The best travel movies ever made is a mix of life up in the air (the art of traveling) and life on the ground (human drama unfolding in interesting places around the globe). The list of best movies about travel weighs heavily towards planes and airports but I’ve also given some thought to being in an unfamiliar place and growing as a person because of the places you’ve been.
I think each of these films is a classic for a reason, and I try to offer a brief take why they’re one of the best travel movies. That even holds for some of the ones on the list that may not have been so critically acclaimed.
Up in the Air is top of the list of best travel movies for reasons that should be obvious, Die Hard 2 is awesome even if it’s absurd with more plot holes than the business plan for Washington Dulles’ Independence Air. But was there every really a better air crash investigator than Kris Kristofferson in the broadly panned Millenium?
Here’s my top 13 best travel movies. What are yours? What am I missing?
- Up in the Air. The movie was not in any way related to the book, which I read on a United Washington Dulles – San Francisco flight in 2001. The two female leads in the film didn’t even exist in the book (Vera Farmiga kind of sort of did). But George Clooney plays us, they go through security and throw down elite status cards and Clooney is on a quest to pad his mileage balance.
It tries too hard at times to be an allegory for the Great Recession which was at its depths in 2009 when the film was released. It makes one fundamental mistake about rental cars. But the airport and flight scenes, along with hotel check-ins, are absolutely awesome. To know me is to fly with me. Oh, and there’s a deleted scene you may not know about.
- Die Hard 2. A year after taking down terrorists at Los Angeles’ Nakatomi Building, Bruce Willis’ John McClane battles terrorists again — this time at Washington Dulles airport.
Nevermind that the pay phones at the airport say Pacific Bell giving away that this isn’t really Dulles. And I’ve never figured out why planes in a holding pattern that were running out of fuel never sought to divert to Baltimore or Richmond. But Willis trying to wave off a plane that was about to crash land was just a phenomenal scene… And so was the late Fred Thompson ordering all inbound aircraft into holding by declaring “Pack ’em, stack ’em, and rack ’em.”
- Flight. Denzel Washington as an alcoholic pilot. Most of the movie is Washington (not) dealing with his addiction but the controlled crash scene is incredible.
- Airplane!. Over Macho Grande? I don’t think I’ll ever get over Macho Grande.
If you’re rather watch Airplane as a drama, it tracks closely with Zero Hour!. The Zero Hour script was purchased by the writers and many scenes are literally a comedic version of the 1957 film.
In fact, here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two movies:
- Before Sunrise (Vienna) Before Sunset (Paris) Before Midnight (Greece). Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy walk and talk — with youthful idealism masked as cynicism in Vienna, reconnecting years later through the streets of Paris, and dealing with the challenges of their relationship and doubts about life on an island in Greece.
The screenwriting is phenomenal and acting believable, and we get a taste of a different place in Europe in each film.
- National Lampoon’s Vacation and European Vacation (but not Christmas Vacation). The first film was the classic family road trip as Chevy Chase takes his clan on a journey through its own history, his own mid-life regrets, and his deeply committed quest to be a good father — taking everyone to Wally World and flirting with Christie Brinkley along the way.
- The Terminal. Tom Hanks is on a quest that brings him to New York, but he can’t leave the airport because his passport is invalidated by a coup in his home country. It’s based on the true story of an 18 year stay at Paris Charles de Gaulle.
- Lost in Translation. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are lost and detached from their lives, and explore Tokyo together. They see the city as foreigners, they’re foreign to each other and to themselves, and the story revolves as much around the Park Hyatt Tokyo as it does Japanese karaoke.
I love the Park Hyatt on its own terms (though it’s not really conveniently located) but the movie makes the property special, and the property helps make the movie special. It’s my favorite Bill Murray performance and of course I’ve been unable to sleep in Shinjuku though I found myself at the Denny’s rather than the New York Bar. No Scarlett Johansson, but it was the best Denny’s I ever visited.
- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Holiday travel is rough. I hate flying on ‘amateur days’. It’s far worse during irregular operations. But if you’re determined enough, you can get where you’re going — even if it takes changing from a plane to a train and circumstances force you to drive across much of the country.
Although I actually prefer the Charles Grodin / Robert De Niro version Midnight Run.
- Airport. This 1970 film was the first of a series, and a classic disaster movie that intertwines the lives of people dealing with keeping an airport open during a major weather event while a bomber plots to blow up a plane.
- Millennium. Ok, so this movie only has an 11% ‘Fresh’ rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Kris Kristofferson plays an NTSB investigator looking into the collision of a Boeing 747 and a DC-10 where all the passengers of the 747 appeared to be dead prior to ground impact, even though the plane caught fire only once it hit the ground. Because, time travel.
- Pushing Tin. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton are air traffic controllers. It’s dark, and probably not a great movie, but the scenes at New York TRACON are awesome.
- Boeing Boeing. Tony Curtis is an American in Paris dating 3 different flight attendants — for Air France, Lufthansa, and British United Airways — whose international routes never have them in town at the same time. They all live with him whenever they’re in Paris, with photos and personal touches swapped out to match each one of them.
Then technology intervenes: faster planes means schedule changes, so that all of their schedules overlap, and hijinks ensue…
There are other films I considered for this list. For instance I felt like I had to include Sully but the truth is that the whole movie was just an excuse for an amazing flight sequence – but you can’t really sell an evening’s entertainment that lasts just several minutes. Still, what they did re-creating US Airways 1549 was incredible.
I even considered She’s Out Of My League. There are few jobs worse than TSA screener. It’s low rent security theater and you have to wear rubber gloves because the work environment is gross and that’s before you pat down grandma. But once in awhile Hollywood can give the men and women in blue a win.
And I thought about Soul Plane, but…
What else belongs as one of the best travel movies?
No mention of “North by Northwest”? Absolutely wonderful travel on the New York Central up the Hudson (with music to match) enroute to Chicago. Plus great footage at Midway Airport and its vintage aircraft back when it was briefly the world’s busiest airport. Plus a bus stopping in a cornfield to let off Cary Grant .
The Art of Travel (2008) has some great travel scenes, particularly at Machu Picchu, but isn’t the greatest movie.
Home alone?
Here’s a bit of a dark horse…
Fearless – “A man’s personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash.” 80% ‘Fresh’
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce, John Turturro
Before Sunrise ~
I have to respectfully disagree on this one (it is okay to agree to disagree)
105 minutes of self-congratulatory mental masturbation is just a wee bit excessive from my point of view.
But, if one really enjoys that cerebral approach, ad nauseam, I will submit that My Dinner With Andre (though not a travel film) does a much better job than the aforementioned film.
@Rico
Indeed, Fearless. This is a powerful movie that really resonated with me. I actually met Peter Weir and got drunk with him in a bar in Bali (not knowing who he even was until later) when he just finished filming this. He was telling me about how he had just made a movie that addressed fear. He said it had in fact cured his own fear of flying in that he spent weeks traveling with pilots in the cockpit to research for the movie (pre 9-11) and was able to learn the realization of how safe it was. Ironic, man makes plane crash movie and cures his own fear of flying. Jeff Bridges was amazing in this as well.
“My Dinner with Andre” is by definition NOT a travel movie. Let’s stick to the subject here folks
Excellent choices, several of them the same as I thought before reading the article.
One type of film, somewhat travel related, is when I am interested in seeing a city. The film “Jason Bourne” was interesting to see Berlin and London. The scenes were not at the typical tourist attractions in Berlin and London.
Tough call, so many to choose from ! Don’t forget the Space genre: The Martian, Apollo 13, 2001 A Space Odessey, Passengers, Gravity, Interstellar, Moon. And the Classics: North by Northwest, The African Queen, Roman Holiday. And some quirky ones: The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Murder on the Orient Express, Eat Pray Love. And some contemporary obvious picks: Catch Me if You Can, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Bucket List. Finally, you could argue that technically all of the Lord of the Rings Series is about Travel.
Almost forgot, a recent Rom Com which I really like (because it’s about Singapore, my favorite city) is Crazy Rich Asians.
How about the classic, “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium,” the 1969 rom-com with Suzanne Pleshette? It is a fairly accurate portrayal of the whirlwind d tours that do several countries in a two-week period.
Don’t agree with any sorry!
Pushing Tin….so underrated…..Incredible themes about getting your life back when you’ve lost everything..
Endless Summer.
“The Last Voyage”, about a passenger liner (the Ile de France) exploding and sinking with a trapped person on board. Far better than “The Poseidon Adventure”, and while kind of hokey (it was made in 1960) they actually used a ship that was about to be scrapped and so there were no problems with partially submerging and destroying much of it for the film. But before that happens the mid-century interiors are beautiful to behold.
PS When I was watching this on a New York City television channel the sinking scene was followed by an ad to take the Circle Line boat tour. Somebody had a good sense of humor!
Gary,
I really enjoyed the Indian movie Runway 34. Taken from true events with some artistic changes the story is well laid out. Having flown for years in both commercial and private aircraft this movie provides some insight to cockpit management.
Smokey and the Bandit.
A love story, a buddy movie, car chases, Coors, and Diablo Sammiches. The movie has it all.
Others for consideration:
Narrow Margin(old and new)
Titanic, of course
The Out of Towners (old and new)
Like Father (Kristen Bell cruise ship movie)
Many of the James Bond movies
The Holiday
Berlin Express
Crazy Rich Asians
Catch Me if You Can
Most of the Mission Impossible Movies
The Mercy
Two For The Road
Flight Plan
Passenger 57
Just Married
Captain Ron
Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
The Great Race
Long Way Around and Long Way Down, Long Way Up (documentaries)
Swing of Things (NSFW)
Romancing the Stone
Midnight Run
Under Siege 2
The Hindenberg
Frantic (one with Harrison Ford)
Last Holiday
My Life in Ruins
View From The Top (sort of, maybe)
Leap Year
Unfinished Business (NSFW)
The Tourist
The Beach
The Impossible
Poseidon (both)
Couples Retreat
Due Date
The Hangover Movies (NSFW)
Most of the “Taken” movies
The Bourne movies
A Hologram for a King (maybe)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Non-Stop
RV
No Escape (Owen Wilson movie that is a shocker for travel fans)
Eat Pray Love (I guess, but not a huge fan)
I’m sure I missed a ton.
Gary, do you like movies about gladiators? Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?
Speaking of Turkish prisons, you left out Midnight Express!
Every James Bond movie is a wealth of travel to luxury hotels in exotic destinations. Who doesn’t want to visit the casino in Montenegro (actually filmed in Czech) or Lake Garda (Quantum of Solace) or to participate in the Day of the Dead in Mexico City (staged for Spectre)? HT to DaninMCI who beat me to it.
Con Air or GTFO.
Eat Pray Love
Thelma and Louise
Sleepless in Seattle
Due Date
What Happens in Vegas
RV
Johnson Family Vacation
Letters to Juliet
Monte Carlo
Ticket to Paradise
I’ll triple down on “Fearless”. Great movie, though not really about travel, but semi-based on the real-life United 282 Sioux City crash.
As long as we’re including movies about air traffic controllers and flights that end badly, “United 93” is a truly great film. Described by some as “the best movie I never want to see again”, it uses some of the real people that day from air traffic control, the military, and the FAA, as well as casts real life flight attendants and pilots as the crew of the plane, so the dialogue is delivered in as real a patter as you’re ever likely to hear. Cast of unknowns at the time, at least three have gone on to have decent careers, including David Alan Basche, Peter Hermann, and Cheyenne Jackson. And Khalid Abdalla (who plays Ziad Jarrah, the hijacker pilot) just played Dodi Fayed in “The Crown”.
“A Room With a View” is about travel of a bygone era.
Loved “The Great Race” as a kid.
“Touching The Void” – Great movie, but the kind of travel you don’t want to experience. It’s not giving anything away to say that you watch this semi-documentary seeing the real main character and think, “Aren’t you dead? There’s no way you survived this, is there?”
Flaps down – The Best that no one has mentioned yet is
The High and the Mighty with John Wayne!
The very best aviation scene ever was when F/O John Wayne reaches across the cockpit and cold cocks Capt. Robert Stack and then, of course, JW saves the airplane landing in near 0/0 conditions at SFO.
Picard
Redeye
Eurotrip. Best robot fight scene ever.
Agree with all the others, would add Easy Rider
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
Summertime: David Lean with Katherine Hepburn & Venice.
Great lists from all, thank you.
Catch Me if You Can – anyone notice the Tom Hanks character say “in a few minutes we’ll be landing on runaway 38 at LGA below”? No one proofed that.
Pushing Tin, great movie, 2 actually ATC friends ran out first day to see and said it was so-so. The NYTRACON scenes where actually shot in Toronto, you can see Lake Ontario in the background when they run out for a bomb scare. I’ve been to the actual NYTRACON. its a parking lot in a very congested suburban area.
Midnight Run is an underrated comedic adventure.
Iñárritu;s Babel, Horton Foote’s A Trip to Bountiful, and Rodriguez/Tarantino’s From Dusk Til Dawn. The latter turned me off of border road trips forever!
Air Force One. Not travel but plane.
Snakes on a Plane