# \*Good\* movies featuring hot air balloons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166 "2013-07-22T06:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/1 "2013-07-22T06:11:18Z")
Roger Ebert noted, some time back, ["Good movies rarely feature a hot air balloon.](http://books.google.com/books?id=Q-U8ZWC-Ip0C&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=ebert+%22hot+air+balloon%22&source=bl&ots=GnPeuk2a44&sig=u4Dpv65qoxUALjFHm-6VzyxOE88&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4cTsUdjoN6nHigLDloGgDA&ved=0CGMQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=ebert%20%22hot%20air%20balloon%22&f=false) Although as per the “rarely” qualifier, he admitted there are exceptions—_Witness_ and _The Wizard of Oz_ being examples. Although, by the looks of it, the wizard’s balloon might have actually been a hydrogen gas bag. However, aside from those—and I can’t actually remember seeing Witness—I can’t think of any good-movies-with-hot-air-balloons. I _think_ one of the muppet movies might have had one—and how bad can anything with Kermit be?—but I’m not sure. So…any suggestions? And no, any aircraft using hydrogen or helium don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/2 "2013-07-22T06:39:47Z")
Indeed, _The Great Muppet Caper_ has a hot air balloon at the very beginning. There’s also one in _Rat Race_, but it’s arguable if that’s a good movie or not. I like it, but it’s somewhat lowbrow. Same applies to _Joe Dirt_. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/3 "2013-07-22T07:01:20Z")
Around the World in 80 Days? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/4 "2013-07-22T07:32:23Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Around the World in 80 Days? I don’t think Ebert liked that movie. As for me, I thought it was entertaining but lightweight. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/5 "2013-07-22T11:34:24Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Indeed, _The Great Muppet Caper_ has a hot air balloon at the very beginning. > > There’s also one in _Rat Race_ And, by the transitive property, there’s one in _The Great Race_. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/6 "2013-07-22T11:49:46Z")
The balloon in _Witness_ is seen at a distance, for five seconds. It’s not a “movie which features one.” But it is a great movie (IMHO), which just goes to prove Ebert’s observation. 😉 A film which DOES feature a hot air balloon (major plot point, though not much screen time) but is, I think, quite a good movie – thought provoking, understated, and well acted – is a British film starring Daniel Craig from maybe five years ago. It’s about a group of friends who one day tried to stop a hot air balloon from escaping in a gust of wind, and I think one of them died (or maybe a child died, I can’t recall)…the name of the film escapes me (ba da bing), but I’ll look it up and report back in a minute. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/7 "2013-07-22T12:00:12Z")
Found it: _[Enduring Love](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0375735/)_. It’s actually nine years old, and by no means universally liked, and I was only describing the first half of the movie…but I still think this is as good a candidate as any to counter Ebert’s offhand and funny remark (obviously, he was pillorying lightweight 1960s-and-70s ensemble pieces like _Around the World in Eighty Days_.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/8 "2013-07-22T12:13:28Z")
[Night Crossing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082810/?ref_=sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/9 "2013-07-22T12:14:04Z")
**Charlie Bubbles** ends with Albert Finney stealing a balloon. However, Ebert’s maxim may have been overridden by mine: no bad movie has Billie Whitelaw in it. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/10 "2013-07-22T12:15:44Z")
_Stardust_, based on the book by Neil Gaiman, and Woody Allen’s _Stardust Memories_ are both movies I liked with hot air balloons. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/11 "2013-07-22T12:52:12Z")
In the truly wonderful [Kind Hearts and Coronets](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041546/combined), Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne (Alec Guinness of course) is killed while dropping leaflets from a hot air balloon. A movie that would be in IMDB’s top 250 if only more people had seen it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/12 "2013-07-22T13:07:43Z")
Jules Verne did NOT include a balloon in his book _Around the World in 80 Days_, although, because of the movie, they think he did. (My first paperback copy of the book has a balloon on the cover). Nevertheless, Verne DID use balloons in other books, and film adaptations have used the balloons as well: **The Mysterious Island** (1961) the Harryhausen adaptation **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** (1916) – the silent film ambitiously attempted to include both 20,000 Leagues and The Mysterious Island at the same time. It also included great underwater photography (in 1916!), a submarine that faithfully resembled the one Verne described, and an Indian Prince Dakkar as Captain Nemo (the last time the character was so portrayed, AFAIK, until the graphic novel _League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_). Worth having a look at. **Five Weeks in a Balloon** (1962) – Irwin Allen ,made it, so you know it’s not faithful, and they have a 1960s cast straight out of the adaptations-of-odd-books-cast-list (Red Buttons, Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden, Cedric Hardwicke, Fabian). And the Irish Rovers sing the theme song. By the way, I don’t think balloons were used in any of the scenes except for long shots. Production photos show them using a basket suspended from a crane for both Mysterious Island and Five Weeks in a Balloon, and for Mysterious Island and 20,000 Leagues the long shots are clearly special effects shots. I guess real balloons are too unwieldy for real film production. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/13 "2013-07-22T13:12:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** (1916) – the silent film ambitiously attempted to include both 20,000 Leagues and The Mysterious Island at the same time. It also included great underwater photography (in 1916!), a submarine that faithfully resembled the one Verne described, and an Indian Prince Dakkar as Captain Nemo (the last time the character was so portrayed, AFAIK, until the graphic novel _League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_) Note, too, that Moore has him use the hot-air balloon in that graphic novel, which is far better than the movie version we got. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/14 "2013-07-22T13:29:12Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > [Night Crossing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082810/?ref_=sr_1) This is the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/15 "2013-07-22T16:38:44Z")
Is Superman 2 considered a good movie? Didn’t Lex Luther break out of prison any find the Fortress of Solitude in a Hot Air Balloon? ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/16 "2013-07-22T17:29:21Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > [Night Crossing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082810/?ref_=sr_1) I came in here to mention this one. A pleasant little film from Disney, not necessarily aimed at kids. ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/17 "2013-07-22T18:52:28Z")
_The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_, with its hot air balloon made of women’s knickers. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/18 "2013-07-22T18:56:02Z")
Good movies? Nothing comes to mind, but I did see a bad movie, made-for-TV quality, about some kind of caper using small one man hot air balloons for the escape at the end of whatever they were doing. I have no idea what it was called, probably made in the 70s or 80s, I can’t recall that it was worth watching, but it was interesting use of hot air balloons in a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/19 "2013-07-22T19:41:56Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > _Stardust_, based on the book by Neil Gaiman I was thinking of that one, but not sure if it qualifies, as I think the balloon is gas-buoyed, rather than hot air. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/20 "2013-07-22T19:50:50Z")
[Men Don’t Leave](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100134/reference) with Jessica Lange, Joan Cusack, a very young Chris O’Donnell and the tragically rarely seen Arliss Howard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166.md?page=2)