Review of Night Crossing (1982) by Jude P — 04 Mar 2013

Night Crossing is a Disney production from 1982 Starring John Hurt and Beau Bridges. It's the true story about two families who attempt to flee East German into West Germany in a home made hot air balloon.

It's a fantastic escape movie told with sincerity and maturity. Before the 90s, Disney used to produce some amazing feature films (Third Man on the Mountain, Follow Me Boys, Treasure of Matecumbe just to scratch the surface).

They were often true stories and always informative. I learned a lot from watching these films and I still do. Night Crossing is surprisingly sombre for a Disney film with a young boy being brutally gunned down by border guards within the first 10 minutes of the film, blood and all.

So naturally it's for older kids and I think its acts as a great gateway into the history of German-segretation and the Berlin Wall. John Hurt and Beau Bridges are really good, and Hurt shows a vulnerability that I haven't seen often in his performances.

The one weird thing about the movie is that the actors have British and American accents and it's easy for forget that they're supposed to be from East Germany... and yet all of the East German officials (police, guards etc) have accents.

I guess to sort of vilify them. But the story is fascinating and holds your attention. The film has slipped into obscurity with time but I highly recommend finding a copy and owning it.