John T. Ryan JOINING IN WITH so many other films that could be classified as being in the category (our classification) of MICROCOSIM DRAMA. Whether or not that there is such a term, or even another term, there should be no problem in anyone of us in understanding what we mean.IN SHORT, WE are referring to so many films that cross over into many different genres; be it Western, contemporary, War or even Romance. The only requirements are that the story should have a sizable number of highly diverse individuals; who get thrown together under some stressful and tragic situations. The story each character is told in flashback, as to why they are present under such adverse conditions.THIS WOULD MEAN that today's honoured movie, THE HINDENBERG, is numbered among a long list of very popular and critically acclaimed fare. As an example, we offer: STAGECOACH, LIFEBOAT, TITANIC, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY and AIRPORT. As a testimony to the box office power of such films, we find that there is even some high-powered parody; such as AIRPLANE. (What's the vector, Victor?) REGARDING THE SCREENPLAY of this semi-historical drama, we have a writing team, which manages to turn in a story line that touches on all of the aspects of the day. We examine this diverse group of new money Germans, the aristocracy, Jews and Nazi hardliners.THEY ARE ALL passengers on the ill-fated air voyage of the dirigible from Germany to the U.S.A.; in NYC where the destination, the actual docking and mooring was done are the Naval Air Base in Lakehurst, NJ. It was there that the ship suddenly and inexplicably bust into flames, crashing into the runway below. Being filled with the highly lighter than air but highly flammable, hydrogen, rather that the lighter than air, but still was as great in the bouncy department as the much safer and more plentiful in the USA, element of helium.ALTHOUGH MANY CONSPIRACY theories abound, there is no evidence that the tragedy was not a product of natural causes; that being the build-up of static electricity during the docking. Of course this is only the product of our soup & sandwich lunch.SO, VAT ISS you tinking about zis, Schultz?

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)

GeoPierpont My biggest question of this film relates to the portrayal of the Naval Air Sailors at Lakehurst. Was it intentional to depict them as flat out incompetent. When the airship was prepping to land they dump streams of liquid (sewage, leftovers, water?) all over scrambling crew in disbelief, to imply they should have dodged a known protocol. Also, in trying to collect the tie down lines they behave in the manner of Keystone Cops, running in circles bumping into another. More running away from accident victims than helping. I never saw a hint of a 1937 era Firetruck or extinguisher. One would assume military style preparation landing a HUGE HELIUM filled balloon! The US was already chastised for such mismanagement in the film script. Hence, one assumed there were lessons learned with the increased inherent dangers closely after a LIGTHNING storm.I found the greatly muffled dialogue in the baggage compartment to be in need of captions. This was supposed to be a very quiet ride, why would they replicate excessive noise. No one appeared to have difficulty hearing one another, why should we? I found the real footage of the disaster immensely compelling knowing how many survived this horrific incident. Limited exploration of organized, competent personnel responsible for this outcome, a loss for the humanity aspect.I had difficulty comprehending the cartoonish bomb detonation scene. With other very complicated visuals, ship interior shots, editing of real vs model interplay, etc., why would the director resort to such a cheesy option. Who was the flayed man consuming the entire screen followed by an arbitrary stationary head shown with no expression? Very distracting when you expect to see a more life like replica of the most climactic event in the film.Overall, I did appreciate the commentary of the 1937 political climate of Nazi Germany. I was unaware there were concentration camps so early as well as the negative treatment of passengers by Gestapo i.e. interference with passports, luggage, inspections, and overall paranoia. This postulates a process of how the TSA could transition, if not close enough. The young deaf girl and the accompanying nuns evoked the most emotion requiring separation of mother and daughter to prevent 'classification' in her own country. Many elements of this film were intriguing, and the plot fairly believable save for one line. Hitler claiming this was an Act of God! Shocked to hear him give credit to an Almighty Being.Recommend for Zeppelin design, Hindenburg actual footage, and the memorable recording of "Oh the Humanity!"

TurboarrowIII I think this is a reasonable film.It goes down the sabotage route. I found it to be believable. George C Scott isn't too bad but I thought Roy Thinnes, best known for his role in The Invaders, here playing a typically nasty SS man was better.It mixes actual footage of the disaster with modern film and this doesn't look too great because some is black and white while the rest is in colour. It helps to convey the enormity of what happened though and it must have been terrifying for all those caught up in it. It seems like a bit of a miracle that there were any survivors.William Atherton plays the saboteur who planted the fatal bomb shown as the cause in the film. He was quite convincing although better later on in Ghostbusters I think.It does drag a bit in places but overall I found this film reasonably exciting although tension isn't that high because the eventual outcome is already known.