In late 2019, Amazon decided to conduct a small-scale screening of "Hot Air Balloon Aviator" in a new model of streaming, a work for the big screen, which was hastily put on the Prime Video platform after only two weeks of screening in some theaters.
However, in the Chinese film market, which is gradually recovering after the epidemic, the fate of "Hot Air Balloon Aviator" has ushered in a new turning point, and domestic audiences now have the opportunity to enjoy this adventure work with amazing special effects on the big screen.
"Hot Air Balloon Pilot"
In the midst of victorian uproar and commotion, "The Balloon Aviator" opens in a lively way.
Under the circus tent-like ornate hot air balloon "Mammoth," James Glaeser, a young meteorologist in desperate need of proof, is impatiently watching the grand performance of her flight partner, Emilia Ryan.
Dressed in a colorful dress, Emilia is both a brilliant pilot and a great entertainer, lifting hot air balloons into the air amid fireworks and crowd cheers, and abandoning pet dogs in parachutes to catch the eye.
A series of fancy actions efficiently render the differences between the two traveling companions, and point out the spectacle nature that cannot be ignored in the hot air balloon sailing in the context of the times.
Next, Amelia and James's flight to a height of 10,000 meters will live up to expectations to show thrilling and spectacular spectacles, and we in front of the screen are a hundred times more fortunate than the group of people on the ground with their necks on their backs.
In 1862, meteorologist James Gleicher and pilot Henry Coxwell set off from London and flew a hot air balloon to an altitude of nearly 12,000 meters. The trip not only broke the world record for the altitude of a hot air balloon at the time, but also provided valuable data for James Gleischer's groundbreaking weather forecasting research.
The film "Hot Air Balloon Pilot" is based on this inspiring true event. However, due to the dramatic effect and character tension, director Tom Hubble and screenwriter Jack Thorne have carried out a lot of fiction and mixing on the basis of real history.
In the treatment of the main characters, the film demotes James Glaeser, who was 53 years old at the time of the record, to an unrecognized young scholar, while James's partner Henry Coxville is replaced by the fictional character Emilia, who has the shadow of several female adventurers of her generation.
At the same time, in terms of plot setting, in order to make the journey in the film compact and thrilling enough, the choreographers borrowed dangers and beautiful scenery from many other hot air balloon journeys of the period to make a climactic hot air balloon flight highlight;
The flashback plot of the ground world interspersed with it completes the dilemmas and previous affairs of the two protagonists in the form of a pseudo-biopic, creating a possibility for the chemical reaction between the two.
The passage of the aerial adventure is undoubtedly the part of "Hot Air Balloon Aviator" that is the most valuable part of the fare. Storms, low temperatures, lack of oxygen, and various dangers challenge the physiological limits of the protagonist, and constantly awaken the audience's double fear of height and harsh natural conditions.
With the blessing of special effects, when Emilia struggles to climb or hang in the air, and the frost and wind and rain under her feet or the suburbs of London loom in the clouds, the audience will surely open their mouths and be restless on the edge of the seat.
And in the gap between the three major crises for the protagonists to breathe, nature has replaced itself with another tender face, rewarding the rising scholars and adventurers after breaking records. Under the doors of the open sky, the sun, the sea of clouds, the butterflies, the stars, there is the purest silence and the beauty of nature that cannot be described by data.
Perhaps because the air journey is too thrilling and beautiful, interspersed with flashback passages, it is a bit boring and pale in comparison, and the protagonists' dilemma settings and the supporting role branches around them are not lacking in deliberate clichés, like the bulky dragging force under the rising air balloon.
James's dilemma of not being recognized by the academic community is shown with a slight understatement. In an era when weather was widely considered unpredictable, the intoxicated James was met with blank stares and public ridicule from his colleagues all day long, so there was an urgent need for this hot air balloon journey to prove himself. Next to him stood two overly functional supporting characters: his friend who spoke abruptly to the sky, and his ailing father, who had taught James stargazing.
Emilia's story is relatively full.
In an accident two years ago, Emilia's explorer husband fell into the void in front of her eyes in order to reduce the weight of the hot air balloon, and Emilia has been devastated with guilt and longing ever since. Emilia's side, followed by a sister who is always worried, is always a reminder of emilia society's doubts and tolerance for her status as a female adventurer.
However, despite the lack of novelty, these indispensable flashbacks still complete the tasks of the play. With this background information, when the camera is turned from the ground back to the small hanging basket, the choices and pursuits of the two protagonists to continue to climb become reasonable.
From the moment Emilia and James appear, the film emphasizes the intolerable differences between them. One of them is a scientist, one is an explorer, one is restrained and one is outgoing, he emphasizes theory, and she is good at practice.
However, as the hot air balloon gradually rises to the sky, the complementarity and similarity between them is revealed under the starlight.
In an era of the Second Industrial Revolution, where science and adventure were meant to be two sides of the same coin, Amelia and James were equally enthusiastic and purely curious in the face of the untouched new frontiers of the stratosphere overhead.
Eddie Redmaine and Felicity Jones, who played the Hawkings in "The Theory of Everything", reunited after five years and showed a natural and tacit understanding that others could not match in "Hot Air Balloon Aviator".
There is no conventional romantic spark between Emilia and James, but there is a moving respect and understanding, she teaches him to appreciate the natural beauty of snowflakes falling, and he trusts her notebook and his life.
But unfortunately, the two excellent actors did not get the same space to play. Although James's sheer obsession with atmospheric science and the lack of oxygen in his particular physical state may explain some of his stubborn and lack of common sense in his dangerous behavior, the role of James is still a few points less pleasing to the backdrop of the calm and capable Emilia.
In one of the most important action scenes in the film, the low temperature of minus fifteen degrees freezes the valve at the top of the hot air balloon, james unconsciously curls up in the corner of the hanging basket, and it is Emilia who is bare-handed, at a height of 10,000 meters, struggling to climb along the ice-filled outer layer of the hot air balloon to the top to rescue the two.
At the beginning of the release of "The Balloon Pilot", many commentators questioned the film's substitution of the historical character Henry Coxville for a fictional female character as a flattering and deliberate political correctness. In response, director Tom Hubble has responded that changing the gender of the protagonist is just a natural creative choice.
When writing the screenplay, he and the screenwriter wanted to make the relationship between the protagonists more interesting, and happened to be fascinated by sophie Blanchard, a legendary female hot air balloon pilot who was active in the early 19th century, and finally had the brave and determined Emilia in the film.
Because in the real event, it was pilot Henry who solved the crisis of the valve freezing, and in "Hot Air Balloon Pilot", it was natural for Emilia to enjoy this highlight moment.
Leaving aside the creative intentions of the creators, the treatment of the two protagonists in "Hot Air Balloon Aviator" completely excludes Henry Coxville, who has made heroic acts in real history, from the story, and indeed seriously weakens the James Gleischer in the film, making the two protagonists of the two peers unbalanced. This is probably the biggest flaw that Hot Air Balloon Aviator can't get around.
But when we're familiar with weather forecasting and CG technology for granted, works like The Hot Air Balloon Aviator can turn us back into the group of people who know nothing about the atmosphere gathered at the Mammoth's departure point, looking up at two lonely pioneers rising into the air and heading into no man's land.
Since then, the boundaries of human intellect have been expanded, and the stars are no longer far away from us.