FeistyUpper
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
sddavis63
Everyone's familiar with the Hindenburg disaster. "Oh the humanity" (cried out by radio reporter Herbert Morrison as he reported on the crash live) has entered our vocabulary when horrible things happen (or when flightless turkeys are dropped from a helicopter, as in WKRP in Cincinnati.) In any event, no one really knows why the Hindenburg crashed. The most widely accepted hypothesis is an electrical spark caused by a buildup of static electricity. This movie goes in a different direction. It emphasizes the sabotage theory - a theory rejected by both German and American investigators, but nevertheless tailor made for conspiracy enthusiasts and movie making.The movie's pretty well done. It has a feel of authenticity to it. I know about the Hindenburg disaster, but I never really had a sense of what the Hindenburg was like for its passengers. The movie gives us a pretty good sense of what it would be like to be a passenger on such an airship. It's not as luxurious as an ocean liner, apparently, but it would have been a pretty exciting voyage. I liked the sets, and the bit of a picture we get of how the airship flew. That was all well done.There's a large cast of characters in this, headed by George C. Scott playing Col. Ritter, a Luftwaffe intelligence officer who's assigned as head of security for the ship. The sabotage angle is played up with that character, plus a Gestapo agent who's both helping him and watching him, in that delightful fashion Nazi Germany had. Both suspect sabotage; both are looking. As is normal with this kind of movie, there are all sorts of possible suspects on board the ship, and no particular reason to suspect one above any other. In that sense, the movie lost a bit of an opportunity to create more suspense by giving away the identity of the saboteur maybe half way through. Ritter turned out to be anti-Nazi enough to be willing to let the sabotage happen, as long as it didn't endanger the passengers. In the end, the real tension comes from the fact that the Hindenburg's landing at a Naval Air Station in New Jersey was delayed, meaning that the bomb would go off before the passengers disembarked, unless Ritter could stop it - which, of course, he couldn't.The movie has a good cast. Aside from Scott, there's Ann Bancroft and Burgess Meredith and Charles Durning among others. There's even a bit of humour thrown in as a pianist and acrobat on board put on a show for the passengers and crew that turns out to be a shot at the Nazis, poking fun at Hitler and the party with a song called "There's A Lot To Be Said For The Fuhrer." In the end, the portrayal of the fire and crash of the airship is extremely dramatic and well done."The Hindenburg" is an interesting movie. It's highly speculative, but if you're interested in the sabotage theory, this presents at least one plausible sabotage scenario to consider. (6/10)
edwagreen
A very good disaster film of 1975 when the films depicting disasters during that decade were often quite wood.The film uses the idea that the disaster was caused by sabotage, with a slew of passengers on board who happened to have motives for causing this wreck.George C. Scott portrays the German official in charge of watching everything going on as a letter written by a seer had predicted such an explosion. Scott is resolute but has a heart as his son had recently died, falling off a German synagogues while painting the hated swastika on one.Once he is aware of the plot, he joins in. Anne Bancroft as the Countess is wonderful as she depicts the Germany that was while fleeing to supposedly see her deaf daughter who is being educated in the U.S.The footage done in black and white showing the aftermath after the explosion is realistic to the core.
pantagruella
I do not mind disaster movies but I'm uncomfortable with films based on real events. I've avoided this film for years and years.My principal reason for finally watching almost all of it is George C Scott. My partiality for this actor comes from Exorcist III. I have seen him in other films and he seems to bring a great deal to any role he takes.There were other names in the cast list that caught my eye, a young William Atherton, Burgess Meredith in near Penguin mode, Gig Young close to the end of his life and just before Game of Death, Charles Durning, as a captain an a half.Some people said it was slow-going, that we all wanted to see the burning. No, not me. I enjoyed the slow journey across the Atlantic. An expert poster mentioned the great detail of the recreation of The Hindenberg. Without any knowledge I felt that I got a real feeling of that kind of travel. There's are even some brief lines that pin down what a remarkable way to travel it is or must have been. Those words come from the Countess.The trickiest thing for me to explain is the handling of the German characters. The war ended nearly seventy years ago, but it still seems important for film-makers to demonise the Nazis to the maximum, even though we all know history is written by the victors. This film allows us to see some shades of difference between the German characters.Ritter gets to distance himself from the Gestapo but also explains that he can't run away from his nation. I like the captain's polite interruption of the song mocking the Nazis. Many posters have objected to the clunky script. This film is thirty- nine years old. The script seems interesting, more so than most incoherent expletive-filled scripts of the current decade. It's a mild whodunit, I suppose. One poster mentions that the final discovery of the bomb is rather badly handled. But earlier in the film I thought the language of those trying to preserve the airship was rather crisp, thorough and pointed.
Michael_Elliott
The Hindenburg (1975) ** (out of 4)If you listen to most critics, THE HINDENBURG is the worst disaster movie ever made but I personally wouldn't go that far. The film tells a somewhat fictionalized account of what happened on the mighty ship's voyage to America, which turned out to be its last. The film's main focus is a man played by George C. Scott who begins to think that there's something not right going on. THE HINDENBURG was a hit with crowds back when it was released and it won a couple Oscar's for its special effects but I don't think there's any question that there are quite a few flaws scattered throughout this thing. The key to most disaster movies is that we're introduced to the cast, we like the cast, a disaster happens and then we see the likable cast try to survive the disaster. That doesn't happen here because the disaster doesn't happen until the final minutes of the moment and everyone going into this film knows what's going to happen. This "thriller" simply doesn't have any thrills because you know the disaster is going to be the final thing and everything leading up to it is just a bunch of dialogue that really adds up to nothing. None of the stories we're told or the characters we're introduced to really mean anything because we know what we're waiting for. I'm really not sure how they could have told this story better but perhaps have the disaster happen at the middle point and then the rest of the film focus on an investigation? I'm not sure but there's just not enough drama or thrills here to sustain a 125-minute running time. The performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. Scott is certainly good in his role and we get nice support from the likes of Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Gig Young, Burgess Meredith and William Atherton. The special effects are quite good but director Robert Wise's choice to switch things over to B&W during the final moments was a little strange. THE HINDENBURG isn't a good movie but I think fans of the genre will at least want to watch it once.
