User reviews

I don't understand the bad reviews. This movie is really worth watching . Well buildup and overall performance.

An enjoyable German thriller telling of a family's attempt to escape from east Germany via hot air balloon, no less. It's one of those true "stranger than fiction" tales that plays out in a surprisingly engrossing and suspenseful way. The action and scale are low key, but the ballooning scenes are handled adroitly and the scenes of the Stasi and their investigations keep the suspense going. Nothing to dislike about a well-made thriller that actually thrills.

'Why do we bother guarding the border? Wouldn't we be better off without those traitors?' This question by a Stasi-official pinpoints the paradox of communism: if a system without freedom would be better than a free society, why would citizens escape this system? The German film 'Ballon' doesn't elaborate on the pros and cons of political systems. Instead, it is a thriller filled with suspense, about two families trying to cross the border between East and West in a home made hot air balloon. The thriller-element is far more important than the political side of the story. The director doesn's shy away from classic Hollywood screenwriting clichés. But he gets away with it. I was gripped by the story, although it's clear that it's made more exciting than it was in reality. The excellent wikipedia-entry 'East German balloon escape' is interesting reading material for those who want to compare the film with reality. Besides being a fine thriller, 'Ballon' also shows very well the effects authoritarian societies have on its citizens. They risk their own lives and those of their young children, in order to stop living in a big lie. Many films have shown the gruesome aspects of East German communism, but once again I was amazed by the cruelty of people oppressing each other.

I saw this film at the theatre this evening and I must admit, it captured and captivated me from the very first scene right up until the final climax.

The language barrier and English subtitles didn't affect the suspense level one bit, quite on the contrary. The fact that it's based on a true story just made it that much more entertaining and worthwhile to see.

The cast is truly "unbelievable", not literally speaking! This film just goes to prove that having a good script, actors and director completely compensates for having a low budget. You don't need a hundred million dollars to make a great movie and this is a fine example.

The plot and characters are so alive and vivid. You can feel their tensions and fears. This is definitely a movie to be seen as a family. The family values displayed are invaluable. Truly inspiring.

This film is based on a true story and recounts an evasion attempt, from GDR to FRG, in 1979 during the Cold War, with two families ballooning over a heavily guarded area, starting from Pößneck, a small town within Thuringia, knowing that the shortest distance as the crow flies to reach Bavaria and the Western Bloc is about 25 km. We may see this movie as a commemoration of the manifold unsuccessful attempts and also, in slight advance, of the 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the German reunification (1990).

It's well played, suspenseful and points up two main issues: 1) The secret preparation of such an expedition, in a country which is supposed to be a republic if one refers naively to the acronym GDR, and which turns out to be a dictatorship controlling every gesture and every word, thanks to the Stasi. 2) Leaving those who are not part of the expedition and who stay in the GDR such as grandparents or friends, in order to start a new life, ex nihilo. Otherwise, even though it might be a part of the same true story, the episode of the cigarette pack and the American embassy is too showy and, in my humble opinion, pollutes the film.

Finally, despite a decade studying German, from college to the end of my studies, I am not sensitive enough to the subtleties of variations of accents between the different Länder, contrary to sh_bronstein, in his review dating from November 2018. Although his rating is harsh, I find that his review is relevant but does not concern me. Fortunately somehow.

How two families engineer their escape from Communist East Germany to the West is excellent on all fronts: a gripping story line, a great director and actors, and the supporting soundtrack. The suspense builds and continues throughout the movie. Plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience engaged.

Great Actors, thrilling action, phantastic film music. Director Michael Herbig finds the right tonality to tell this true story. Must See!

There isn't much bad to write about Ballon. I don't know what people could dislike about this movie. To me it was entertaining, with quite a lot of suspense once you're into the story, a good cast (even the kids), and it's all nicely shot. I understand everybody was suspicious of the Stasi at that time, your best friend could betray you, but in this case I think they exaggerated a bit in order to make it more suspensful. But the suspense was the good thing about the story, plus the fact that it's based on a true story which made it even more appealing. It's one of the better German movies I've seen lately, certainly worth a watch if you like escape movies.

Balloon is a solid and unpretentious movie built around a cat-and-mouse game between infamous Stasi and two families trying to escape East Germany in a home-made hot air balloon. If it weren't based on a true story it would be difficult to believe how much risk some people would be willing to take with the life of their families while their day to day lives weren't really threatened by the system as long as they played along. However, once their initial attempt for escape fails, they realized they were being chased by Stasi and became desperate to flee the country no matter how.

Balloon has an engaging story, good direction, decent acting performance and above-the-average entertainment value. The recreation of 70's East Germany is well-done and convincing. After the first failing attempt, the pace of the movie indeed sags a bit, especially with the Berlin scenes, but it quickly picks up with the tension and drama kept tight till the end. It's worth watching and highly recommended.

Dramatised version of a true story. Great film, well cast and exciting to watch. Considering the events only happened about 40 years ago it's a shocking reminder of how the East/West divide used to be.

One of the better movies I've seen lately is German suspense movie "Balloon". Although released in Germany in 2018, it was released more recently in the US. Directed by Michael Herbig, the editing and pacing are very good as is the excellent background music. Actress Caroline Schuch anchors as the mother "Doris" giving perhaps the most authentic performace, though all actors do well. The balloon scenes are technically done satisfactorily, though best is the torment and anguish the family feels from the regime fueling their desire. The atmosphere of dialog of control and subtle oppression is underscored. 8/10

Eciting from the first Minute til to the end. Great moving Camera, that is engrossing. Impressed and based on a True Story. Powerfull Soudtrack recorded by a real Orchestra. Bully Herbig new Genre Thrill is perhaps the best Movie that he made .I can only recommend.....and support that...

This film portrays the omnipresent white fear of the Communist society perfectly. I feel so sorry for those who lived, or are living, in such circumstances. The story is so intense and engaging, that it got me crying in the end. Beautiful!

The movie Balloon was produced in 2018 and is based on a true story. In the era before the destruction of the Berlin Wall, when the communists dominated East Germany, many East German citizens dreamed of escaping and taking refuge in the western half of Germany. But of course, it was not possible for everyone to realize this dream. Their motivation was to achieve more prosperity and enjoy more social freedoms, the demands that the East German communist government denied its citizens. The film tells the story of the escape of the Strelzik and Wetsel families in September 1979. East German residents Peter Strelzik and Gunter Wetzel try to cross the border using a balloon and bring themselves and their family to West Germany. They have been trying for 18 months to prepare the work. How many times they fail, their first attempt is unsuccessful. Border agents noticed their efforts, but could not discover the identity of the two families.

I believe that movies like 'Balloon' are very necessary. 30 years since passed the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall fell down and the the communist governments in Eastern Europe collapsed. A whole generation was born after this period, grew up and is now at full maturity, a generation that did not know communism in the countries of Eastern Europe, or the cold war in Western Europe and the rest of the world. The history of repression and lack of freedom must be known, because communism may have disappeared, but totalitarianism persists in various forms.

'Balloon' directed by Michael Herbig is a docu-drama that reconstructs on the screen an episode that happened in 1979, ten years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The true story of the two families in the South of the German 'Democratic' Republic who escaped to freedom by flying a hot air balloon was widely publicized at the time, the families enjoyed a well-deserved celebrity after their success, and a movie in Hollywood told the story. Michael Herbig's film tells again the story with the benefit of a closer knowledge of the history and of the realities of everyday life in communist Germany of the period. From this point of view the film is a success, not only by presenting the dull atmosphere of the life of the majority of the population, dominated by fear and propaganda, but also by the fact that it presents the two families in a non-idealized manner, not as heroes but as people who naturally hesitate having to make a tough decision, risking imprisonment and even death to escape living under dictatorship. The real names of the characters are used, which indicates that what we see on the screen intents to be a reconstitution close to the truth of the events that happened 40 years ago.

However, cliches and simplifications cannot be avoided. The episode of the tentive to contact the US embassy in East Berlin is confusing and ends inconclusively. The characters of the Stasi agents are schematic and cartoonish. The finale being known, the action episodes cannot create enough suspense despite the efforts of the scriptwriters and of the director. Acting is correct, but it is also one-dimensional. Reading the real biographies of the families after they managed to get to West Germany, I found out that the two men were arguing before their daring action and shortly after they were released, and they never spoke each other until at the end of their lives. Confronting freedom is not easy for those who have lived their entire lives under dictatorships. Maybe there was an interesting story here, worth exploring, or maybe it's the subject of another movie.

The movie is made in such a great way, that every second of it is a pure pleasure. Great acting, great plot, great actors. For people like me, the story is very touching and personal. During my childhood my father used to talk about being on the east or south of Germany, the harsh regime, and the unhappiness of east Germany citizens. The continuous struggle of people. It just set all emotions up with the history. Pure joy watching this movie!

Incredibly strong movie. I did not expect that with such a simple description it turns out that I, with my experience of watching films and the desire often just to skip many boring moments, I will watch this film in one breath... this is really strong story.

The change from Herbig was worthwhile. You can hardly breathe in the 2 hours of the movie. A brilliant German actor ensemble gives itself the honor. Among others, Thomas Kretschmann, who brilliantly plays the diabolical Stasi lieutenant colonel. Figures with which one can identify oneself exist on both sides. However, it seems completely exaggerated that an IM could be on every corner. In Berlin in front of the hotel and the embassy for sure. But in a small village? However, it is credible that even a deaf party member wants to see West TV. But one immediately thinks of a trap. Likewise, one should be careful with jokes about the party chairman. I am looking forward to more "serious" films by Herbig.

Absolutely stunning in all aspects. The courage of the people who undertook this task is breathtaking.