What are the best movies you have watched on a plane?
Who would have thought we would all miss being stuck on a plane? We have a cloud of Icelandic volcanic ash to thank for making us pine for being up in the air. But which movies have you enjoyed during a flight? And while we’re at it, which in-flight flicks have been a disaster? Fasten your seatbelt, make sure your seat is in the upright position, sit back and enjoy the ride…
If only real planes were like movie planes. By the time Wesley Snipes utters the immortal line, ‘Always bet on black!’ in the terrible yet terribly great Passenger 57, he has been running around the bowels of an aircraft for a good 40 minutes. If only we all enjoyed that kind of leg room. It’s a bit like visiting San Francisco’s famous island prison. When you get to Alcatraz, the tour guide asks who wants to see the tunnels below the jail that were famously featured in The Rock. When a show of hands go up, the grizzly guide growls: ‘There are none. That was just a dumb movie.’ And just as Michael Bay cares little for things like accuracy, storyline and direction, movies set on planes care little for the fact that if you were caught up in a terrorist attack, there would be no huge undercarriage to cavort around in for the next two hours. You could put your seat back a little and, uh, that’s it.
What you can do on a plane is watch a movie. Depending on your flight time, you can watch several. Depending on your airline, you can watch whatever one you want at any time, or you’re forced to watch the one you want at the same time as everybody else. But what is the perfect plane movie?
Well, the perfect movie is arguably Raiders Of The Lost Ark, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the perfect plane movie. For starters, it won’t be available. Plane movies are all about recent releases. And anyway, Raiders would lose a lot of its scope on a tiny screen on someone’s back. Getting plane movies right is tough. There are rules. The first one is this: don’t watch anything epic. If you weren’t enticed to see The Two Towers in a cinema, chances are you’re not going to enjoy it on a plane when you can’t see anything. Epic movies are also long. You don’t want to end up with deep vein thrombosis. I must confess that I have chosen an epic movie on a plane – Watchmen. I had already seen it on the big screen but just wanted to double check that its blistering opening 90 minutes was followed by an hour of crud. It still was.
'We can't travel in that shit heap'
The second rule is avoid anything even slightly complicated. Obviously, this is up to personal interpretation, but you don’t want to get a headache from wondering who this guy is or what that guy is doing. Perhaps the most important rule is don’t watch anything dark. I’m not talking about films with a difficult message. I’m talking about films that are actually dark. If most of the screen is draped in black, you’re not going to see much on a plane. It would be pointless to watch a recent Batman film on a plane, for instance. If you thought it was hard to see what was happening during Christopher Nolan’s action scenes on the big screen, then good luck with a screen the size of your hand.
I tend to go for movies that I kind of wanted to see in the cinema but didn’t get round to for some reason. I also opt for comedies and animated movies. And movies that are short. I’ve watched Coraline, Over The Hedge and Monsters vs Aliens on a plane and enjoyed them all. Although I normally avoid dramas at 30,000 feet, I did take in Gran Torino. Clint Eastwood’s modern western is a great plane watch because it’s over-sentimental mush. If only they showed Beaches on every airline. The whole point of watching a film on a plane is to forget you’re on a plane, so what better way to do that than by bawling your eyes out.
My favourite plane movie so far, however, is I Love You, Man. This bromance with Paul Rudd and Jason Segel is the perfect example of a film I would never go to see in a theatre. Probably because people call it a ‘bromance’. It’s silly, it’s funny and it has Paul Rudd in it. What’s not to like? Plane viewing is all about killing time and who better to kill time with than the Ruddster.
WHAT ARE THE BEST AND WORST MOVIES YOU HAVE WATCHED ON A PLANE?
OTHER POSTS:
Clash Of The Titans v Jason And The Argonauts
What is the worst thing you have ever done at the cinema?
Ross v Ross 
April 20, 2010 at 3:36 pm
THE BEST: Watching Monsters Inc. on a whim and laughing my balls off for the next hour and a half. Made a total ass of myself, but I was talking about that one for months after.
THE WORST: Someone at American Airlines must have been a big Pierce Brosnan fan because they ran The Thomas Crown Affair and that one where he plays an Indian…twice. That was miserable.
April 20, 2010 at 3:47 pm
The worst one has to be “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” it was on a BA flight and I could hardly hear a thing, the sound was that bad. The best one was “Over Her Dead Body” with Eva Longoria Parker, because it was stupidly enjoyable and light enough to break up for a long flight.
April 20, 2010 at 3:56 pm
The worst: The English Patient!! Oh man, was I bored! And I was on an 8 hour flight from Paris!
April 20, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Ha! Passenger 57 would be fun to watch on a plane. Who’s the name of the villain? He’s got the creepiest stare, and the part when he simulate gun shooting to a wee boy was nerve-racking! Yeah, wouldn’t it be nice if they have some older classics available on flights, too!
I can’t remember what movies I’ve watched on a plane and I’ve been in a lot of 16-18 hour flights in my life. But most recently I watched The Notebook and it was good, wasn’t blown away by it like a lot of people are though. I also saw this French flick Molière (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796335) which was quite amusing.
April 20, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Actually, I’m not sure I agree with the “avoid anything too complicated” rule. The best plane movie I ever saw was “The Interpreter,” and I think anyone who’s seen that can attest to the fact that it’s a mighty twisty little movie.
The flip side of your rule might be true: Avoid anything to UNcomplicated. Because I also saw “Fool’s Gold” on a flight from Seattle to Chicago and it was twice as dumb with interruptions.
April 20, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Oh man, I watched half of Cold Mountain three times on one flight, it kept stopping and going back to the start, plus the screen was dodgy and all the colours were messed up. Was on a big communal screen, so you couldnt help but look at it. Come to think of it, I dont remember being scared for my life on what was obviously a flying shitbox, oddly enough.
RTM, I hear ya, I’m sure I’ve seen millions of films on planes, but I can’t seem to remember any of them. Recently watched The Damned United, which I enjoyed, as well as The Informant! on the same flight, which made me want to exit the plane somewhere over the Atlantic.
My GF was watching the Invention of Lying beside me and gave one solitary halfhearted chuckle throughout the entire film, so I’m glad I didnt sit through that as well.
April 20, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I have only been a plane twice in my life:
The Best: Black Hawk Down, they were doing open request thing on the plane, and I didn’t want to watch it, but how could I turn away.
The Worst: The Bucket List, Nicholson trying to be Warren Schmidt all over again, and Morgan Freeman being his usual self. A snooz fest to say the least, but it probably would have been better if I wasn’t so tired.
April 21, 2010 at 11:06 am
Transformers 2 on a tiny 7 inch screen… didn’t last long.
Looking for Eric: the most sweary film I’ve seen in ages… strange choice.
Also, I remember seeing an episode of AIR CRASH INVESTIGATION in the knowledge section of the TV listings… WTF… didn’t exactly fill me with confidence.
April 21, 2010 at 6:27 pm
The Best – Juno. Thought the first 10 mins were awful, just about to chuck down my plastic earphones, instead kept going, and it turned out it was a charming, funny and sad.
The worst – a toss-up between My Big Fat Greek Wedding or Catwoman. Big Fat Greek wins on the basis that I was travelling to Australia and still preferred to look out of the window
April 21, 2010 at 9:38 pm
If a Paul Rudd movie has been released, that signifies that I need to drop everything and RUN to the closest theater. He absolutely kills me – be it in “Knocked Up,” “Role Models,” or “I Love You Man.”
I’d be too worried about seeing a hilarious movie on a plane … wouldn’t want to wake up sleepyhead next to me.
April 21, 2010 at 9:45 pm
The worst for me has to be “The Shooter” as it got cut off about 5 minutes from the end and I did not get to see the twist/what happened!!!
The best has to be 27 Dresses as it was so easy to watch, didn’t require any concentration and entertained my for part of a long haul flight.
April 22, 2010 at 2:03 am
I’d love to contribute to this but I don’t fly… uh… sorry!
April 22, 2010 at 11:08 am
here you are Kai, just drink this milk…
April 22, 2010 at 4:19 pm
I remember hearing that Avatar was being shown on planes and wondering… what’s the point? Here’s arguably the biggest cinematic accomplishment in the history of movies, now watch it on 7in screen! I really dislike the film, but I’d recommend seeing it. Just not on a screen so small that all those bright and contrasting colours look like an abstract painting.
April 23, 2010 at 8:35 am
I remember reading that John Lennon was stuck on a plane that was playing Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart’s Club Band, the ’78 fiasco with The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. Bet he was desperately trying to find a parachute. Also I remember reading about The Adventurers premiering on an airplane, which was a great idea because then nobody could walk out.
April 23, 2010 at 8:39 am
Worst movie: Mission impossible II (I already knew it) on a 747 back from China to Center Europe. The movie was running in a loop and everytime I woke up and started the telly it was right that scene with the 747 crashing into a mountain. I thought they would avoid those on a flight but someone had a sick kind of humor.
Best:a bundle of old Mr. Bean episodes on a trip to London.
April 23, 2010 at 9:55 am
Best was Okuribito (Departures) because it had subtitles. Although I live in Japan, I can’t speak Japanese…Cried buckets through the film and I saw lots of places that I knew as it was filmed near where I live.
Worst…Big Daddy with Adam Sandler. I was sitting just in front of the screen and I not only couldn’t see it properly, I didn’t want to! I think it’s the only time I’ve ever TRIED to fall asleep on a plane’s movie!
April 23, 2010 at 12:25 pm
If there are any Canadian residents following this comment trail, just so you know, if you don’t live near one of the five cinemas in the country that’s willing to show English-Canadian movies, a flight on Air Canada is probably going to be your only opportunity to see any. Their in-flight entertainment system has a category for Canadian, and it’s got stuff that was really recently released. Last year I saw “Pontypool”, my best in-flight movie.
Worst movie? There is none, since I can pick the film, myself.
April 23, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Well the worst film has to of been Agent Cody Banks, that one with malcom in the middle, whats more disturbing than that tho is the fact they actually made a sequel
best film i’ve seen has to be Finding Nemo, what a flick, fun for all ages 😀
April 23, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Don’t remember the best, but vividly remember the worst. “Marley and Me.” Who’s sadistic idea was that?!?! I couldn’t have been the only person with severely leaking eyeballs while surrounded by complete strangers. Ugh.
April 23, 2010 at 1:24 pm
The best “Gosford Park”. The worst “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days”.
April 23, 2010 at 1:36 pm
On a long haul flight from China I was subjected to Catwoman followed by Wimbledon.
I’ve never seen a good film on a plane.
April 23, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Is it “The Avengers” by any chance?
April 23, 2010 at 2:12 pm
The best movies were the ones I watched on my laptop.
The worst one was probably PRETTY WOMAN — which I think is a horrible movie.
April 23, 2010 at 2:21 pm
My aunt was on a plane that showed Alive as the in-flight movie. I shit you not.
April 23, 2010 at 2:37 pm
The best the airline chose to show me would have to be Up. But I also got bumped to first class a couple years ago and got to choose my movies: V for Vendetta and Working Girl. Good times.
The worst is a tie between Man in the Iron Mask and No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Scratch that, No Reservations was much worse. At least in Man in the Iron Mask I got to watch John Malkovich running around in a wig.
April 23, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Worst:
Almost Famous. I was really into the movie and I thought the story etc. was great, then all of the sudden there’s this abrupt ending that didn’t really fit with the pace of the rest of flick. It wasn’t until about 2 years later when my girlfriend rented it that I realized the whole airplane scene was cut out. Now it’s among my favorite movies.
Best:
Whatever works. If ever there was a filmmaker that relies on dialog more than flashy photography or special effects, it’s Woody Allen. The movie itself wasn’t spectacular but nothing was lost due to a 7″ screen
April 23, 2010 at 3:21 pm
This may sound silly, but the movie I most enjoyed watching, and not even on one of the bigger plane screens, was indeed an epic: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It may have helped that I was watching when I would normally be sleeping (which I never can on a plane).
I’ve never seen any pure crud on a plane screen, but Murder at 1600 merits a mention. I saw it twice from start to finish — at least, I think I did — but can barely remember any of it.
April 23, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I saw Mousehunt with Nathan Lane on THREE international flights… WORST MOVIE EVER.
April 23, 2010 at 3:37 pm
The best: You Got Served – inappropriately laughed like a chimp for an hour and a half at Nick Cannon thinking he can act
The worst: You Got Served – the best thing British Airways could muster on an 8 hour flight?
April 23, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I was flying from the West Coast to the East while FREE WILLY was on. I wasn’t watching but I looked up just in time to see Willy’s jump, which I reckoned was the only part worth watching. The best watching experience I had on a plane was flying to GB with FINDING NEMO, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (in May), and some Goofy cartoons.
April 23, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Hey Rosses!! Way to go making the IMDb Hit List today!! And on the same day as me…how funny is that? BTW, thanks for stealing my thunder:P
I have yet to see a best (or even one I would consider good) movie on a plane. The worst I’ve seen is a tie between “License to Wed” and “9”.
However, as it stands, if it weren’t for crappy movies playing on my plane trip to Japan the first time I went, I would have never have become the avid House, M.D. fan that I am today:)
One door closes, another opens, wouldn’t you say?
April 23, 2010 at 4:09 pm
The Best: No contest. CASABLANCA.
The worst: Night at the Museum.
April 23, 2010 at 4:25 pm
The best movie to watch on a plane? None. Why? Any movie that’s cropped to a 4:3 aspect ratio pan & scan is doing a disservice to not only the film but movie-watching itself. A real travesty.
April 23, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Old Dogs. Nuff said.
April 23, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I was gonna tell ’em the same thing, Marc. Way to go, guys, both posts are definitely awesome!
Hmmm, I wonder what flicks will I be seeing when (or if) I fly to London in a couple of weeks. Good thing I haven’t seen so many new dvd releases lately.
April 23, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Easy question…
Best: Ronin
Worst: The Librarian: Quest for the Spear
April 23, 2010 at 5:59 pm
The worst movie I have ever watched on a plane was the first time I flew alone without my parents from Seattle to Florida at age 11 in ’95. There was a problem with our takeoff, so they said we would be on the runway for an hour! So, in order to entertain us on the plane, they showed a movie. And what movie was it? “Bye Bye Love” with Paul Reiser! Oh My God it was torture! It was like the the scene in “The Princess Bride” where the pirate is in the dungeon on the torture machine getting his body stretched! I wanted to cut my arm off and strangle myself with it! I was only 11 and didn’t understand the adult subject matter. And hated Paul Reiser. I had seen him on “Mad About You” and didn’t think he was funny at all. And of course they showed the whole movie after the delay as well. And that’s my story.
April 23, 2010 at 6:56 pm
The Worst – The Avengers – an unbelievable waste of Connery, Thurman and Fiennes!! as well Mr. Magoo!
The Best – As Good As It Gets
April 23, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Best movie I’ve ever seen on a plane was Ghostbusters!! Such a classic!
Worst movie ever Sideways, the dumbest and most boring movie ever!!!
April 23, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Worst: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Best: Star Trek 09
both on the same flight
April 23, 2010 at 8:07 pm
BEST: Ghost Town during an international flight, Atlanta to Gatwick. I was expecting absolutely nil, so the charming little movie really took me off guard. I also laughed like a bastard a few times.
WORST: King Kong, for flights from Penscola to Paris and back again. It’s just not a great movie, but the best part– the beautiful visuals– was lost on the screen. Luckily they were celebrating Mozart on one of the music channels. I haven’t slept that well on a plane, ever.
April 23, 2010 at 8:08 pm
The Worst – Either Monster in Law or Rumor Has It…. both so terrible. When Rumor Has It was playing, I remember watching it, then waking up a while later with drool on my shoulder.
The Best – It is true – on Air Canada flights you get to see a lot of great Canadian Films that sometimes you miss out on. I watched It’s Not Me, I Swear! last year, and it was great. Also, Shattered Glass a few years ago was a great surprise.
April 23, 2010 at 8:17 pm
The worst has got to be the Italian opera, “La Traviata”– opera does not resonate well in tinny headphones and whats worse is due to the high pitched screaming, er, singing througout, even with the headphones off I could still hear everyone else’s!
April 23, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Can’t remember the best, but definitely remember the worst: I was on a flight to Germany when they played Walk the Line, a decent movie I had recently seen on DVD. Well, apparently the 6 hour flight wasn’t long enought to show the entire 2 hour movie and they cut it down by about 40 minutes…by cutting out random chunks in the middle and toward the end. The movie made absolutley no sense. I would look around and see the confused looks on the other passengers faces. I ended up explaining what was missing to the woman sitting next to me. Gee thanks Lufthansa.
April 23, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Some movie had Michael ANthony Hall and Michael Pare’. It had flying in it, but was terrible. I didn’t watch that much of it, but you could tell.
April 23, 2010 at 9:55 pm
On a transatlantic flight in the mid-90’s, I was treated to watching Mrs. Doubtfire twice on the way there and twice on the way back. Total hell.
April 23, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Congrats on making the IMDb hitlist!!!
April 23, 2010 at 11:00 pm
WORST – Major League: Back to the Minors
BEST – Paulie
yeah not a great selection on the planes I’ve been on
April 23, 2010 at 11:25 pm
um…nick cannon isn’t in you got served.
April 23, 2010 at 11:26 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie on a plane, however I’ve watched both Grumpy Old Men movies on a bus!
April 23, 2010 at 11:42 pm
the best – The Visitor (2008), perfect for a plane in every way
the worst – Shooter (2007)
April 23, 2010 at 11:43 pm
It was a couple of weeks before Christmas, and as usual the first thing I did when I settled in was check what the movie was. You’re just hoping for anything decent to kill a couple of hours. Don’t remember what was scheduled, but I was happy it was a movie I hadn’t seen and was really interested in. After takeoff, the flight attendant got on the intercom and announced that there was a change in the movie… they were going to show It’s a Wonderful Life. The entire plane groaned, yet they showed it anyway. A cruel thing to do to a captive audience. After the movie the insane bitch tried to get everyone to sing Christmas songs. No one was having it. It was painfully awkward. The price you pay for flying Southwest I guess.
April 24, 2010 at 12:37 am
BEST: Watching the clever, endearing “Last Chance Harvey,” which was filmed in London, right after leaving London. It was like taking the city with me a bit, and having Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson give stellar performances.
WORST: 27 Dresses. I don’t know what it is, but watching a chick flick on a plane makes the cheesiness more obvious than ever.
April 24, 2010 at 4:12 am
The best was probably Duplicity, the Tony Gilroy-directed corporate espionage piece with great performances, witty dialogue, and a twisty plot, of course. Engrossing and humorous without much need for visuals.
The worst was Miami Vice. Dark, boring, and flat. I’m not such why I watched the whole thing; I guess I just expected it to get better.
April 24, 2010 at 4:51 am
I barely fly I can’t remember all the movies I’ve seen on a plane. But out of the past 4 years I’ve only flown a two-way flight to Manila. Best one was “Benjamin Button” and the worst one is “Burn After Reading.”
April 24, 2010 at 5:00 am
I saw Ghost Town, with Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear, and I thought it was a nice little plane comedy. And I got bored watching Nancy Meyers’s The Holiday, although I really enjoyed What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give, and It’s Complicated. I saw it again at home, and I found Jack Black hilarious, but I still didn’t really enjoy the film. A little too long…
All the other movies I ever watched on a plane were movies I already watches in theaters.
April 24, 2010 at 5:28 am
WORSTt: M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village on an endless loop when video on demand wasn’t working. It was that or a few Japanese films.
MOST UNEXPECTED: A Garuda flight that only had overhead CRT monitors (I kid you not) and I missed the beginning. Thought I was watching a black and white documentary but eventually figured out it was a movie. Had to wait until landing to Google it, the excellent Friday Night Lights.
Now I mostly watch ones I don’t want to pay to rent (hello Twilight) and sitcoms. Nothing too taxing and nothing that would be ruined by the tiny screen and crappy sound.
April 24, 2010 at 6:13 am
The Best: Stardust. Wasn’t into it when it started but it quickly became charming and sweet. It’s now one of my favorite movies.
The Worst: 2012. Stupid, stupid, stupid. John Cusack phoning in a performance for a paycheck. Terrible movie.
April 24, 2010 at 6:24 am
worst:
the Day The Earth Stood Still (the unnecessary remake)
best:
Snakes on a Plane!! on a freaking plane how can you go wrong?
April 24, 2010 at 6:34 am
Best: Would have been Pearl Harbor if bloddy British Airways would have stopped interupting the video feed. Totally engrossed me on the trans-atlantic flight, but missed the last 15 minutes.
Worst: Throw Mama from the Train. Saw it on a flight with lots of turbulence . Not great under any circumstances, and it was on a large screen years ago, so you couldn’t escape seeing the dizzy sequences.
April 24, 2010 at 11:20 am
The Best. Either Tombstone or National Treasure. Those 2 stick out in my mind.
The Worst. Streetfighter (1994). I was stuck with watching the worst film ever made (in my opinion) and it was torturous. Been run through a meat grinder would be less painful.
Incidentally on my last flight from the US to australia, I was forced to watch THE LONGSHOTS twice on two separate flights. Not a bad film, but once was enough.
April 24, 2010 at 11:32 am
A message for the original post.
I actually happen to like Watchmen..so please keep your Crud comments to yourself.
April 24, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Best: The Straight Story, by far. It actually made me forget I was in a flying mechanical bomb. Quietly entrancing, profoundly simple. And the good guys win.
Worst: Godzilla, the remake. We turned to sound down and said rude things.
April 24, 2010 at 12:28 pm
The best was “Mickey Blue Eyes” with Hugh Grant. Not a cinema classic, but damn funny. The whole plane was cracking up.
Also “Entrapment” was good. Definitely kept me occupied for a while.
The worst was “Alvin and the Chipmunks”.
April 24, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Best: hmmm…haven’t seen a really great movie on a flight.
Worst: ‘Fool’s Gold’ with Kate Hudson and Matthew McCanaughey. Even being being bored out of my mind on a long flight didn’t make this movie palatable. Kate’s shrewness and Matthew’s ‘I’m such a stud muffin’ antics made me turn this one off halfway through. A faux nap turned out better than this mess of a flick.
April 24, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Best: Jumanji! I was 9 and it was a night flight to London. They didn’t have the tiny personal screens then, so the “grandeur” of it was preserved. Still a favorite.
Worst: The Pianist. Not that it and Adrien Brody aren’t great. It’s just awfully depressing and didn’t make the time pass very quickly. Consider watching it on a rainy Saturday.
April 24, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Best: Snakes on a plane.
Worst: Snakes on a plane ((who thought it would be a good idea to air this DURING a plane trip?))
April 24, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Worst: It’s A Wonderful Life, shown two days after Christmas.
Best: Well…I liked James Bond, but they cut off the ending and cut out the good action scenes too… I remember liking one with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, Fathers Day maybe? It was dumb and required little attention and I remember there being some over the top scenes and I too made an ass of myself laughing!
April 24, 2010 at 7:53 pm
The worst? The Buddy System. I envied the first class and business class back then, who were enjoying Nate and Hayes. This was in 1984.
The best? Hm… Too many to mention :).
April 24, 2010 at 8:57 pm
[…] Random Factoid #270 24 04 2010 Another factoid brought to you by Ross v Ross, this time from their post “What are the best movies you have watched on a plane?“ […]
April 24, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Unfortunately most of the flights I have been on decided to start charging for their movies buuuutttt:
The Best: Surprisingly The remake of Fever Pitch. Hey it was a pretty simple plot line and it kept me entertained.
The Worst: The Gridiron Gang. Waaayyy too dark, waaaayyy to boring, and my friend kept going in and out and thought it would be fun to annoyingly ask me questions about what was going on, as I was the only one really trying to keep up with the plot.
The best cure for airplane boredome: any kind of countdowns. I often find myself entranced in the stupidity that is any entertainment or mtv countdowns like “100 Guilty Pleasures” or whatever.
April 24, 2010 at 11:05 pm
The worst film to watch on a plane would be Snakes on a Plane! Imagine having to sit through that on a 5 hour journey and wondering if a snakes gunna jump out from the ceiling and bite your face off! The worst i ever saw was Superhero movie… possibly the worst film of all time? and the best would have to be 24 redemtion… gotta love that!
April 25, 2010 at 1:44 am
Best – 50 First Dates on the way to Afghanistan
Wrost – Proof of Life, while on my first deployment to Columbia. That movie put some fear in me.
April 25, 2010 at 2:11 am
The best: Snakes on a plane. The worst: X-Men Wolverine – painful!
April 25, 2010 at 5:19 am
On a flight to Germany, we had MEDICINE MAN on the way over, and STOP OF MY MOTHER WILL SHOOT! on the way home! They were both so bad that I switched to the German soundtrack.
April 25, 2010 at 5:29 am
The last long flight I was on was BA from SDX to London 2 weeks after 9/11 with my mum – we had planned the flight after my dad’s death in May, so we went anyway, being true patriots, can’t let Bin Laden win, right? Ok. Watched all 5 flicks offered, more than once, thought I’d never forget a one, but all I remember now are:
BEST: Enemy at the Gates – Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, and Rachel Weisz avec caterpillars for eyebrows (LOVED those caterpillars) and a great arse in the seduction of Jude Law scene
WORST: Someone Like You – Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd, silly thing
BUT bought both DVDs back in the States and actually ended up liking SLY once I watched the DVD – Tony Goldwyn should have stuck with his original ending on the roof, so much heart, and the brilliant Harold Perrineau’s entire performance ended up in, thank God, at least the extras.
They’re like souvenirs of a very special trip to Bath, Wales, and Ireland, for what it’s worth.
April 25, 2010 at 7:20 am
Worst Movie: Streetfighter
Best Movie: Watchmen
April 25, 2010 at 12:04 pm
BEST: Elizabeth… who in the world is better than Cate Blanchett?
Also had Rounders with Matt Damon and Ed Norton, that was very entertaining
WORST: Can’t even remember the title but it had Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as sisters who were witches…? That’s right, it was called Practical Magic! It was soooooo terrible! Hence the reason it doesn’t get brought up as being either of their “better” films!
April 25, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Best would have to be Up.
Worst would definitely be Are We Done Yet? That movie ran on a loop with cartoons, and Mr. Bean, for the whoooooole flight, which was around 8 hours or so. That was terrible.
April 25, 2010 at 1:49 pm
The Best: I’m appropriating my mom’s experience. She saw “Up” on a flight from LA to Boston. Afterward she called me to tell me how much she loved it and how she cried on board.
The Worst: “Failure to Launch” with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey. Usually I’m willing to forgive a lot with romantic comedies, but this one made me want to throw myself out of the plane. The one saving grace–Zooey Deschanel trying to kill a mockingbird. But even that plot fell away eventually.
April 25, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I watched ‘I am Legend’ on a red eye from Sydney to Perth. Lights off… 747… 2am over outback australia…
That movie was a little scarier than I would have liked in that situtation!
April 25, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I live in Oregon and I was on a flight from Portland to Chicago back in 2006 and they were showing The Devil Wears Prada. That was the worst I’ve seen on a plane, though I admit I don’t fly all that much.
The best was a year later when I was on my way back from another trip to Chicago and they showed Fracture. That was an awesome movie that I eventually ended up buying the DVD.
April 25, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Love Happens ending up being a decent movie on a plane.
Aliens in the Attic will not make the trip go any faster, that movie blew.
April 25, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Back in the early ’90s, I was flying from L.A. to NYC on American TransAir, that generic/inexpensive airline. (I’m not sure it exists anymore.) Anyway, at 2:00 am, they woke up all the passengers to watch a horrible film called “Captain Ron” with Martin Short and Kurt Russell. While we were watching it, they served us Spaghetti-O’s and you could hear the noisy engine over the film… plus it was really hot in the cabin… mega-unpleasant! Chuck (www.jeangabinbook.com)
April 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm
years ago i was on a flight back from london to nyc and they show titanic one and a half times… that seemed weird.. as if the second time maybe the shop wouldnt sink or the fact that were flying over an ocean watching a love story disaster film… good call british airways.
April 25, 2010 at 8:20 pm
The best airplane movies I watched were the Shawshank Redemption and J.J.’s Star Trek, which I was really excited about because I love SsR but didn’t own it on disc at the time and hadn’t seen it for awhile, and ST because it was in that in between stage where it was out of the theatres but not on disc yet.
April 25, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I can’t remember a good movie on a flight.
In 1985, I flew to Caracas on Viasa airlines, which was like a Greyhound bus with wings. This may not count as watching – I didn’t put the headphones on and would glance at the Spanish subtitles here and there. The movie going down was _The Legend of Alfred Packer_ which was entertaining only for the gasps and exclamations of the other passengers as Alfred was revealed to be a cannibal.
I’d say that was the worst, but the movie for the trip back was _Silence_ – a mute (maybe deaf) boy gets lost in the mountains and is rescued “Crazy Jack” played by Will Geer. Using IMDB as a tiebreaker, this wins the award as worst.
April 25, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Was on a plane once that just wouldn’t take off due to technical difficulties. The movie playing was ‘The Terminal’. When half way through the movie the plane finally did leave Abu Dhabi Airport, the film restarted itself. Watched Beauty and the Beast. That is a movie worth watching on the plane or anywhere.
April 26, 2010 at 12:23 am
Flying to the Philippines I was subjected to “The Fighting Temptations” and “Secondhand Lions”…
Flying back from the Philippines I was subjected to “Secondhand Lions” and “The Fighting Temptations”
Worst. Flights. Ever.
(Best was as a 12 yr old watching “Spies Like Us” as the rest of the plane slept.)
April 26, 2010 at 1:27 am
Worst: I had to look this one up again cause I forgot the title, but Stepmom w/ Julia Roberts. They aired it twice, ugghhh….
Best: I havn’t flow in years and only have maybe ten times ever, but I remember watching Edward Scissorhands on a plane after it came out
April 26, 2010 at 1:46 am
I don’t actually remember a bad movie on a plane, probably both because I blocked it out and because I stopped watching it.
I do remember them cutting off the last five minutes of Runaway Jury right before we found out the verdict, and it didn’t come out on dvd for months so I couldn’t find out what happened.
I remember Seabiscuit was on my flights, since i was travelling a lot around the same time, and I watched it every single time it was on. I love Tobey Maguire.
Oh, wait, worst movie: Dickie Roberts, Child Star. Ugh.
April 26, 2010 at 2:07 am
BEST: “House of Flying Daggers,” which I bought based on that viewing alone. Also, although not for the first time, Orson Welles’ “The Third Man.” Bawled my eyes out on both of these.
WORST: “Tristan + Isolde” was pretty painful (despite Rufus Sewell) but “Chasing Liberty” was truly, abysmally bad. Even insomnia at 2 a.m. over the Atlantic is an insufficient excuse for having watched this movie.
April 26, 2010 at 7:00 am
The Worst: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Blades of Glory, I am Legend and The Notebook. Depressing from LA to NYC flights.
The Best: The Matrix
April 26, 2010 at 4:09 pm
None. I have never been on a plane. 🙂
April 27, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Holy shit, there are now 96 comments on this thing. Way to make that Hit List, guys!
May 17, 2011 at 9:31 pm
best: inception and sherlock holmes or some thriller
worst: snakes on a plane or some movie where you learn about what can happen to a plane where it crashes
May 17, 2011 at 9:31 pm
best inception and sherlock holmes or some thriller
worst snakes on a plane or some movie where you learn about what can happen to a plane where it crashes