# The best aviation movies of all time

From Wings to Top Gun: Maverick: the flying films pilots and critics rank highest (GE Aerospace, Aviator Insider, AeroCorner).

- 109 votes · 12 items
- Sep 13, 2026 · ryan_filmbuff
- https://even.best/en/l/1997/the-best-aviation-movies-of-all-time

## Top 12

1. **Top Gun: Maverick (2022)** (12 · ▲13 ▼1) — Actors in real Navy Super Hornets, and about 1.5 billion dollars at the box office.
2. **Airplane! (1980)** (10 · ▲12 ▼2) — The funniest aviation movie ever made.
3. **Top Gun (1986)** (9 · ▲9 ▼0) — Maverick, Goose and the volleyball scene.
4. **United 93 (2006)** (9 · ▲9 ▼0) — Paul Greengrass recreates the 9/11 flight in real time.
5. **Sully (2016)** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — Tom Hanks and the landing on the Hudson.
6. **The Right Stuff (1983)** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — The Mercury 7 and test pilot Chuck Yeager.
7. **Flight (2012)** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — Denzel Washington and a miracle landing with questions.
8. **Twelve O'Clock High (1949)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Gregory Peck and the pressure on a WWII bomber group.
9. **Society of the Snow (2023)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — J. A. Bayona and the 1972 Andes crash.
10. **The Aviator (2004)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Howard Hughes, from Hell's Angels to the Spruce Goose.
11. **Wings (1927)** (3 · ▲8 ▼5) — The first Best Picture winner, with WWI dogfights.
12. **The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Desert crash survivors build a plane from the wreck.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.