GUEST EDITORIAL: Five Movies About Airplanes You Should Watch

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Five Movies About Airplanes You Should Watch

by Lewis Robinson

There is something fascinating about airplanes. It is a wonderful thing to be able to go anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. Airplanes allow us to see our friends and family for important occasions and also have invented so many jobs for people. You may love learning about airplanes as many people do and enjoy watching how they work. Below you will find five of the best plane movies you should definitely watch soon.

Sully

This movie has won many awards for the action, drama, and suspense it contains. The famous actor Tom Hanks plays a real-life pilot, Chelsea Sullenburg, who goes by the nickname "Sully". He becomes a hero after skillfully landing his airplane on the Hudson River to save the lives of his plane passengers and crew members.

It turns out that the plane crashed due to damages that were not obvious before takeoff. You may or may not have heard about borescope inspection. Nowadays airplanes have to go through several thorough inspections before they are able to leave airports in order to ensure as much safety as possible. 

The Terminal

This movie is also an action-filled drama. It is about a man who is a tourist in America from Europe. He arrives at the John F. Kennedy airport in New York City while war breaks out in his own country. He ends up in the middle of political war and due to this war, the Department of Homeland Security will not let him enter the United States or enter back into his own country. He is stuck at the airport. 

This film is filled with very popular actors and actresses. Tom Hanks plays the main character, Viktor Navorski. Catherin Zeta-Jones plays the love interest of Navorski, Amelia Warren, and Stanley Tucci plays Frank Dixon. "The Terminal" is directed by Steven Spielberg and was released in 2006.

Pearl Harbor

The movie "Pearl Harbor" is special because it shows a significant amount of world history while also providing a lot of drama and action in order to hold your interest. This film is directed by Michael Bay and actors Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale are the main characters. Although this movie is fictional, it does present the Japanese attack on the United States Airforce in 1941.

Rafe McCawley (Affleck) and Danny Walker (Hartnett) play lifelong friends who are both lieutenants in World War II. Evelyn Johnson (Beckinsale) is a military nurse who falls in love with Rafe, and later after Rafe's alleged death, falls in love with Danny. This movie received mixed reviews due to its historical inaccuracy, but still remains an airplane movie must-see.

The Aviator

"The Aviator" is another movie that tells a fictional version of history. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the aviation pioneer, Howard Hughes, and displays some of his life's victories and struggles. This film shows the part of Hughes' life where he became a film producer, aviation tycoon, and also began fighting his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. 

Hughes has two love interests during the movie, Katharine Hepburn, played by Cate Blanchett, and Ava Gardner, played by Kate Beckinsale. The movie shows you that Hughes is a very smart and talented man while also being paranoid and angry. This film has won many awards. 

Flight

William "Whip" Whitaker is a lonely alcoholic veteran pilot who miraculously lands a malfunctioning airplane and saves almost all of his passengers. Whitaker is played by the famous actor Denzel Washington, who was nominated for a couple of awards for his role. 

The film is said to be loosely based on the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 plane crash that took place in the year 2000. Soon after Whip's crash, he was labeled a hero, but further investigation into the crash showed him in a different light. It is discovered that Whip is in fact intoxicated during the flight and he is imprisoned. He later becomes sober and develops a relationship with his long-lost son.