Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Edgar Soberon Torchia Having seen the horrendous "The Lost World" (1960) a few weeks ago, I was afraid to revisit "Five Weeks in a Balloon." I had seen both films when originally released, and had a good memory of them (including the title song of this one, which everybody seems to like.) "The Lost World" turned out to be static, with terrible performances by people like Jill St. John and Fernando Lamas, surrounded by fake jungles, caverns, dinosaurs and volcanoes. So when it was "Five Weeks in a Balloon" turn, I had my doubts. Surprisingly, it is quite enjoyable once one overlooks its Hollywood version of African cultures, people and savannas, the stock footage, the (American) propaganda, the balloon being pulled by a thread during a rain storm, or Irwin Allen's handling of action scenes. Allen directed them awkwardly, and made the proceedings look slower than what is actually happening, as the rescue scene in the mesquite or the final scene by a river. In any case, it's a colorful and good looking CinemaScope production, with an interesting cast and many outdoors scenes that make it more attractive than Allen's other movies. By his standards, this may be the film he directed best, leaving his productions "The Poseidon Adventure" or "The Towering Inferno" to more capable hands.

QCJLo A very slow and predictable movie with very little to offer. Although this movie is touted as a comedy, the funniest part was that I actually sat through the whole thing. This feature could have gotten a lot worse had they made it into a musical. I did ironically enjoy the theme song that was heard a couple of times throughout the movie. A little diddy that was sung by The Brothers Four. But I suppose the only redeeming part was the skimpy outfit that Barbara Luna was dressed in throughout most of the movie.Of course, I am by no means a fan of older movies, which probably accounts for my distaste in this one.

Single-Black-Male Apart from the fact that Charles Bennett collaborated with Irwin Allen on this project, there was absolutely nothing at all to extract from this film. I read the novel alongside '80 Days Around the World' by Jules Verne and was deeply offended by his attitude towards the marginalized. By watching the film, I thought Charles Bennett (with his experience of working with Alfred Hitchcock and Cecil B. DeMille) would be able to bring something to the project. Instead, the film was just a continuity of the collaboration between Bennett and his successive producers and directors. The aging Sir Cedric Hardwicke and the insipid Peter Lorre added nothing whatsoever to the entertainment value.

SanDiego Easily the most enjoyable film version of a Jules Verne story "Five Weeks in a Balloon" never slows down it's pace. Awash with color, humor, adventure, exotic sets, and a balloon that looks like it came from the designer of the "Swiss Family Robinson" treehouse, the film keeps up a brisk pace, tells a simple story, and wraps things up in a timely manner. Other reviews mention the rich cast and still manage to miss major performances by Red Buttons and Peter Lorre (that tells you something about the cast). Irwin Allen at his best.