# \*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:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/21 "2013-07-22T22:59:35Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I was thinking of that one, but not sure if it qualifies, as I think the balloon is gas-buoyed, rather than hot air. IIRC the airship in _Stardust_ looked basically like a zeppelin, so I agree that it presumably contained some lighter-than-air gas. (Or would have if it were real.) I don’t think Ebert intended to knock movies featuring zeppelins with this rule, not because the type of gas really matters in a movie but because I think what he was getting at was that having the heroes take off in [one of these contraptions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2006_Ojiya_balloon_festival_011.jpg) can seem like a forced attempt at whimsy. A zeppelin doesn’t have the same connotations. > [@gaffa](#): > > [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. Roger Ebert actually cited this movie as having the “most egregious use of a hot air balloon”, so I don’t think he would have considered it an exception to his rule. I’ve never seen it though, so I couldn’t say whether this was a fair judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/22 "2013-07-22T23:25:32Z")
The book of _Around the World in 80 Days_ does have Fogg contemplate using a hot-air balloon for the Atlantic crossing, but he rejects it as being too unreliable. And not a movie, but one episode of _Macgyver_ has him escaping the [titles-sequence adventure](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOY4BnsddKE) using a hot-air balloon. Well, and a map. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/23 "2013-07-22T23:36:01Z")
Oz the Great and Powerful was so bad that it cancels out The Wizard of Oz’s credits on the good side of the equation. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/24 "2013-07-22T23:36:03Z")
Was **Octopussy** considered a good movie? Q helped with the invasion force at the end by flying around in a hot air balloon hooked up with a monitor to watch the action. At one point he swooped down really low and basket-punched some bad guys, saving the lives of a few of Octopussy’s hot women soldiers, who then showered him with kisses. (I imagine it’s pretty hard to sneak up on a bad guy in a hot air balloon). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/25 "2013-07-23T00:38:34Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > 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? He did and it is a good movie. > [@Morbo](#): > > Was **Octopussy** considered a good movie? [I used to think it was the best Bond movie.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=173797&highlight=octopussy+discuss) > [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Oz the Great and Powerful was so bad that it cancels out The Wizard of Oz’s credits on the good side of the equation. [Did you like it better when it was called Army of Darkness?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=173797&highlight=octopussy+discuss) ---
**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 23, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/26 "2013-07-23T01:47:14Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t think Ebert intended to knock movies featuring zeppelins with this rule, not because the type of gas really matters in a movie Oh, well, then, UP. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/27 "2013-07-23T01:58:39Z")
**Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines** features a dual between a Frenchman and a German while in teathered baloons. Once again the quality of the film may well come into question, but it was entertaining. Anything with Stuart Whitman, Gert Frohm and Bennie Hill has to be entertaining. ---
**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 23, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/28 "2013-07-23T02:08:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. 11 Harrow House? ---
**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 23, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/29 "2013-07-23T13:33:00Z")
How could I have forgotten this one? **The Adventures of Mark Twain** , a Will Vinton Claymation feature, has as its central plot an attempt by Twain to catch up with Halley’s comet in a powered hot-air balloon. Excellent film, but someone whose work was, I think, underappreciated (think of an American version of Aardman animation), highlighting several of the lesser-known works of one of my favorite authors (the _Captain Stormfield_ segment alone makes the filom worth watching). There are portions of it on YouTube, and the entire film has been released on VHS and DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/30 "2013-07-23T19:09:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How could I have forgotten this one? **The Adventures of Mark Twain** , a Will Vinton Claymation feature, has as its central plot an attempt by Twain to catch up with Halley’s comet in a powered hot-air balloon. Excellent film, but someone whose work was, I think, underappreciated (think of an American version of Aardman animation), highlighting several of the lesser-known works of one of my favorite authors (the _Captain Stormfield_ segment alone makes the filom worth watching). There are portions of it on YouTube, and the entire film has been released on VHS and DVD. Ah yes, with the [pants-shitting scene](http://youtu.be/diVqham5cKA) where they meet death. I can’t imagine watching that as a child. ---
**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 23, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/31 "2013-07-23T22:46:06Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Ah yes, with the [pants-shitting scene](http://youtu.be/diVqham5cKA) where they meet death. I can’t imagine watching that as a child. It’s not Death. The scene is a kinda-sorta adaptation of _The Mysterious Stranger_, a Twain clasic, and the angel, as he says himself, is “Satan”. He has no Moral Sense, so he innocently commits mayhem and destruction without realizing it. This issue of Moral Sense was a big one for Twain, and shows up in other works. He was just taking his childhood training about the moral universe and following it through to a logical conclusion. Helluva good segment of that film. Sorry it didn’t work for you. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/32 "2013-07-23T22:49:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not Death. The scene is a kinda-sorta adaptation of _The Mysterious Stranger_, a Twain clasic, and the angel, as he says himself, is “Satan”. He has no Moral Sense, so he innocently commits mayhem and destruction without realizing it. This issue of Moral Sense was a big one for Twain, and shows up in other works. He was just taking his childhood training about the moral universe and following it through to a logical conclusion. > > Helluva good segment of that film. Sorry it didn’t work for you. Oh it worked, I thought it was great. I just can’t imagine watching it as a child, which I was not in 1985. ---
**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 24, 2013, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/33 "2013-07-24T07:21:15Z")
I also loved _The Adventures of Mark Twain_—and I _did_ watch it as a kid in the 1980s. I do remember think it was a _tad_ freaky, true. But this was also on the network that ran _Return to Oz_, the _Unico_ movies, and Rankin-Bass’ Tolkien films. Yow. Heh…checking some screenshots, out of curiosity, it appears the balloons in _Those Magnificent Men…_, _Mysterious Island_, and _Around the World in 80 Days_ were all hydrogen/helium lifted. As well as the house from _Up_. Perhaps we can chalk them cheating the hot-air-balloon-curse to some sort of eerie mystic reason; or perhaps to having more technical pedants in the production teams, and thus indicative of more attention being paid to the film overall. Or coincidence. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/34 "2013-07-24T08:24:33Z")
Non-hot air? “Master of the World,” 1961. ---
**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 24, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/35 "2013-07-24T09:53:24Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Non-hot air? “Master of the World,” 1961. Afraid not. The _Albatross_ from Jules Verne’s _Robur the Conqueror_ (which the movie was _really_ based on\*) was an _aeronef_ – a heavier-than-air flying machine kept aloft by a huge number of rotors, like a super-helicopter\*\*, bot a balloon at all. In the book, however, there IS a balloon. I cannot recall if it is gas or hot air, though. Can’t recall if that made it into the movie, either. (Evidently it did, based on the poster: [Master of the World (1961 film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_World_(1961_film)) ) - Robur came back in the sequel, _Master of the World_, which I guess they figured had a catchier title.Robur’s machine in that was a supercraft that could travel at high speed on land, in the air, on the water, or under it (therefore making this Verne’s _fourth_ novel with a submarine). This craft was called _The Terror_ [Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet] "Everybody got that? Good![/RMaDH] \*\*The mind boggles at the amount of fuel (or electricity) that would be needed to keep The Albatross aloft. Verne very cleverly had Robur build his Albatross of _composites_ – not metal or wood — because the material was both tough and strong and light. He din’t call it that – the word hadn’t been invented yet – but that’s clearly what it was, from his description. The material consisted of randomly oriented fibers inside a matrix that was cast and cured under high pressure. Apparently it was used as a substitute for steel in railroad wheels in Verne’s day. I’ve mentioned to Aero and Astro Engineering professors abiout this early example of composites as a material for flight, and none of them had ever heard about it. And this was almost 20 years before the Wright Brothers built their airplane out of wood and canvas. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/36 "2013-07-24T10:16:06Z")
Geek nitpick, the balloons in Mysterious Island and Around the World would be Hydrogen filled not Hot Air balloons. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/37 "2013-07-24T10:54:22Z")
I very recently watched Buster Keaton’s _Balloonatic_, although I’m not convinced it’s one of his better films. The title is a bit of a giveaway, but the balloon only features in brief parts of the film (mostly it’s about camping). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/38 "2013-07-24T10:57:50Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > [Night Crossing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082810/?ref_=sr_1) This is what I came to say. When it showed in the theaters, a local hot air balloon club had a gondola in the lobby, and info about the club, and ballooning in general. I joined up for two or three years, and crewed at the annual rally. When I crewed for an out of town pilot I got a free ride! ---
**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 24, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/39 "2013-07-24T13:10:09Z")
Cool! I helped set up OKC’s balloon fest for a couple of years and got to join in with a couple of teams. Most movies with hot air balloons in them barely get even the basics right. That movie was all about the balloon. It could’ve been listed in the credits as a major character. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166/40 "2013-07-24T14:52:26Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > **Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines** features a dual between a Frenchman and a German while in teathered baloons. Once again the quality of the film may well come into question, but it was entertaining. Anything with Stuart Whitman, Gert Frohm and Bennie Hill has to be entertaining. I think those were lighter-than-air balloons. You may recall that, after he had shot down the Frenchman, the German stood up - and punctured his balloon with the spike on top of his helmet. That wouldn’t affect a hot-air balloon. And, of course, both balloonists landed in the manure pile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-featuring-hot-air-balloons/664166.md?page=3)