20 Fantastic Blimps, Balloons, And Dirigibles In Movies

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

Up (animated film)
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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Up (2009)
 
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Contributor

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.