It can be argued that films represent the age they were made in.  So it can be said of many of the aviation movies produced in the 1970s, a decade that was not the favorite of many Americans.  So it is no wonder that many of the aviation films made in the 1970s were disaster films. Although these films focused on tragic events, most ended with some amount of redemption, and left the viewer with hope for the future. 

1970's "Airport" is viewed as many as starting the disaster genre of films that was so popular in the 1970s.  It spawned several sequels. 

One of the sequels to "Airport" was "Airport '77" and tells the story of a 747 stranded....at the bottom of the ocean! 

A satirical reaction to the disaster movies of the 1970s was "Airplane," which featured a familiar storyline with hilarious twists.  

The most recent aviation films have utilized CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) to create flight scenes and have often focused on themes of combat. 

"Flyboys" was a movie about the Lafayette Escadrille that used CGI to reproduce many of the combat scenes in it. 

"Red Tails" was a 2012 film that told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. 

Two recent films that focused on World War Two battles were Midway and Dunkirk. 

Finally, no discussion of aviation films can be complete without mentioning the legendary Snakes on a Plane. 

Snakes on a plane?  What can be more terrifying! (or funny).....