Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies

A no larger than medium sized budget re-enactment of the immediate circumstances surrounding the crashing in flames of the mighty German airship Hindenburg in 1937 on its arrival in the USA and the subsequent investigation into the cause by its designer.

A fairly plain story extended to nearly 2 hours duration with breaks, 89 mins without, its heavily portentous trailing that the cause will be shocking and unexpected turns out to be itself a damp squib when finally revealed. The death toll was, considering the inferno from which they escaped, relatively low at 35 with something like 60 survivors. Its place as a historical event was due mainly to the extreme spectacle of the airship's demise, the fact that it was filmed and that a recording was made of a live commentary by a journalist who had been there to report on a grand happy occasion but instead witnessed a disaster. Inserted into this rather plain tale were archive recordings of actual survivors which injected a genuine sense of the emotions of those who could still hardly comprehend how they had managed to walk away and live.

One performance was rather outstanding. Veteran British actor Malcolm Tierney who plays the designer of the Hindenburg, has been regular but probably largely unknown face in countless TV productions. Here though he portrays the gravitas and humanity of the character with great authority - and with a consistent and convincing German accent too. Actress Lorelei King managed to outshine and overwhelm her screen husband Joe McCann despite having almost nothing to do.

A joint production with various European broadcasters its stance on the Nazi connection was rather muted and ecumenical (German airships had been used as long range bombers in WW1 - the USA were the only suppliers of non-inflamable helium but had put an embargo on its supply to Nazi Germany).

Within the last 10 years a documentary was shown on British television which sought to scientifically demonstrate that the cause of the fire was not the hydrogen but the aluminium power mixed into varnish used to coat the entire outer fabric of the Hindenburg. This does raise a question about the point of this two hour dramatised re-enactment if it did not look beyond the findings just after the accident nor was particularly enlightening about the atmosphere of mixed hostility and welcome for this massive symbol of Nazi technology on its arrival in the USA.

It's the best documentary about the Hindenburg out there, and it's quite enjoyable. It's a bit "chaotic" at times and quite a lot of unnecessary acting and dramatising, but on the other hand it gives you a more personal look in to the story and the people involved in the Hindenburg Disaster. The Zeppelin it self is also well animated and looks realistic which is a big plus to the overall satisfaction I'm left with after watching the documentary. I still do wish they would have focusd a bit more on the "raw" and realtime footage, but still it does portrait a good picture of the accident and the days following the crash. But it is very much worth the watch.

This is by far the best Hindenburg documentary out there. The reenactment is pretty good and the Hindenburg is animated so realistically.

Hindenburg: The Untold Story takes you into the investigation the disaster, which all of it seems interesting. Actual eyewitness testimonies were used, and tell the story of the Hindenburg's demise. Some facts have not been well-known, especially the "Untold Story" or "Secret" mentioned in the titles of the docudrama. Dr. Eckener had been offered a supply of helium which he declined in 1929. This affected him deeply when the Hindenburg exploded.

I know how recent research has suggested stuff about the outer skin being painted with rocket fuel - the film's researchers were probably aware of this. However, this theory has recently been rejected by various experts, explaining why it wasn't mentioned in the film.

Despite many incredible historic accuracies, Untold Story suffers from several historical errors. First of all, the Lakehurst Naval Airstation seems to be lush green grass and concrete! The Hindenburg crashes right on the concrete beside the grass! In reality the station was a sandy area.

However, this remains the best Hindenburg documentary I've watched so far.