Product Review

In the fall of 1979, one of history's most ingenious and courageous flights to freedom took place when two families fled from Communist East Germany to the West in their own handcrafted hot air balloon. Starring John Hurt (HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE), Jane Alexander (THE CIDER HOUSE RULES), and Beau Bridges, Walt Disney Pictures brings to the screen this remarkable true story of the Strelzyk and Wetzel families and their daring, death-defying escape.|Moved by accounts of two East German families' daring escape to the West in a hot air balloon, Disney executives urged their European editor to pursue film rights to the story. She did, and eventually, the two families flew to California to provide background material for the story -- and to enjoy a free trip to Disneyland, of course!