The Balloonists

The dream to circle the globe in a balloon dates back to the 1870s when Jules Verne floated the idea as fiction. Over a hundred years later, that feat remained unfulfilled even after men had walked on the moon. The Balloonists tells the adventure of the competitors who pursued the elusive dream.

Filmmaker John Dower focuses his narrative in the 1990s when the race intensified among competitors to be the first in history. He taps into a rich archive that captures all the highs and lows on camera. Virgin mogul Richard Branson was among the highly publicized aeronauts to encounter successive failures. The perils were numerous: technical malfunctions, changing winds, severe storms, ice formation, and the threat of certain countries shooting down unauthorized aircrafts.

Central to this story is the Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard who became obsessed with hot air balloons as a boy. He was driven to match the legacy of his father, Jacques Piccard, a renowned inventor and explorer. Bertrand partnered with the English pilot Brian Jones on the custom-built Breitling Orbiter 3.

Virtual strangers, the men made an odd couple, with diverging personality traits that were both essential for the mission. Jones’ wife Joanna was his typical partner in the sky, but this time she would play a key role on the ground crew. The emotional stakes rise as she watches her husband lift off, not knowing if they’ll ever see each other again. The defiance of the odds brings to mind the documentary Man on Wire. Even if you know the ending, it’s white-knuckle suspense at every step.

THOM POWERS