The Balloonists review – divas and disasters in tale of first round-the-world hot-air balloon flight

What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, The Balloonists review – divas and disasters in tale of first round-the-world hot-air balloon flight, Polite documentary about Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, who faced off much wealthier rivals Richard Branson and Steve Fossett in the race to circumnavigate the globe Here is a blow-by-blow account of the first nonstop round-the-world flight in a hot-air balloon, in 1999. The pilots were not alone; the rivalry to circumnavigate the globe was the 90s equivalent of the billionaire space race, with tycoons Richard Branson and Steve Fossett also chasing the dream . It might have been more interesting to tell that story, but documentary maker John Dower focuses on the winning flight of Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and Englishman Brian Jones , who made their record-breaking 25,000 mile trip across on the Breitling Orbiter 3. It was Piccard’s third attempt. The first was a disaster, with Piccard ditching his balloon in the Mediterranean just hours in: “I felt completely ashamed,” he rememb

Context

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What to watch

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Source

Primary source: The Balloonists review – divas and disasters in tale of first round-the-world hot-air balloon flight via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.