{"id":17503,"date":"2025-08-24T10:08:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=17503"},"modified":"2025-08-24T10:08:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:08:51","slug":"four-perfect-airplane-movies-the-atlantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=17503","title":{"rendered":"Four Perfect Airplane Movies – The Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.<\/p>\n

Long flights can be tedious, but they also present a chance to watch movies both new and familiar. So we asked The Atlantic\u2019s writers and editors: What is the perfect film to watch on a plane?<\/p>\n

Crazy Rich Asians (available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV+)<\/p>\n

Sleep was elusive on my recent 15-hour flight. Never before had an airplane-movie formula been more important. First, the obvious: I look for anything that is mindlessly fun or otherwise engrossing enough to help me forget that I am hurtling through the air in a bus with wings. I probably will not watch anything worthy of the Criterion Collection. Provided that I am entertained, the movie\u2019s length is no issue. And it doesn\u2019t hurt if there are scenes involving airports or travel, to help me romanticize the experience of crying children and cramped seats.<\/p>\n

These are among the many boxes that Crazy Rich Asians ticks. I\u2019ve spaced out my rewatches of this movie enough that it still feels fresh and captivating every time. Michelle Yeoh\u2019s performance as an icy, formidable matriarch is hard to look away from. The lavish scenery and shots of Singapore\u2019s night-market food strengthen my travel urge. Plus, those sweet airplane scenes (no spoilers!). The only downside is that it makes me wish I no longer had to travel in economy.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stephanie Bai, associate editor<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The Dark Knight Rises (streaming on HBO Max)<\/p>\n

Moviegoing in an airplane may not elicit the same cinematic thrill as sitting in an IMAX theater, but it can bring a different emotional vulnerability. Perhaps you\u2019ve just said goodbye to a lover you will never see again, or you\u2019re flying home to fix a fraught situation with your parents. Feelings, too, can be heightened at cruising altitude.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll just come out and say it: I\u2019ve teared up more than once over the Atlantic Ocean while watching Bruce Wayne go to war with his inner demons in The Dark Knight Rises. The finale of Christopher Nolan\u2019s morally serious and visually exquisite treatment of the Batman story culminates in Wayne\u2019s showdown with a hulking Bane\u2014ruthless and funnily accented, drunk off his own self-righteousness. I won\u2019t give away the ending, but suffice to say, the moment when Alfred glances up from his caff\u00e8 lungo in Florence is when I lose it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Thomas Chatterton Williams, staff writer<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

In Her Shoes (available to rent on Prime Video)<\/p>\n

In Her Shoes, the 2005 dramedy, is white noise. No, pink noise\u2014heartfelt but easy. Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz play feuding sisters. Shirley MacLaine is their long-lost grandmother. The movie has cute dogs and witty seniors. It\u2019s an in-flight tonic that beats even benzos and cabernet.<\/p>\n

For years, two colleagues and I would refer to In Her Shoes as a sacred text of procrastination; it was always playing on cable at just the right time. I asked them to endorse my nomination of the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no banger lines you have to hear, no intricate plot points you have to absorb,\u201d Monica told me. \u201cIt\u2019s a low-altitude film to be enjoyed at high altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best movie for just getting through something you don\u2019t want to be doing,\u201d Hank said. \u201cWriting the rest of Chapter 7,\u201d for example. Or: Sitting in seat 24C to LAX.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s 20th anniversary is in early October. So, consider this blurb a commemoration. Cheers.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dan Zak, senior editor<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The Fifth Element (available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV+)<\/p>\n

On a plane, I prefer to watch a movie that I already know well, and enjoy rewatching. Luc Besson\u2019s The Fifth Element has always been a guilty pleasure, something I\u2019ve seen so many times that I can fill in any dialogue, sound design, or music that might be missed because of noisy passengers or bad headphones.<\/p>\n

The movie is unabashedly fun, and Bruce Willis has never been more charming than he is as a taxi driver tasked with saving the world from an evil sentient fireball. It\u2019s easy to watch as an engaged viewer or as a distracted traveler, and the PG-13 rating makes it okay for public viewing. Sure, there is some silly dialogue (such as the phrase \u201cslightly greasy solar atoms\u201d) and subpar acting, but somehow that just adds to the appeal.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Alan Taylor, senior photo editor<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The movie the person near you is watching (playing on their screen)<\/p>\n

The perfect airplane movie is the movie playing on one of your fellow passengers\u2019 screens, which you watch through a crack between the seats or by glancing across the aisle. There\u2019s an invigorating element of randomness (since you have no control over their selection), and also a pleasing surreptitious feeling about the whole experience, as if you\u2019re getting away with something. Given that you won\u2019t have any sound, subtitles are helpful, but sometimes it\u2019s just as fun without them\u2014consumed this way, even the most clich\u00e9d romantic comedy gains a certain art-house surrealism. Some things I have recently watched this way include Pulp Fiction, Dune: Part Two, multiple action films starring former professional wrestlers, and several episodes of the Batman miniseries The Penguin (out of order).<\/p>\n

Later, on a different trip, I plugged in my headphones and watched Dune: Part Two with sound and dialogue on my very own screen. I have to say that it didn\u2019t make much more sense.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Quinta Jurecic, staff writer<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Augmented-reality glasses (available to buy online)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest: The best airplane film is whatever film you personally want to watch. That\u2019s probably going to be different for you than it is for me. But though I can\u2019t tell you which movie to watch in midair, I can tell you how to watch the exact movie you want, regardless of what\u2019s available on the seatback screen in front of you. All you need is a pair of augmented-reality glasses.<\/p>\n

As somebody who travels a lot for work, I have perfected the art of bringing my own movie theater with me. Unlike their more famous and expensive VR headset counterparts, these types of glasses are lightweight and won\u2019t leave you exhausted from wearing them or looking like an alien to passersby. Most important, the glasses can connect to your smartphone, laptop, or video-game device, meaning that if you can stream it or download it, you can project it onto your own giant, private silver screen. Companies such as Xreal, Viture, and Rokid offer a range of models, features, and prices. Some even allow you to adjust the display for your prescription. Find the right one for you\u2014you can typically get the same functionality for less money if you buy an old model\u2014and you\u2019ll never fly the same way again.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Yair Rosenberg, staff writer<\/p>\n

Here are three new stories from The Atlantic:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s News<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The FBI searched the home and office of John Bolton, a former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, as part of an investigation into whether he illegally shared or possessed classified information, according to sources familiar with the investigation.<\/li>\n
  2. A federal judge ordered Florida last night to halt construction on the \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d immigrant-detention facility in the Everglades and to stop bringing in new detainees. The judge also ruled that within 60 days, \u201call generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles\u201d must be removed, citing environmental damage.<\/li>\n
  3. Canada announced that it will remove its 25 percent retaliatory tariffs from about half of the U.S. goods it has targeted this year, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed that duties on U.S. steel, aluminum, and automobiles will remain.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Dispatches<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Explore all of our newsletters here.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Evening Read<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture<\/p>\n

    Actually, Slavery Was Very Bad<\/p>\n

    By Clint Smith<\/p>\n

    In what looks to be an intensifying quest to reshape American history and scholarship according to his own preferences, President Donald Trump this week targeted the Smithsonian Institution, the national repository of American history and memory. Trump seemed outraged, in particular, by the Smithsonian\u2019s portrayal of the Black experience in America. He took to Truth Social to complain that the country\u2019s museums \u201care, essentially, the last remaining segment of \u2018WOKE.\u2019 The Smithsonian,\u201d he wrote, \u201cis OUT OF CONTROL.\u201d Then Trump wrote something astonishing, even for him. He asserted that the narrative presented by the Smithsonian is overly focused on \u201chow horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Before continuing, it is important to pause a moment and state this directly: Donald Trump, the current president of the United States, believes that the Smithsonian is failing to do its job, because it spends too much time portraying slavery as \u201cbad.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Read the full article.<\/p>\n

    More From The Atlantic<\/em><\/p>\n

    Culture Break<\/p>\n

    Photo-Illustration by Ben Kothe \/ The Atlantic. Source: Hulu \/ Everett Collection.<\/p>\n

    Watch. The sensitive tween of the animated show King of the Hill is now an adult\u2014with extremely Millennial anxieties, Jeremy Gordon writes.<\/p>\n

    Take a look. These photos of the week show a sail-in parade in Amsterdam, harness racing in Germany, an independence celebration in Indonesia, and more.<\/p>\n

    Play our daily crossword.<\/p>\n

    Rafaela Jinich contributed to this newsletter.<\/p>\n

    When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting <\/em>The Atlantic.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Long flights can be tedious, but they also present a chance to watch movies both new and familiar. So<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[10580,1671,1394,2305],"class_list":{"0":"post-17503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-airplane","9":"tag-atlantic","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-perfect"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}