Genre: Action, Adventure, Biography
Rated: PG- 13
Year of Release: 2019
Director: Tom Harper
Summary: In 1862, pioneering meteorologist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) teams up with daredevil balloon pilot Amelia Rennes (Felicity Jones) to advance human knowledge of the weather and fly higher than anyone in history. While their voyage to the very edge of existence helps the unlikely pair find their place in the world, they face physical and emotional challenges in the thin air, as the ascent becomes a fight for survival.
Review
This movie is visionary stunning. There are some nice long shots of the hot air balloon flouting in the sky. It a tight knit drama that at times move slowly but, every now and then there some actions to keep the story from lagging.
Redmayne and Jones work off each other really well. Over time their character dynamic form this bound showing how they came in trusting in each other.
I can imagen the book From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne was loosely inspire by the true events of James Glaisher and Amelia Rennes. The Aeronauts is recommended to those who appreciate history. Without the history it just a movie that has action and drama, feeling a bit shallow.
None the less it an enjoyable movie that deserve an award or two.
IMDb
Fun Facts:
- James Glaisher was a real English meteorologist who is remembered for his pioneering work as a balloonist. Between 1862 and 1866 he made numerous ascents to measure the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere at its highest levels. With his co-pilot aeronaut Henry Tracey Coxwell, they broke the world record for altitude on September 5, 1862. Coxwell is omitted from the film, and replaced with the fictional Amelia Wren. The Wren character draws some inspiration from various real women including Sophie Blanchard, a French aeronaut who was the first woman to work as a professional balloonist between 1804 and her death in 1819.
- Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones actually flew in the gas balloon seen within the film to roughly 8,000 feet, realistically replicating the James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell flight that happened on 5th September 1862.
- The gas balloon was actually launched from Wolverhampton in the midlands not London as depicted in the film. This was due to a fear that if they launched in London they could go off course and land in the river.
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