Best movies like Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
This is the story of Starflight One, the world's first "hypersonic plane," which flies faster and higher than any other commercial jet. On the night of its maiden flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, a freak accident incolving an unauthorized rocket launch sends Starflight One out of the atmosphere and into a decaying orbit around the Earth. With no heat shielding and limited oxygen, it is up to the bravery of the crew and the ingenuity of NASA and the plane's designers to save the passengers trapped on board.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, serious, disturbing, suspense
Best tv shows and movies like Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983):
Similar in 88%
Earth II (1971)
Plot Summary:
In the near future, a space station dubbed Earth II is built for the purpose of scientific research and world peace. However, that peace is shattered when the Chinese send up a nuclear bomb that is orbiting just a few miles away from the station. Can the crew disarm the bomb before it detonates, not only destroying the station but setting off World War III?.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 381
Genere: Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: uplifting, exciting, bleak, serious, futuristic, suspenseful, psychotronic
Similar in 75%
Medusa's Child (1997)
Plot Summary:
Fuming over the departure of his wife Vivian and the cutting of his research funding, crazy nuclear scientist Rogers Henry constructs Medusa, a thermonuclear bomb capable of generating a continent-sized electro-magnetic pulse; such EMP could effectively destroy a computer-based society. He dupes Vivian into bringing it to the Pentagon to exact his final revenge on the government, rigging it so it will explode before its count-down if Vivian's pacemaker isn't within fifteen feet of it. Medusa arms itself in the air aboard Scott Nash's 737 cargo plane, and with Hurricane Sigrid about to hit the coast, nobody wants to let them land. Based on the novel by John J. Nance.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 488
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
Termination Point (2007)
Plot Summary:
Top secret government experiments with time travel have been shut down and declared as too dangerous to continue. The lead scientist has disappeared with the technology and a government manhunt is underway. When his name appears on an airline manifest after the flight has departed, the government orders the plane to turn back. But the plane drops from the radar, disappearing into thin air! As special agents try to locate the plane, scientists must deal with the repercussions from the time ripples that threaten to destroy the Earth.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 938
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, serious, exciting, suspense, tense, captivating
Similar in 78%
Scavengers (2013)
Plot Summary:
A team of space scavengers discovers superior alien technology that threatens the balance of the known universe. Hotly pursued by a rival crew of intergalactic mercenaries, the Revelator crew must fight through the deepest reaches of space to locate and protect the life-altering device.
IMDB Rating: 2.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, captivating, exciting, serious, futuristic
Similar in 85%
Interceptor Force 2 (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the not too distant future a new team of specially trained government soldiers called an Interception Team contend with the latest hostile alien encounter. When an alien scout ship crashes in eastern Russia, Sean Lambert and his elite force are dispatched to investigate. They come face-to-face with a seemingly invincible seven-foot tall, shape shifting foe hell-bent on blowing up a Russian nuclear power plant in an effort to destroy mankind through a nuclear winter. The stakes become personal when the alien discovers it was Lambert who killed its mate four years ago (Interceptor Force). A major battle ensues as the Interceptor Team look to save the Earth from alien annihilation.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 545
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, scary, serious
Similar in 81%
Miami Magma (2011)
Plot Summary:
When an offshore-drilling rig in the Gulf bursts into flames and sinks, Antoinette Vitrini (Rachel Hunter) - a beautiful and insightful volcanologist - investigates the area with startling results. Confirming her theory that a long-dormant underground volcano exists in the region, Antoinette discovers that the illegal deep-sea drilling has awakened the beast. Now, catastrophic amounts of magma are about to be pumped out... right under the city of Miami. But as Antoinette and her team try to stop the impending disaster, they must also battle the corrupt company that caused the problem in the first place.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 992
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, serious, disaster movie
Similar in 77%
Hunter Prey (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Prometheus has dropped out of orbit. Communications and life support systems are down. Situation Critical: Status of Crew and Prisoner unknown. With orders to catch their Alien Prisoner alive the surviving crew of the spaceship Prometheus pursue a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with their escaped prisoner on a deserted and barren planet. But, who is the hunter and who is its prey?.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, suspense, exciting, rough, independent film
Similar in 82%
Dark Storm (2006)
Plot Summary:
On a secret military base a group of scientists have made a discovery unequaled since the invention of the A-bomb; code-named Eruptor, it's a device that supercharges Dark Matter and uses it to change the molecular structure of its target, thereby eradicating it. But when the Eruptor malfunctions and a leading scientist on the project is blasted with Dark Matter, he receives incredible abilities.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 983
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 79%
Epoch (2001)
Plot Summary:
Disaster strikes as a specialised team of investigators struggle to find out the truth about a strange monolith which sends out an intercontinental signal.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, apocalyptic, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 83%
Storm (1999)
Plot Summary:
A top secret government study involving the manipulation of the weather goes awry, leaving L.A. in the path of a destructive hurricane. A meteorologist sets out to save the city.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 821
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, futuristic, suspenseful, rough, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Nowhere to Land (2000)
Plot Summary:
A pilot must safely land a 747 on which deadly nerve gas has been planted.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 910
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 80%
Trapped: Buried Alive (2002)
Plot Summary:
The management of a ski resort blatantly ignores a local expert's warning that a mass of snow has build up which is just waiting to come down the ski slopes in a terrible avalanche. Instead of clearing the endangered area, skiers are allowed to remain 'for the rest of the day'. Nature doesn't wait till after business hours, so the crystallized wave rushes down and crushes everything on its path, including a brand new hotel; among the guests is the architect Michael Cooper's own family, which now tries to remember the plans well enough to find the way out, as he tries to instruct the rescue operation above, where a second, even larger avalanche is expected.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 543
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, bleak, realistic
Similar in 82%
Turbulent Skies (2010)
Plot Summary:
When a new airplane that's equipped with a new computer that can fly the plane on its own, is about to have its first flight. But the son of the owner decides to upload more software, he doesn't bother to check if there are any viruses with it. And he also invites some potential investors to try it. So the plane appears to be working well but suddenly it veers off course and it can't be shut down. When the military learns of this and fears what if something happens if it's over a populated area; decides to shoot it down along with everyone on board. The man who built the computer whose wife is among the passengers thinks if he can get on board he might be able to shut it down and regain control of the plane. So the military using a new plane gets him on board. But what he didn't know is that both pilots are incapacitated so there's no one who can fly the plane.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 741
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, rough, disaster movie
Similar in 86%
Stranded (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Russian space station Avma is disintegrating, and an international team of scientists is sent to the dying station to salvage valuable technology left on board. But fate has other plans, and when a rogue meteor collides with the station, leaving them with all communications lost, and life-giving oxygen bleeding into space, one man has only hours to save all the lives on board.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, bleak
Similar in 76%
Countdown (1967)
Plot Summary:
A scientist (James Caan) replaces a military officer (Robert Duvall) as an astronaut on a space-race moonshot.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, exciting, atmospheric, mysterious, psychotronic, cult film
Similar in 89%
Lifepod (1993)
Plot Summary:
Lifepod cronicles the trip of eight passengers after the ship they were traveling on blew up on Christmas Eve. Immediately people start dying. The passengers begin to investigate why the ship blew up and how it relates to them.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: futuristic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, disaster movie
Similar in 83%
Deadly Skies (2006)
Plot Summary:
The sky is literally falling in this thriller as one of the nation's leading astronomers, Madison Kelsey believes she is tracking a huge rogue asteroid rocketing toward earth. However, she can't get anyone in authority to take her seriously because the mysterious asteroid exists only in the mathematical calculations of her computer program and it's not yet visible. With only hours remaining until probable impact, Madison enlists the aid of discredited former Air-Force Colonel, Richard Donovan. Together they hatch a plan to resurrect a mothballed military laser in order to blast the asteroid out of the sky before it destroys the planet. The only problem with their plan, the laser is under guard in the middle of an Air Force base and the guards have orders to shoot to kill.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 649
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, erotic, disaster movie
Similar in 79%
Fall of Hyperion (2008)
Plot Summary:
A NASA scientist discovers that a group meteorites is heading towards Earth. Along the way, they will collide with the space station Hyperion, whose 12 astronauts are trapped and inside which there is a thermonuclear heart.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 300
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, tense, captivating, suspense, rough, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 88%
Atomic Twister (2002)
Plot Summary:
When tornadoes hit a nuclear power plant, critically damaging the plant's cooling system, the results could be catastrophic. Atomic Twister, a countdown to disaster, traces an extraordinary day in the lives of small town citizens who unexpectedly find themselves facing the possibility of mass destruction.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
Airplane vs Volcano (2014)
Plot Summary:
When a commercial airliner is trapped within a ring of erupting volcanoes, the passengers and crew must find a way to survive - without landing.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, serious, realistic, mockbuster, exciting, disaster movie
Similar in 83%
Seattle Superstorm (2012)
Plot Summary:
An object is shot down over Seattle and the debris begins to effect the local weather ultimately threatening the whole world.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, apocalyptic, captivating, disaster movie
Similar in 89%
Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
Plot Summary:
Having taken the blame for an accident beyond his control, pilot Mike Hogan has been on administrative leave indefinitely; however when the airline is desperately short of staff, he is offered to be first officer and accepts, without enthusiasm, received with disdain by the well-connected commander. Surprisingly his come-back proves less then routine, as the captain gets knocked out and a collision as well as a murderer being transported by police require courageous action from Mike, his crew and several passengers, including soccer star Ty Conner.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 840
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Canada
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, realistic, independent film, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 87%
Thrill Seekers (1999)
Plot Summary:
Tom Merrick (Van Dien) works as a TV reporter when he's nearly killed in an accident while informing about a fire in the Evanston power plant. The sight of a creepy-looking man leaving the place accidentally saves his life, when he was meant to be killed with his crew.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, psychotronic, disaster movie
Similar in 76%
Maximum Velocity (2003)
Plot Summary:
After a comet passes the Earth it causes a cataclysmic storm. Only a disbanded government unit with a secret weather-manipulating weapon can try to stop it.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, serious, suspense, rough, independent film, disaster movie
Similar in 84%
Exploding Sun (2013)
Plot Summary:
The world watches in awe as the Roebling Clipper is launched into space. Using state-of-the-art scalar engines to fly around the Moon and back in just hours, the maiden voyage of the first-ever trans-lunar passenger ship is about to make history. Among those on board: First Lady Simone Mathany, space-exploration entrepreneur Steve Roebling, Dr. Denise Balaban, pilot Fiona Henslaw, and a very lucky lottery winner. But while en route, a massive solar flare sparks a cosmic-ray burst that accelerates Aurora’s engine and blows the ship away from Earth’s orbit. Now out of control, it’s hurtling straight for the sun.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 174 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, disaster movie
Similar in 78%
MegaFault (2009)
Plot Summary:
A crack in the world has started... we have 24 hours to stop it.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, bleak, serious, tense, suspense, rough, futuristic, suspenseful, independent film, disaster movie
Similar in 76%
Asteroid (1997)
Plot Summary:
With the discovery of an incoming asteroid, the government of America formulate a plan to destroy it. When the plan fails, all the world can do is wait. The main impact zone is revealed to be Dallas, Texas. Generally, the plot follows the lives and reactions of several characters: an astronomer, her father, her son, two firefighters from Kansas, two young doctors in Dallas and the heads of the government agency in charge of the situation.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 90%
Solar Crisis (1990)
Plot Summary:
A huge solar flare is predicted to fry the Earth. Astronauts aboard the spaceship Helios must go to the Sun to drop a bomb equipped with an Artificial Intelligence (Freddy) and a Japanese pilot (as a back up if the Artificial Intelligence fail) at the right time so the flare will point somewhere else.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, apocalyptic, anamorphic, independent film, bleak, serious, suspenseful, stylized, fast
Similar in 87%
Marooned (1969)
Plot Summary:
After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to earth only to find their rockets wont fire. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a Hurricane headed towards the launch site and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts capsule.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, exciting, suspense, futuristic, melancholic, serious, grindhouse, inspirational, talky
Similar in 77%
Gravity (2013)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 853000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspenseful, scenic, suspense, minimal cast, intense, breathtaking, visually stunning, visual, serious