or the tons of explosives aboard will detonate. When an elite unit of US Air Force fighter jets is sent to provide escort, they find themselves facing a squadron of unidentifiable warplanes which ignites a deadly air battle that threatens to destroy all life above and below.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Skywalker Legacy (2020)
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisAir Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025)
The elite pilots of the Air Force Thunderbirds display exceptional skill, trust and courage during a high-stakes training season.
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 thisBroken Arrow (1996)
When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads -- and Deakins's co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military's only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Tails (2012)
The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStar Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
The special focuses on how Star Wars is relevant today and the history that inspired it, and also makes various connections to Greek mythology. It consists of several interviews with well-known politicians, journalists, and critics, along with historical content and clips from all six of the Star Wars movies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShadow in the Cloud (2021)
A WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlack Box (2026)
Vero Airlines Flight 298 from New Orleans to Seattle becomes the center of a chilling supernatural mystery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Bloody Hundredth (2024)
Meet the real-life airmen who inspired Masters of the Air as they share the harrowing and transformative events of the 100th Bomb Group.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tuskegee Airmen (1995)
During the Second World War, a special project is begun by the US Army Air Corps to integrate African American pilots into the Fighter Pilot Program. Known as the "Tuskegee Airman" for the name of the airbase at which they were trained, these men were forced to constantly endure harassement, prejudice, and much behind the scenes politics until at last they were able to prove themselves in combat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTop Gun: Maverick (2022)
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAs I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dam Busters (1955)
The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEinstein and the Bomb (2024)
What happened after Einstein fled Nazi Germany? Using archival footage and his own words, this docudrama dives into the mind of a tortured genius.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlyboys (2006)
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElstree 1976 (2015)
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Airplane Film?
The closest matches to Airplane Film are On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), Top Gunner: Danger Zone (2022) and The Skywalker Legacy (2020). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Airplane Film?
Start with On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), the closest match to Airplane Film.
What is the highest-rated movie like Airplane Film?
Top Gun: Maverick (2022), rated 8.2/10 by 11,901 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Airplane Film?
Black Box (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Airplane Film?
Yes: On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), Top Gunner: Danger Zone (2022) and The Skywalker Legacy (2020).
How are movies similar to Airplane Film chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Airplane Film, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.