20 Fantastic Blimps, Balloons, And Dirigibles In Movies
18. Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (1965)
Part of the subgenre of the “crazy cross-country chase” films that included The Gumball Rally, The Cannonball Run, and Two-Lane Blacktop, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines is a faux historical adventure about an air race from London to Paris.
The film opens with Red Skelton portraying the history of man’s attempts at air flight, and then the adventure begins. The film boasts a mid-air balloon fight between two contestants, and the sheer number of ridiculous, rickety, completely unsafe, and unreasonable flying contraptions in this film make it an absolute must-watch for fans of steampunk invention and turn-of-the-century innovation.