If you’ve seen Top Gun: Maverick (2022) you likely have the need for more speed so SPYSCAPE has put together our top 15 seat-of-your-pants movies about pilots, dog fights, and secret missions. We’ve also included a few documentaries and series for adrenaline junkies.
Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
MOVIES
Top Gun (1986)
You’ve probably seen Tom Cruise’s classic film and know all about Maverick’s 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28 - but that was more than 30 years ago. It’s time to reminisce with Maverick, Iceman, Goose, Viper, Charlie, and the original Top Guns. Cruise’s 1986 movie still takes our breath away. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play)
Midway (2019)
The American fleet clashed with the Japanese in Midway, one of WWII’s most famous battles. The film tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts and bravery to overcome the odds.Midway’s impressive ensemble cast includes Woody Harrelson, Denis Quaid, and Patrick Wilson. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Roku)
This story is part of our weekly briefing. Sign up to receive the FREE briefing to your inbox.
If you’ve seen Top Gun: Maverick (2022) you likely have the need for more speed so SPYSCAPE has put together our top 15 seat-of-your-pants movies about pilots, dog fights, and secret missions. We’ve also included a few documentaries and series for adrenaline junkies.
Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
MOVIES
Top Gun (1986)
You’ve probably seen Tom Cruise’s classic film and know all about Maverick’s 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28 - but that was more than 30 years ago. It’s time to reminisce with Maverick, Iceman, Goose, Viper, Charlie, and the original Top Guns. Cruise’s 1986 movie still takes our breath away. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play)
Midway (2019)
The American fleet clashed with the Japanese in Midway, one of WWII’s most famous battles. The film tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts and bravery to overcome the odds.Midway’s impressive ensemble cast includes Woody Harrelson, Denis Quaid, and Patrick Wilson. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Roku)
Michael Caine stars in this WWII drama set in 1940. The British Royal Air Force are fighting to stop Hitler's feared Luftwaffe pilots from gaining air superiority over the English Channel and Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (Laurence Olivier) must rally his pilots. Caine and Christopher Plummer star as squadron leaders. (Apple TV+, Prime Video)
Flight Of The Intruder (1991)
US Navy Pilot Lt. Jake Grafton (Brad Johnson) begins to question the bombing missions he undertakes during the Vietnam War after a friend is killed. He decides to take matters into his own hands with an explosive battle plan. The ensemble cast includes Willem Dafoe, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette, Tom Sizemore, and Ving Rhames. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play)
Dunkirk (2017)
While not strictly about fighter pilots,Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan’s extraordinary film about the May 1940 evacuation of Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk under air and ground cover from British and French forces. Unmissable. (Netflix, Prime Video, HBO, Vudu, Google Play)
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Owen Wilson stars as a Navy pilot shot down while on a NATO surveillance mission. He must survive behind enemy lines while the commanding officer of the American battle group (Gene Hackman) tries to maintain peace. (Disney+, Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Netflix)
American Made (2017)
Tom Cruise is back behind the stick as Barry Seal, a TWA pilot recruited to work as a CIA drug runner in an operation involving Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar. Don’t expect jet combat in American Made, just a thrilling adventure that just might topple the Reagan White House. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play)
Iron Eagle (1986)
Doug (Jason Gedrick) is determined to rescue his father, a US Air Force Colonel whose jet was shot down in the Middle East. The 18-year-old isn't a Top Gun though, so he convinces Col. Chappy (Louis Gossett Jr.) to borrow a couple of F-16 planes to help him mount the rescue mission. What could possibly go wrong? The critics may have panned it, butIron Eagle led to three sequels.(Apple TV, Prime Video)
Firefox (1982)
Gnarly veteran US pilot Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood) is on a top-secret mission to steal a high-tech MiG-31 Russian fighter jet known as Firefox. He’ll need help to covertly enter the Soviet Union and pull off the heist. Luckily, Gant is not worried about shaking off enemy pilots or a dogfight with Soviet jets. (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play)
Memphis Belle (1990)
Like Top Gun,Memphis Belle focuses on the lives of young pilots trying to make their mark. Their final, dangerous operation involves a bombing mission over Germany in 1943. Starring Matthew Modine and Tate Donovan. (Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, Sky Store, Microsoft TV, Roku)
Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
True to his name, General Savage (Gregory Peck) takes over a B-17 bomber unit with a morale problem and whips them into fighting shape. Set in 1942, the plot involves an American Air Force unit stationed in England and includes a hotshot flying ace (Robert Patten). (YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Black Hawk Down (2001) is the story of elite US fighters - the flight crew of the 160th SOAR, the 3rd Battalion/75th Ranger Regiment, and Delta Force operators - who dropped into Mogadishu in 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord. Starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, and Ron Eldard as the pilot of Super 64. (Netflix, YouTube, Google Play, Prime Video)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda (Tatsuya Mihashi) is planning a preemptive strike against the US in Pearl Harbor when American intelligence intercepts Japanese communications hinting at the offensive. Unfortunately, the spies are unwilling to believe a strike of such magnitude could occur on American soil. Tora! Tora! Tora! is an incredible historical movie that stands the test of time. (Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Google Play)
Hot Shots! (1991)
Hot Shots! Is a Top Gun parody, a silly, outrageous, and highly entertaining comedy certain to amuse Cruise fans. Actor Charlie Sheen is perfectly cast as a talented but unstable fighter pilot. Lloyd Bridges plays Rear Admiral Thomas ‘Tug’ Benson. (Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play)
Stealth (2005)
Three hot-shot pilots in a top-secret military program struggle to bring an artificial intelligence-enabled fighter-bomber under control as they try to stop s nuclear war. Stealth can be a bit silly, but who can resist Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx acting at warp speed? (YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play)
A documentary about the F-14 Tomcat told by real-life Top Guns. The F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft developed for the US Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental Program. (Prime Video)
Top Guns: The Documentary (1987)
Top Guns: The Documentary combines rare footage of air-to-air combat with access to Navy fighter squadrons on deployment. The documentary promises a wild ride in the seat of an F-14 and delivers. (YouTube, Prime Video)
SERIES
Pensacola: Wings of Gold
James Brolin is a hard-as-nails war veteran overseeing an elite group of Marines learning to fly FA-18 Hornets in Pensacola: Wings of Gold. Kenny Johnson is ‘Burner’ - a gifted pilot with a low emotional IQ - and Michael Trucco is ‘Spoon’, a rich kid determined to make his mark. (Prime Video)
Airwolfstar Jan-Michael Vincent plays Stringfellow Hawke, an ex-test pilot brought in for a top-secret mission involving an undercover operation in Libya. Renegade pilot Dominic Santini is played by Ernest Borgnine. (Peacock, Roku)
Black Sheep Squadron, aka Baa Baa Black Sheep (1970s)
Major Greg ‘Pappy’ Boyington is the commanding officer of VMF-214, a Marine squadron of misfit fighter pilots based in the South Pacific during WWII. The show is based on the experiences of real-life US Marine Corps aviator Greg Boyington and his ‘Black Sheep Squadron. (YouTube)
This story is part of our weekly briefing. Sign up to receive the FREE briefing to your inbox.
Gadgets & Gifts
Put your spy skills to work with these fabulous choices from secret notepads & invisible inks to Hacker hoodies & high-tech handbags. We also have an exceptional range of rare spy books, including many signed first editions.
We all have valuable spy skills - your mission is to discover yours. See if you have what it takes to be a secret agent, with our authentic spy skills evaluation* developed by a former Head of Training at British Intelligence. It's FREE so share & compare with friends now!
