20 Fantastic Blimps, Balloons, And Dirigibles In Movies

11. Island At The Top Of The World (1974)

Island At The Top Of The World
Disney

Walt Disney Pictures was king of the live-action adventure film in the 1960s and 1970s, and this film is a prime example of the style of the time. Based on Ian Cameron’s The Lost Ones but resembling a Jules Verne adventure, the story follows an aristocrat leading a search party for his son who accidentally discovers a lost Viking civilization cut off from the world.

Their vessel on the journey is the Hyperion, a French dirigible piloted by Captain Brieux.

The film has two spectacular Hyperion sequences: the first is a suspenseful mid-air propeller replacement that has the Captain crawling on the outside of the ship secured only with a rope; the second is the explosive and fiery end of the Hyperion as it explodes and crashes to the ground in a special effects sequence rivaling anything in disaster films of the time.

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Chris Vander Kaay knows the hidden secrets of the world, but he frequently forgets them. He has them written on a piece of paper along with his passwords, but he seems to have misplaced that as well.