This is very much a niche film--one that will appeal to some viewers but probably not most. I was attracted to it for two reasons--my love of George C. Scott films as well as because I am a huge airship lover and have always wondered what it would have been like to ride in one of these behemoths. However, given that most people DON'T have this fantasy and Scott is quickly becoming a forgotten name in films, I honestly can't see most people seeing or enjoying the film.

The film is a fictionalized account of the final voyage of the Hindenburg. While it is all supposition and guesswork, it is pretty exciting. Plus at the end of the film they did a nice job of integrating existing newsreel footage into the body of the movie. The acting is pretty good and the special effects excellent, but much of the spectacle is lost on television--it was amazing on the big screen.

Overall, history lovers will be happy but most others who have no idea about this event or its context will probably be left bored and confused.

THE HINDENBURG, a film based on the real-life explosion of the German airship in 1937, is an unusual choice for a disaster movie. The actual disaster element of the scenario lasted for only 30 seconds tops, and inevitably comes at the end of the movie; so the test is to create a film that's engaging even when viewers already know the all-too-brief outcome. Most disaster flicks have scenarios like burning buildings or sinking ships so that the disaster can be sustained for those who've survived the initial incident, but that's impossible here.

The result is a bit of a mixed bag of a film. All the usual disaster clichés are present, from the ageing Hollywood actors and actresses fighting against the odds, to the up-and-coming stars mixing with the old timers. The involvement of a potential saboteur adds a spy-style sub-plot that ups the entertainment value no end, and indeed the actors involved in this plot (Scott, Atherton and Thinnes) are the only really interesting stars in the whole thing.

The rest of those on board, including an irritating clown, a countess, and a couple of hustlers (including the ubiquitous Burgess Meredith) end up feeling extraneous, but it's not all bad. George C. Scott commands the screen as only he can, while William Atherton's sweaty, desperate performance is a precursor to his villainous roles in the 1980s in the likes of GHOSTBUSTERS and DIE HARD. Thinnes, too, is decent as an officious Gestapo officer.

The reliable Robert Wise directs the production, so you're guaranteed that things will remain watchable, and I liked the way the ending turns to black and white so that it can incorporate real-life footage of the disaster (a shame the colourisation process wasn't used in those days). The involvement of the Nazis allows for plenty of portentous, retrospective statements from furrowed-brow cast members. THE HINDENBURG certainly isn't the best the disaster genre has to offer, but it remains admirably straight-faced and well-played for the most part.

Fictionalized account of the lives that were lost and those who survived after the German airship Hindenburg crashed in flames just prior to landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey on May 6, 1937, having just completed its first round trip between Europe and North America. Director Robert Wise delivers a handsome film here, yet humorless, methodical Wise was probably the wrong filmmaker to take on this melodrama. Despite his effective usage of actual newsreel footage that gives the picture its third-act punch, "The Hindenburg" is basically a disaster movie in the sky, recognized on its release as part of the disaster movie cycle popular in the 1970s. But these movies were popular because they were trashy, popcorn entertainments. Wise doesn't stoop to such vulgar lows; he wants his film to be prestigious, a masterpiece, but after spending two arduous hours with the various 'colorful' characters on the guest list, one isn't inclined to be emotionally involved in the who-lived-and-who-died wrap-up. Most of the actors are miscast, anyway, particularly Anne Bancroft as a German Countess (by way of the Bronx) and Joanna Moore as a pregnant Broadway show-person with a Dalmatian (the Hindenburg did have two dogs aboard, but their fates differ from the happy ending given this screen pooch). Charles Durning has a thankless role as the ship's captain, barking commands until the disaster arrives, when he suddenly becomes human and shouts "No!" George C. Scott is effective as a colonel assigned to board the airship as a security officer in response to a bomb threat and Roy Thinnes does a good job as the ship's photographer who may not be what he seems. The cinematography by Robert Surtees is indeed marvelous, but the picture just doesn't deliver the genre thrills or suspense you may be hoping for. Wise mounts the proceedings carefully but without any flair. The idle chit-chat up in the air seems monotonous and pointless, and the only thing to look forward to is the finale, a long time in coming. ** from ****