Top Gun – warbirds in the cinema

Top Gun is back!

36 years later, we have a sequel to one of the biggest films of the 1980’s. After what is possibly the longest wait in the history of cinema for a follow up film, Tom Cruise is in the air again. Hurrah!

To mark the occasion, we’re having a look back at other films featuring warbirds of all kinds – from WW2 Spitfires and Hurricanes to WW1 biplanes and more modern jets. We should also marvel at the continuing development of film techniques to capture aerial dogfights. From the earliest days of Wings (1929) and Hells Angels (1930), Hollywood has pushed the envelope. Top Gun (1986) was widely hailed as extraordinary technical achievement and the recent sequel has had to work hard to beat it. It wasn’t all special effects though, many of the WW2 films featured actual combat footage cut into the narrative for extra realism, so we’ve included a few genuine WW2 propaganda posters featuring fighter planes in our line-up as well.

"I feel the need ..."

You know the rest.