Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully photographed and very well directed!
Review: I haven't seen the widescreen version of this film yet, but I still love the movie. I had heard of this film, but didn't think anything of it until I saw the end of it on cable one morning. I remember that I was always fond of those old zeppelins, so I decided to rent the movie. Amazing special effects by veteran special effects maker Albert Whitlock that won on of the films two Oscars, beautiful Oscar nominated photography by veteran cinematographer Robert L. Surtees, a beautiful and memorable score by David Shire, and brilliant directing by Citizen Kane editor, Oscar winning director Robert Wise. I hope to have this DVD version of this wonderful film, so that I can see its real splendor.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a disaster all right
Review: I know this isn't considered a "great" or even "good" film, but because of my intense interest in the real disaster I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for it. The crash at Lakehurst New Jersey in 1937 ended the era of lighter-than-air travel. Not having seen the film in many years, I decided to rent it when it appeared on DVD. Sad to say, the movie is even worse than I remembered. I'm a big fan of director Robert Wise, special effects guru Albert Whitlock, actor George C. Scott and many of the other people who worked on the picture, but this is a cookbook recipe of How Not To Make A Movie. The tone is far too serious and portentious. Typical of '70s soap opera-y disaster flicks, there are too many characters with too many problems that really aren't problems at all (or at least, not interesting ones). There are many red herrings, and after a while, like with the boy who cried wolf, we stop paying attention. Hacking away a few of these "subplots" would have made the film leaner and more interesting. (You could leave all of Burgess Meredith and Rene Auberjonois' scenes in the cutting room.) In films like these, the supporting actors tend to be either up-and-coming or fading fast, and most of those here are the latter. Anne Bancroft is underused as the Countess--they can't seem to decide whether to give Ritter a love interest or not. Roy Thinnes is as plausible as a Gestapo agent as Brad Pitt is as a friend of the Dali Lama. And it seems to me they tried to give William Atherton a "devilish" quality that falls flat, probably because Atherton, for all his good looks, has all the charisma of buttered bread. The American officials at Lakehurst and Washington are straight from Central Casting--gruff-but-lovable lugs who just want to see the "flying gas kettle" land safely. (Did the film have to mention one more time that the ship was filled with deadly and explosive hydrogen? Did anyone going into the theater *not* already know that?) About the only mildly interesting supporting cast members are the German captains--Richard Dysart as Earnst Lehman and Charles Durning as Max Pruss have a few mildly memorable moments. Also slightly amusing is Robert Clary as a flaky German acrobat, in part because there was indeed such a character on board the real ship, who was initially the prime suspect in the disaster. (He was quickly cleared.) Which brings us to George Patton--err, I mean George C. Scott. He seems to be thinking about his golf game most of the time--his performance is phoned in, as were many of his performances after Patton. But what bothers me more is the real spine of the story really doesn't emerge till the move is about 75 percent over. I think the film would have been better if they'd junked most of the silly passenger subplots and concentrated on Ritter being torn between service to and love for his country and the fact that the Nazis are becoming big-time pains in the shorts. As it is, we've long figured out what's going to happen by the time Ritter does, if we're still awake. And by then, it seems neither he nor we care. Oh, and did I mention they make waaaay too much of the Kathie Rauch letter? As for the visuals, they are very good for 1975 (The takeoff is particularly effective), though in retrospect one can see obvious mattework and multiple exposures. Notice how whenever there's a process shot at Lakehurst or Frankfurt, we see moving figures in the lower part of the screen and the matte paintings in the upper half, but the two sections never cross--the screen is literally cut in two. Today people and vehicles would freely mingle with objects that aren't really there, such as airships, but that was a lot harder back then. As for those who complain that they chickened out by switching to real footage of the crash in the last moments, recreating something that complex would have been impossible in 1975 (they briefly considered it) as well as incredibly costly and dangerous, and I'm not convinced it could even be done today. Some other positives are David Shire's score--beautiful and faintly nostalgic in the airship sections, a bit heavy-handed in the "Nazi" sections. Costumes and sets are very impressive and as far as I can tell accurate down to the last detail. The landing sequence is interesting just to watch how a crew really landed an 800-foot Zep. (If you've been to Friedrichshafen recently and taken a ride on board the new Zeppelin NTs, you'll know how differently these craft handle today.) If the visuals are well-done, the presentation is not. This has to be the worst transfer to DVD I've ever seen--was this the best copy Universal had in their vaults, or did they just not look very hard? The picture is scratched and grainy; contrasts are bad, and colors are faded--everyone is a little green in the gills. (Or do the actors just look vaguely ill from being trapped in this turkey?) But there's more. The sound is poorly mixed--the voices are too low, the airship roar too loud. Then at the end the volume of everything suddenly gets very very loud. And despite this being presented in widescreen, and despite my having a widescreen TV, the edges of the credits are slightly cropped. There are virtually no extras, not even a trailer. Just a few slates that you can click through containing background info on the production. Given the technical award the film justly won, you'd think they'd include a gallery of production stills at the very least. But it would seem Universal is not too proud or fond of this movie. And it's hard to blame them. Much like the event it portrayed, the picture was a disaster that helped bring about the end of an era--in this case, the era of big-budget, glossy disaster epics. So at least the destruction of the Hindenburg served some good!
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie to watch once
Review: I loved this the first time that I saw it. It was a suspensful, almost detective-like movie, with George C. Scott trying desperately to figure out who's got the bomb. For me, once I had seen it once and knew who the bomber was, it was difficult for me to be fully interested while sitting through it again. That said, the special effects were quite good for an old movie like this. It is interesting to see a huge airship in action on the screen. The movie also had a good number of well-established as well as up-and-coming actors. Finally, the explosion scene at the end was interesting. Even though it lasted a while, genuine footage of the original crash in the scene was worth the price of the movie alone. Producer Robert Wise (of "The Sound of Music") has given us another look at incidents of pre-WWII times. I wouldn't say that this is historically accurate, though. Most evidence (both in the 1930's as well as in the present day) points to static electricity and the airship's highly flammable outer cover as the culprit. This movie takes the more sensational option of a bomber. Still, if you haven't seen this, it's worth your while to watch it once.
Rating:
Summary: A lost classic is found
Review: I never even heard of this movie until I saw it on AMC. What a film. ...First of all the movie is not about the Hindenburg disaster. Unlike 'Titanic' it's not about the crash. 'Hindenburg' is a suspense mystery. Germany learns the Hindenburg will be destroyed before it reaches New Jersy. But instead of canceling the flight, they send it George C. Scott as a spy to find the bomber on board. 'Hindenburg' gives us many interesting suspects. I can see why it won for best FX. Back when they used models and super imposing before this computer animation crap. Suprisingly after 2 hours of great FX, they cheap out at the end and go to black and white so they can splice in that famous footage of the crash. Cheesy, bust as I said the movie isn't about the crash. It's also interesting to see how we were once on good terms with the Nazis. Yeah we even had the Olympics there. If you want a great suspense film with great production quality, this is it. Look else where for big explosions.
Rating:
Summary: Excational use of Matte Paintings.
Review: Most of the special effects in this movie were models and matte paintings done by Albert Witlock, who was an oscar winning artists of paintings and whose work appears (sometimes uncredited) in various movies. Hindenburg was I think his best work. Before CGI, there were matte paintings, and many of them were very good, just like this picture was..
Rating:
Summary: Well researched and stylishly filmed
Review: Ok, so it's not The Poseidon Adventure, however it's better than some viewers have implied it is. The movie does focus around a sabotage attempt, which is still considered by many to be a plausible cause of the accident, however the film does not take the liberty of undeniably concluding that a bomb, or single saboteur cause the disaster. The sets are impressive. If you've seen pictures of the actual interior of the Hindenburg, you will certainly appreciate the level of detail taken to authenticate the ship. The period costumes (especially Bancroft's) are good too. The disaster sequence was shot in black and white so that actual news reel footage of the event could be incorporated in. That footage is especially chilling to watch since you can see the actual passengers and crew (some on fire) jumping from the ship as it crashes. George C. Scott does a fine job as the colonel assigned by the German government to protect the ship, and Anne Bancroft is intriguing as the witty refer puffing countess. Look for Katherine Helmond (Soap's Jessica Tate) in a rare non-comedic roll.
Rating:
Summary: This movie is better then many people give it credit.
Review: Robert Wise gave us a very thrilling/detective story in this movie that puts fourth the theory that the 1937 Hindenburg disaster was caused by a bomb. Although the screenplay does suffer a bit, the strength of this movie rests on the performances of the actors led by George C. Scott, the attention to detail on how the big German airship really looked, the special effects being used rather effectively when the airship is destroyed, and the musicial score by David Shire. That makes this a good movie to own.
Rating:
Summary: Authentic-looking film, ok transfer.
Review: THE HINDENBURG is loosely based on Michael Mooney's book in which he advances his sabotage theory about the destruction of the LZ129. Robert Wise directed this film with an eye to accuarcy of detail -- at least for the airship. Accurate details include the bust of Hindenburg aboard the ship, Lehmann's accordian-playing ability, the exitence of Zeppelinheim housing mentioned in passing, designs of the ship's interior and passenger cabins, smoking and dining areas. The vast interior of the ship is well portrayed as is the weighing off. We get a good idea of the scale involved. Some liberties have been taken with facts in order to make the film more dramatic. There was an aluminum-body piano aboard the Hindenburg, but not on its last voyage. There was an in-flight repair made, but on another trip of another airship. The film itself looks great with solid performances by its cast. But it falls short of greatness. Perhaps it's the pacing or perhaps it's the script? Nevertheless, this is the single film which has attempted to accurately portray some aspects of passenger travel aboard the Hindenburg. And it does a pretty good job of it. The DVD itself has an average transfer. This disk is not 16x9 enhanced -- a pity. The claimed 2.35 widescreen image has been abbreviated to about 2.0 -- witness the cutoffs of a few names in the opening credits on the left and right, the occasional trimming of the airship's tail at the edge of the frame, and the occasional head-crops when people are at opposite ends of the widescreen. The laserdisc release has a wider image -- the Hindenburg needs it! The sound mix is generally good but is off in a few places. In some scences of the ship's interior the engine sound is loud enough to almost drown out the dialog -- which is not being shouted. A comparison to the same scenes on laserdisc will reveal that the DVD could use a sound remix. Extras are minimal. And where are those weblinks? A separate section for David Shire's excellent film score along with the original main title vocals would have been most welcome. Commentary by the director, film crew and/or airship experts would give us some background to what we're seeing on film. I've read that Universal deleted a lot of Hindenburg SFX footage when the film was initialy released in 1975 -- that would have been fun to see. A documentary about airships would have enhanced the disk as well. BTW, last year a rocket scientist brought attention again to the fact that the outer covering of the hydrogen-filled LZ129 was doped with a substance that included flamable aluminmum powder --thereby promoting another theory. Maybe the next movie team to tackle this subject will contact the AIRSHIP-listserv and get some expert advice. Overall, a very good film. And yes, I'd buy the Special Edition if they make one.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic genre film
Review: This "red-headed step child" of the disaster genre will really only appeal to fans of the formula (like myself, I confess!), conspiracy theorists or aviation history buffs.
Great stars are wasted in a historical fiction melodrama HEAVY on the fiction. William Atherton turns in the best performance as a Nazi resistance crew member, while everyone else hams it up admirably hoping to duplicate Shelley Winters's success in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE.
The last 15 minutes, however, are spectacularly well done by director Wise, Editor and the special effects department.
Unfortunately, Universal missed the opportunity to include any interesting special features related to zeppelin travel, the Hindenberg catastrophe or the important, frenetic history of the time. Shame on them!
Rating:
Summary: Gripping Final Moments
Review: This fictionalized account of the real life disaster takes a while to get going, but does deliver some good scenes in the final third of the film. George C. Scott is a Nazi colonel sent aboard the Hindenburg due to threats made about its voyage. He is joined by a cast of familiar actors, including Anne Bancroft as a bitter German countess. As was typical with disaster films of the Seventies, there are several small stories involving the various passengers, but none of them are particularly interesting. I found the set up scenes for the bombing plotline confusing to follow. The film's strength is the terrific set pieces for the Hindenburg and its final thirty minutes. The actual explosion doesn't feature the level of special effects we're used to seeing, but since it combines real footage of the disaster, it made a strong impact on me. By no means a great film, The Hindenburg is salvaged by its final moments and by the audience's knowledge that it really did happen, although perhaps not for the reasons presented in the movie.
| 
