War films are thrilling in themselves, recreating a different era and time. Add to that films that are specifically centered around aerial warfare, and you have a visually thrilling spectacle on your hands. While aerial films are extremely entertaining to watch, the good ones are very difficult to make. To capture the feeling of being in the air, capturing a sense of speed and motion is difficult to convey. There is an entire scene in The Aviator where Howard Hughes struggles to find a way to make Hell's Angels' aerial combat look convincing.
Updated June 9, 2023: If you're a passionate fan of aerial war films, you'll be happy to know that this article has been updated by Gaurav Krishnan with additional content and titles.
Some of the best aerial l combat films push the boundaries of filmmaking, using state-of-the-art technology to capture actual aerial footage. This can lead to breathtaking sequences capturing the thrill and danger of aerial warfare, almost making the viewer feel like an active part of the process. Here are some of the best aerial war movies, ranked.
11 Devotion (2022)
Being a fighter pilot is hard; being the first Black aviator in U.S. Navy history is harder. This is the basis of Jesse Brown’s (Jonathan Majors) journey in Devotionas he, along with fellow fighter pilot Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), turned the tide in U.S.' most brutal battle in the Korean War. Brown’s heroics are remembered to this day, fondly recognizing him as one of the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen. This is the most recent film on the list and also the second movie of 2022, where Glen Powell plays a pilot.
10 Midway (2019)
AGC Studios
Elevation Pictures
Midway plays out the historic story of the Battle Of Midway, a pivotal battle in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The film is a new-age take on a 1976 film of the same name directed by Jack Smight and recounts the same battle. The 2019 remake, directed by Ronald Emmerich, has an ensemble cast of the likes of Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Woody Harrelson, and Ed Skrein, who put in commendable performances in their various roles.
The movie shuttles back and forth between the perspectives of the Americans and the Japanese and also includes the retelling of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is rather dramatized in the film. The movie was well-received for what it offered in terms of special effects, action, and in general showcasing aerial warfare. Despite underwhelming at the box office, grossing $126 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million, it is worth a watch.
9 Catch-22 (1970)
Adapted from Joseph Heller’s best-selling anti-war novel of the same name, Catch-22 is a hilarious hotbed of lunatic characters living on a fictional base somewhere in the Mediterranean. Living in a world of their own, the eccentric characters have an apparent disconnect from the seriousness of war and operate on absurd and erratic impulses. In terms of the plot, the film follows Yossarin (Alan Arkin), a bombardier that’s done with his job and is willing to go to despicable heights to get himself deemed unfit for work.
8 Hot Shots! (1991)
Hot Shots! Is a more comical take on the life of a fighter pilot as compared to the other more intense aerial warfare films. The film essentially serves as a parody of Top Gun's more cheesy, self-obsessed ethos. As Top Gun glorified the life and work of fighter pilots, Hot Shots! made a game out of satirizing Top Gun’s overly alpha approach to storytelling. It even led to an even funnier sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux.
7 The Red Baron (2008)
The Red Baron is based on Germany’s WWI flying ace, Manfred von Richthofen. The film follows von Richthofen’s rise as a fighter pilot while also exploring his relationship with a nurse named Kate. It is mainly through this his relationship with Kate that the Red Baron understands the deceptive nature of his cult hero status and begins questioning the triviality of war.
6 Battle Of Britain (1969)
Directed by long-standing James Bond director Guy Hamilton, 1969’s war flick Battle Of Britain depicts the exploits of the valiant British RAF (Royal Air Force) in countering Nazi attacks during WWII in the operations known as Adlertag or Eagle Day orchestrated by the Germans and the Battle Of Britain wherein the RAF along with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended Britain against attacks by the German Luftwaffe.
Long before Michael Caine would feature in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, or even the Batman trilogy for that matter, Caine played Squadron Leader Canfield in Battle Of Britain, a film that had some inventive and elaborate aerial action sequences and cinematography of airplanes engaging in combat in an era when CGI was non-existent. The film received mixed reviews at a time when anti-war sentiment was on the rise because of the US war with Vietnam. However, it’s a compelling aerial war film that was far ahead of its time.
5 Dark Blue World (2001)
Dark Blue World explores the themes of mentorship, competition, and romance through the eyes of two Czech pilots. Along with the staple set of action sequences that come with a war film, Dark Blue World also sheds light on the more human side of the flying daredevils, introspecting on emotions such as love, loyalty, and competitiveness. The film was directed by Jan Svêrák, the Academy Award-winning director of Kolya, and stars Ondřej Vetchý, Kryštof Hádek, and Tara Fitzgerald in prominent roles.
4 Mission Of Honor (2018)
- Lipsync Productions
Prospect 3
Stray Dog Films
Kino Swiat
2018’s Mission Of Honor, also known as Hurricane, depicts the story of RAF Squadron No. 303, formed with a mix of Polish, Canadian and British pilots who assisted Britain in fighting the Germans during WWII. The 303 Squadron flew Hawker Hurricanes and delivered the highest official German aircraft kill count out of all 66 Allied Squadrons that took to battle against the Nazi Luftwaffe.
The film portrays the story of the legendary squadron and how they overcame national, lingual, and cultural divides and became a close-knit unit that offered a united front against the Nazi threat. Directed by David Blair, the film’s aerial battles are expertly crafted, and executed, and it’s a high-octane and thrilling account of a squadron that perhaps may not be as glorified or well-known in the history of WWII but were one of the deadliest and most lethal in the historic war.
3 Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
A war epic of magnanimous scale, Tora! Tora! Tora! Retells the tale of the events that led up to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The movie is notable as a major co-production between American studio 20th Century Fox and Japanese Toe Company. Richard Fleischer directed the American-based sequences, while Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku were responsible for the Japanese scenes.
The film is based on an amalgamation of Gordon W. Prange’s novel of the same name, along with Ladislas Farago’s novel The Broken Seal. Upon its release, Tora! Tora! Tora! Was praised for its historical accuracy while being nominated for a total of five Oscars and winning one (Best Visual Effects).
2 Dunkirk (2017)
Dunkirk opened to rave reviews and was nominated for eight Academy Award nominations, eventually going on to win four, including Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing. Christopher Nolan’s 2017 war epic depicts the evacuation of British soldiers from the town of Dunkirk as they were facing an impending death. Bringing his distinct style of narrating a story in a non-linear fashion, Nolan masterfully crafts multiple storylines giving them their own perspective about the core event of the film.
Nolan's staples, such as Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, play vital roles in the film, along with an additionally stellar cast of Kenneth Branagh, Harry Styles, and Fionn Whitehead. With Oppenheimer set to open in theaters soon, it will be interesting to see how Nolan's World War II film plays in contrast to Dunkirk.
1 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Arguably one of the best films of 2022, Top Gun’s sequel was well worth the wait. The sequel marks Maverick's return as an instructor, responsible for mentoring the fresh crop of recruits as they jostle their way to the coveted Top Gun trophy while also dealing with deadly real-world scenarios.
Top Gun: Maverick is one of the very few films that capture the inside of a fighter jet’s cockpit with such detailed accuracy that every jerk and bump is felt by the audience. To achieve this, the team behind the mega-hit film pushed camera technology to its absolute limits, thereby succeeding in putting the audiences in the pilot’s seat. The movie grossed 1.49 million at the worldwide box office and currently stands as the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time at the worldwide box office, unadjusted for inflation.
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