Les Aéronautes

Original title: The Aeronauts

2019
13
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

40K

YOUR RATING

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in Les Aéronautes (2019)

Pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) find themselves in an epic fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a hot air balloon.

Play trailer1:55

31 Videos

99+ Photos

Dark Comedy Period Drama Action Adventure Drama Romance

A balloon pilot and a scientist find themselves in a fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a gas balloon in the 1860s.A balloon pilot and a scientist find themselves in a fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a gas balloon in the 1860s.A balloon pilot and a scientist find themselves in a fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a gas balloon in the 1860s.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

40K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 11 nominations total

Videos31

Trailer 1:55

Trailer 2

Trailer 2:24

International Trailer

Trailer 2:24

International Trailer

Photos333

+ 327

User reviews448

6.639.7K

Summary

Reviewers say 'The Aeronauts' is visually stunning with strong performances, especially from Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. The adventure and breathtaking visuals are praised, though historical inaccuracies, particularly the fictional female character, draw criticism. Some viewers debate the changes for political correctness. Despite mixed reviews on pacing and script, many find the film enjoyable and inspiring, valuing its entertainment over historical precision.

AI-generated from the text of user reviews

Featured reviews

TxMike

You don't change the world simply by looking at it, you change it through the way you choose to live in it.

I watched this on Amazon Prime streaming. While it was inspired by a real person, James Glaisher who set the early groundwork for understanding and predicting weather, the story told here is a highly fictionalized account of his 1862 ascent by balloon to perhaps 36,000 feet.

Felicity Jones as the fictional pilot and Eddie Redmayne as James Glaisher are both good. Being a scientist myself I was a bit put off by such things as climbing the exterior of the balloon at above 30,000 feet where the air temperature would be somewhere between -50 and -65F, and without gloves! What is depicted here is fantasy.

But what about the good? The production values are high and the action interesting. Plus how many have even heard of Glaisher and his pioneering meteorological studies at a time when other British scientists laughed at him? He was a very important scientist in the history of weather forecasting and contributed to changing the world.

So yeah, it has lots of things it can be legitimately criticized for but still it is an entertaining movie if you are in the right mood. I mostly enjoyed it.

7Mortis-1

Fun, Entertaining, fictitious.

While this does not hold to established history, it does show a fun view of what ballooning in the 1800's might have been like. An entertaining distraction for an evening.

72004Daniel

Good film, bad history.

They've added this character, Amelia Wren, and whilst she isn't like a bad character, she's completely made up, and replaced the actual hero who was Henry Coxwell. Feminism propaganda? Maybe not however it was needless, and then romance between James Glaisher and Ameila Wren was implied at the end which is adding to the fiction in this film which was meant to be based on a true story.

Having said all that, if I take off my history specs and put on my film specs on, there are more positives to look at.

The film switches between past and present. The past looking at how they got to the balloon in the first place, and the present is the journey on the balloon, and the emotional and physical battles they face.

All in all it was an alright effort, definitely entertaining and engaging, and Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones did very well. I'd say worth a watch but if you're a bit touchy with the correctness of the history then I'd give it a miss.

amirmustafaa

Intense and Technically Impressive

The Aeronauts is a very tense and technically brilliant film. Some of the visuals this movie manages to pull off were incredible and the visual effects, stunts, and camera work were so good, I didn't doubt for a second that the characters were in that balloon and one second away from falling to their death. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones also have a very natural chemistry, and while the scenes that take place outside of the balloon were formulaic, they weren't completely insufferable. As far as historical accuracy goes, if I wanted historical accuracy I would read a Wikipedia article. I watch movies for thrills and entertainment, and this move delivers a lot of thrills.

7theologos-13221

Good Fairy tale

The movie is quite enjoyable as a fairy tale. It's supposed to be based on a true story, but to be politically correct Amazon has rewritten history and turned one of the two main characters to a women. It was two men, not a man and women. There is no need to rewrite history. I'd be annoyed if they make a movie about Amelia Earhart and turned her into a man. It's history. Just do the history.

I'd rated this a 9 if they hadn't lied by saying this is based on true events.

The acting is pretty good and the story line is good and it's fairly clean.

Inside the Movie Magic of 'The Aeronauts'

We fly behind the scenes of The Aeronauts to find out how director Tom Harper and his team brought the incredibly detailed world to life.

Watch now

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in "The IMDb Show" On Location: 'The Aeronauts' (2019)

3:23

Trivia
In 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard demonstrated using a parachute as a means of safely disembarking from a hot-air balloon. While Blanchard's first parachute demonstrations were conducted with a dog as the passenger, he later claimed to have had the opportunity to try it himself in 1793 when his hot air balloon ruptured and he used a parachute to descend. Jean-Pierre died from injuries sustained when he fell from his balloon after suffering a heart attack, in 1809. His wife Sophie continued as a solo balloonist after his death. Sophie Blanchard was known to dress distinctively, as to be seen from a distance, gave parachute demonstrations, and specialized in night ascents and fireworks displays. On 6 July 1819, her hydrogen-filled balloon caught fire and crashed into the rooftops of the Rue de Provence, Blanchard fell to the streets below and died. She is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Her tombstone that still stands, was paid by a collect money from the French public and shows a sculpture of a burning balloon and the inscription "Victime de son Art et de son Intrepidite" (Victim of her Art and Intrepidity).

Goofs
Anyone traveling in a balloon never feels the wind, or hears it, because they are advancing at the same speed. Wide shots depict this phenomenon, but in close-ups while aloft, both characters are shown affected by light gusts and the sound of the wind, scientifically inaccurate to the conditions of balloon travel.