The Hindenburg
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Movie Reviews of The Hindenburg
Movie Review: Authentic-looking film, ok transfer.
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Steamships of the Air
Summary: 4 Stars
This film got rocked by the reviewers at it release but actually the photography and snippets of acting and the special effects are really quite good. I think George C. Scott was a superb actor, a little miscast here as Colonel Franz Ritter (a great Luftwaffe pilot forced to do intelligence here for the Nazi SS - never really explained). But Scott is a quality professional given a mediocre script to work with.
The filming (I think those are the LTA hangars at El Toro [Tustin] and Alameda) is really quite well done. I found the change of venue from Milwaukee to Washington to Frankfurt to the flight deck to be not necessarily seamless but still following a logical course. And the New York cops and Feebies are great.
The trouble is that there was no real chemistry to the actors. Patton. . . whoops, Scott and Bancroft and Atherton and Durning say the right words but I was waiting (then and now) for something more visceral.
The second problem is that the goal seems confused as to whether it is going to be an old time police procedural or a disaster movie. I suppose it could be both but it didn't come across well here.
Which leads to the final overwhelming difficulty. You know, even if you've never heard of N.A.S. Lakehurst, the rise of the Third Reich, or zeppelins, what's going to happen. IT'S ON THE COVER OF THE DVD. So that takes some of the wind out of your sails . . . errrr, flammable hydrogen out of your zeppelin.
I thought the filming was excellent; the special effects equally good; everything else? Mediocre. 4 generous stars. Larry Scantlebury
Movie Review: Quite Good Actually
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes, the plot was somewhat shallow, not too much excitement, until the very end of course. You were not afforded the opportunity to bond with any of the characters like you do in Titanic. However, this film gives us the opportunity to see and somewhat experience, what it was like to travel during a long gone era in a giant and luxurious airship. The outside views of this giant and majestic flying machine piercing the clouds, flying over icebergs and its arrival in New York city, coupled with the very good stereophonic staccato of the engines are magnificent. The stereo effect of the creaking interior supporting girders worked very well also. Add to this, the fact that the airship dipicted was not a movie maker's dream, but in fact a real flying machine that actually existed in our history and crossed the Atlantic to both North and South America several times. The fact that the Hindenburg did suffer the tragedy, though probably not for the reasons depicted in the film, also adds to the interest. These things coupled together, more than compensate for whatever lack of plot or other types of excitement there was. The insertion of B&W archival film of the actual disaster, with the actual voice of Herbert Morrison of Chicago's WLS into the final scenes worked very well and reaffirmed the reality of this disaster so many years ago. I gave this film 4 stars only because of the shallow plot and characters. I highly recommend it though. I would love to see a Hindenburg film made with 2000 movie technology and a plot "a la Titanic".Movie Review: George C. Scott as a Nazi!
Summary: 4 Stars
Having George C. Scott as a Nazi was a kick for me. Since this was made not long after PATTON it was fun to see Scott switch sides in this one. Certainly a good cast with many famous actors from yesturday. Ann Bancroft seems like she is re-tooling her role as Mrs. Robinson a little here! The atmosphere of pre-war transatlantic flight via Hindenberg is compelling. Certainly we get lots of great shots of the airship in mid-flight. This was the luxury Jumbo Jet of its day for sure. The reliance on such fragile technology for trans-atlantic flight seems amazing today, but this was the signature item of its time for Germany. More for propaganda than realistic use, the film conveys well the intent the Nazi's had for this purpose. Special effects may pale in comparison to now, and the premise of the Hindenberg's fate certainly is spectualtive, but the film does a nice job showing the period and the great air-ship. Some good characters and a fairly tense plot keep the itnerest. The Hindenberg crash of 1937 could well be regarded as the 9/11 of its time as the shock value was equally great. The speculation that sabotage was responsible for its demise is a great degree of license taken by the director. Still, the supposed sacrefice of the terrorist on board who wants to destroy the ship in order to make a statement against Nazism raises questions about terrorism today. What is the distinction between legitimate resistance and an act of terror. The movie brings such issues to fore in a timely fashion.Movie Review: The Hindenburg (1975)
Summary: 4 Stars
George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft star in this dramatic retelling of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster. Although the Hindenburg and the Titanic were epic, this movie is not on that scale, but it is still an intriguing, enjoyable tale for any movie viewer who likes nonfiction mixed in with fiction.
Both actors played their parts with expressive maturity, even though there was no extraordinary award-winning performance. Bancroft reminds of those "Look at me, I'm an actress" types, but the remaining cast still got worked into the story. They were a collection of characters from all walks of life, whether good or bad, who convened on a monumental ship that would later prove to be doomed.
For a disaster film, the action and suspense was rather mild. There also seemed to be a lack of resolution at the end. The director could've used a little more drama, passion, and terror to keep the viewers at the edge of their seat. However, The Hindenburg did not dwell on special effects or big names to become successful.
And doing a movie about a famous disaster where many people die is not an easy feat. This film, though, is still carried out in a unique, tasteful manner, especially near the end when the explosion in shown in black and white scenes. I found this classic story of the Hindenburg mature, classy, unique, and exciting in its own way.