There’s something irrationally exciting about watching a movie and seeing a place you’ve been or know well. Then there’s an equally moving feeling, when you find a scene you can completely relate to – like sprinting to make a flight, or waiting to greet loved ones in airport arrivals. When you know the struggles and delights of air travel and constant moving around, watching others from the comfort of your own sofa can be oddly comforting, so we decided to take a look at the best airport movie scenes. What’s your favorite?
Love Actually
Of course, we had to start with this one. A heart warming scene of people waiting to meet their family and friends at the arrivals lounge of Heathrow Airport. It’s touching – and yes, love actually is all around, at least – when delays aren’t…
The Terminal
We’ve all spent time at airports. Sometimes during endless delays and cancellations it feels like forever – but can you imagine actually living at one? Next time you’re stuck at JFK, just think of Tom Hanks’ endless grind. Though he did manage to make the most of it. We love his makeshift apartment.
Home Alone 2
Yes, we’ve all been there – running through a terminal trying our hardest not to miss the big flight. Or in Kevin McCallister’s case, catching the wrong flight. This scene is so much fun and offers a nice throw back to easier days of air travel. Thank goodness for biometric boarding though. You may still find yourself running, but at least you’ll make it to your intended destination.
Die Hard 2
Let’s hope that none of your airport experiences are ever this eventful. But if you’re ever stuck at Dulles this is an instant classic to pass the time and enjoy a little good cop, bad guys. The tension when the 747 pulls up at the last second, oh my! Hopefully every airport features a Bruce Willis watching over us all.
Blow
You may never look quite as cool as Johnny Depp walking through the airport to the tune of Black Betty, but if luck has it, you’ll avoid going to jail for life like the real life George Jung. There are quite a few great airport and aviation bits in this movie, but the early days ferrying drugs to Boston are magic. Let this be an air travel centric reminder that smuggling cocaine is not a good idea.
Up In The Air
For all you frequent travelers out there, we’re sure you’ll find chilling relation to George Clooney’s desires to earn millions of frequent flier miles. It’s tough to beat the scene where George takes on his female co star for loyalty card domination. Have you got your airport routines down to a precision as well as he does?
Rain Man
Do you feel as strongly about an airline as Dustin Hoffman feels about Qantas? Shame they don’t fly between Cincinnati and Los Angeles. In some cities, you just don’t have the best choices – and this scene is an absolute classic.
Casino Royale
Only James Bond can save the launch of a fake A380 and make it look this suave. Chaos at every turn, long lines and traffic every where, we think this sums up Miami Airport pretty accurately, for a dramatic action movie of course…
Airplane
A comedy classic with airport scenes that sadly may even make you think of a few real life incidents of late – we’ll let you decide. Is there just one classic scene in Airplane? We don’t think so, but this is a great one. Roger, Roger?
Catch Me If You Can
An excellent film that makes us wish we were around in the classic Pan Am days of flying. It’s an amazing true story and if you have yet to see it – you must! There are so many to choose from, but you’ve gotta absolutely love this scene above, where Leo masks himself behind the stunning outfits, amongst other things…
