On the 6th of May 1937 The Hindenburg Zeppelin, whilst attempting to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey, burst in to flames. Thirty Six people were killed that fateful day, this is a fictionalised account of what may have happened that day.
There are quite a few theories as to what caused the Hindenburg disaster, this film takes the sabotage angle and thankfully (to me) it makes for a very engrossing picture full of tension, drama and no little horror. The 70s was a time for disaster pictures, it seemed that one was churned out every year, not all were great movies for sure, but some actually were viable entertainment, and with The Hindenburg we get good old fashioned story telling, character build up and the pay off actually, well, pays off!
Running at just over two hours long, first time viewers should be aware that for a good 100 minutes of the film it's all about the set up, there are characters to meet and journey motives to explore, all passengers are under suspicion, and we live thru this courtesy of George C Scott's (wonderful here as usual), Col. Franz Ritter, the man assigned to ensure no sabotage can take away the pride of Germany. The film has flaws for sure, the array of passengers are the usual disaster picture assortment of beings, and of course some situations beggar belief, but this is a disaster flick after all, and director Robert Wise pulls it all together nicely for the films finale, and what a finale it is. Using stop frames, and inter cutting film of the actual disaster itself, the finale grips with a sense of realism, the plot line may well be merely one of the reasons put forward, but the crash is indeed a thing of fact, and it closes the film in a very sombre and impacting way. 7/10
