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macintologist · Dec 22, 2005, 06:40 AM

I just saw Flightplan, was very good. I like those kind of spooky airline thrillers.

Air Force One was good. I really liked Executive Decision. What are some other good airline thrillers?

micahgartman · Dec 22, 2005, 07:39 AM

My personal favorite:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/

mg

rickey939 · Dec 22, 2005, 10:34 AM

Red Eye:

http://www.redeye-themovie.com/

wdlove · Dec 23, 2005, 03:00 PM

There have been many great airline thrillers.

cmeisenzahl · Dec 23, 2005, 03:10 PM

Let's see, off the top of my head:
air force one
passenger 57

analogika · Dec 23, 2005, 03:35 PM

Airport 75

Airport 77 (was that the one with the Concorde?)

macintologist · Dec 23, 2005, 03:39 PM

The thing I like about airline thrillers is that I've spent so many hours, so many days, so many years of my life flying around the world that airline thrillers don't make me the least bit scared of flying like they do to other people.

starman · Dec 23, 2005, 05:20 PM

Airplane!

cpt kangarooski · Dec 23, 2005, 06:38 PM

Meh. Flightplan was just a remake of Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. I'd rather just watch the original; no one remakes his movies as well as he did them to begin with.

I don't know about being thrillers, but good movies to watch on a plane are Alive, Fearless, and maybe Pushing Tin. Perhaps also Castaway, Fight Club, and Bounce.

Sarc · Dec 23, 2005, 07:07 PM

There's one with Kurt Russel and (about 5 minutes of) Steven Seagal

exca1ibur · Dec 23, 2005, 07:46 PM

Executive Decision - also has Halle Berry in it. Airport '79 is the one with the Concorde

meelk · Dec 23, 2005, 08:16 PM

red eye is very good

SpaceMonkey · Dec 23, 2005, 08:23 PM

I once saw a hilarious movie on Lifetime where the plane somehow got its control surfaces locked up, making it impossible to descend. They ended up getting an Air Force aerial refueling tanker to somehow fill their cargo hold with water to make them heavy enough to land.

True to its being on Lifetime, the stewardess, of course, played an integral role.

Cubeoid · Dec 23, 2005, 08:30 PM

Langoliers! was that a thriller? It was awesome.

DigitalEl · Dec 23, 2005, 08:41 PM

I'm a sucker for almost any movie featuring a commercial airliner. Love that cheesy stuff. The Lifetime one SpaceMonkey is referring to is especially heinous... Still I watched. My all-time favorite was Executive Decision. How wickedly eerie is that movie now, after 9/11?

macintologist, if you're a reader as well as a movie buff, check out Michael Crichton's "Airframe." It's my favorite piece of fiction ever. Lots of good technical stuff in excruciating detail and a great ending you'll never guess.

As for non-fiction books, there are lots of real-life nail-biters. My civil aviation obsession includes accident investigations. Check out the following:

The Mystery of Flight 427 by Bill Adair
Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds by Gary Pomerantz
The Black Box by Malcolm Macpherson

All, good good stuff. Enjoy!

euchomai · Dec 23, 2005, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by Cubeoid

Langoliers! was that a thriller? It was awesome.

Any of his books turned into movies never really turn out all that great. They just kinda end with no point at all. They are all multi-night events too, so I feel I've wasted three days hoping for a great ending and always feeling let down.

JoshuaZ · Dec 23, 2005, 11:57 PM

You could just try flying trans-pacific with Northwest Airlines. Thats quite the thrill. Will you leave on time? Will the plane work? Will you be able to survive the food? Will the movies not suck? Will yu even get to the right destination? Oooo the thrills never stop!

(I'm still lagged from my trip)