The Balloonists tells the epic story of the journey taken by Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and British flying instructor Brian Jones as they raced to become the first people to fly nonstop around the world in a balloon.
Back in 1999, it was widely believed that circumnavigating the world in a hot-air balloon was the last great aviation challenge left to be completed. Even though technology had drastically evolved since the Wright brothers’ flight in 1903, no one had managed to fly a balloon around the world nonstop. This meant that there was a lot of competition and a desire to be the first to do so. As more and more teams assembled across the world, it was widely believed that billionaire media mogul Richard Branson, an accomplished balloonist with notable endurance records already under his belt, was widely considered to be the safest bet to do it first.
Instead, this documentary, using a mixture of archive footage and talking heads, explains that it was actually achieved by the lesser-known explorer Bertrand Piccard and a British flying instructor called Brian Jones.
It’s the relationship between these two characters that forms the heart of this documentary, especially given how unlikely their pairing was. For Piccard, it was all about trying to emulate his father and grandfather, two of their generation’s greatest explorers. Whereas for Jones, it was an unforeseen shot at greatness. This dynamic meant that the film is not only an extraordinary adventure story with dramatic twists and turns, but it’s also described by director John Dower as being an ‘unlikely buddy movie‘ between these two men in extreme circumstances. As the story progresses, we learn about their relationship through interviews with both Piccard and Jones, as well as Jo, Brian’s wife and control room team member, Luc, the flight’s meteorologist and Andy, Bertrand’s previous co-pilot and flight engineer, turned rival.
For all its strengths, there are times when The Balloonists feels quite slow-paced. Although they do a good job of elevating the stakes, it does feel hard to fully engage if you’re not a balloonist before watching. There is no denying that what they achieved is an exceptional feat, but I’m not sure it quite does enough to convince new audiences unaware of the story of just how difficult it was. Perhaps it’s just me, but advancements in technology in the last few years have made this almost feel novel to watch in its challenge, which may have lowered its emotional impact.
I really liked a lot of the documentaries that Rise Films, the Oscar and Emmy-winning production company that made this, has produced in the last few years (such as Icarus, George Carlin’s American Dream and All That Breathes), but this one didn’t click for me as much as I was hoping for. For some reason, I couldn’t get Around the World in 80 Days with Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan out of my head when watching, which won’t have helped matters.
Ultimately, The Balloonists just doesn’t have enough wind to carry it through all the way to its intended impact. It’s a strong and fascinating story, but if anything, its retelling unfortunately just doesn’t do enough to make the audience feel the true difficulties of the achievement it’s portraying. It should feel unbelievable in scale when watching, but it feels a little deflated instead.
★★★
The Balloonists is in UK Cinemas from the 22nd May / Bertrand Piccard, Brian Jones / Dir. John Dower / Rise Films / PG
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