I remember the first time I saw a movie on a plane as a child. It was projected at the front of the cabin and you hoped you had good sight lines. It was hard to follow and the audio was awful, but my sister and I were still very excited. We quickly got over that when, on the return flight, we had to deal with the profound disappointment of the very adult fare of Paul Newman in Fat Man and Little Boy.
That’s not the case now, of course, with endless options on our own screens. I’m always fascinated by what people choose to watch. My highly unscientific analysis is that my fellow passengers want something escapist on the mindless side: action, reality TV and romantic comedies.
If I’m on a plane I usually want to watch something familiar, maybe a Bond, a Batman, a Tarantino. On the TV side of things 30 Rock is perfect or old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and I can skip through anything too excruciating. I don’t want to watch something new—I don’t think an airplane screen does justice to something I’ve been looking forward to seeing.
When I scroll through the movies on an airplane I wonder who’s exactly in the mood for intensely serious films. You settle in to your flight, order a Bloody Mary and decide, You know what, I think I’ll fire up Manchester by the Sea—I’m in the mood for emotional devastation.
So in that spirit here the best films that make no sense to watch on a plane (nearly all of which I’ve noticed on recent flights). And, on a more positive note, some better options.
The Worst Airplane Movies
-The Exorcist. flying doesn’t scare you enough?