Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

moonspinner55 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 ****

bkirbyson I was faced with a month's worth of ironing this afternoon and scrolled through the TV guide to see what was on. I saw The Hindenburg and considering I'm a fan of WWII/Nazi era movies I decided to give it a shot. It has George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft in it; how bad could it be? Pretty bad as it turned out, even for a 1970s era disaster movie. Although the Hindenburg disaster itself is compelling material, and the Nazi connection offers the opportunity for no end of intrigue, the film just isn't believable. For me this film never achieved the level of willing suspension of disbelief. Much of the time I just couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. The worst part is the acting: Almost without exception the actors mailed it in. None of them look like they want to be there, and the delivery is absolute flat, when it doesn't come across as passive-aggressive. Granted, it's not a great script and some of the lines are going to land with a thud even when they come from George C. Scott's or Anne Bancroft's mouth, but there are plenty more lines in the script that this cast was just reading, and which the director let slide.On the bright side, the musical score is OK (but not exceptional) and the set is quite realistic. Neither is a good enough reason to invest a couple of hours in a movie that will have you checking your watch every few minutes to see how much time is left.

Scott Amundsen This highly fictionalized (and speculative) account of the famous Hindenburg disaster, a fiery crash that effectively ended the Zeppelin age, at the time Germany's pride and joy, has a lot going for it: a stellar cast that performs brilliantly, direction by one of Hollywood's master directors, and some of the best special effects in the disaster genre. Unfortunately, all of the excitement in this film is concentrated in the crash sequence. Terrifyingly real and with great visual effects and editing, this final sequence takes almost fifteen minutes to play out what took only a matter of seconds in real life (hydrogen burns incredibly fast) and makes for a great climax. The problem is we have to wait nearly two hours for the only excitement this movie provides.The story is a jumbled hash of speculation and rumor; the film concludes that it was a bomb that took down the great airship though there has never been any proof that this was the case. In fact the most annoying thing about this film is that the Hindenburg disaster remains to this day an unsolved mystery and Richard Levinson and William Link's script makes the colossal mistake of providing an answer to the mystery. Not that the conclusion they arrive at is lacking in credibility, but it would have been better had they not addressed it.But then, of course, they might not have had a movie. Because most of the two hours leading up to the final cataclysm is taken up with a mishmash of plots and suspicious characters, always suggesting one thing or another but never really landing on any credible conclusions.And for a movie directed by the man who gave us WEST SIDE STORY, the pacing of this thing is positively glacial. Perhaps he thought he was providing suspense, but I found most of it insufferably boring despite the fact that the characters are a lively and interesting bunch. Somehow not even the efforts of the brilliant ensemble can alter the fact that the whole thing is a crashing bore until the crash (you should excuse the pun).It was a good try, I suppose, but maybe in the end the story was not filmable.

bkoganbing If a film about The Hindenburg had to be made it certainly would have been made in the decade of the disaster film, the Seventies. But this film labored under a unique handicap that none of the other disaster films of the decade had.Unlike the sinking of the Titanic or the blowing up of Mount Krakatoa and certainly not like any of the potential but fictional disaster events that were film subjects, The Hindenburg was recorded on sight with newsreel cameras and on radio with Herbert Morrison's never to be forgotten broadcast. A lot of people now still remember it, let alone back in 1975.What Robert Wise did and maybe more successfully than any other director was make full use of the famous newsreel footage and carefully edited it into his film, with slow motion techniques into the personal attempts by the cast to try and escape the holocaust. The Hindenburg received Oscar nominations for sound, cinematography, and art&set design with a special award for special effects. Yet no nomination for editing which the main plus this film has going for it.Of course we don't know what ever really happened to the Hindenburg and the film takes account of all the theories put forth. It also uses the real names of the people who were passengers, crew, and officials of the Third Reich. The Nazi government had a big stake in the dirigible fleet they had built, they were as much propaganda value for them as Max Schmeling in boxing and Gottfried Von Cramm in tennis.Of course had they had access to helium to float the big guys this might never have happened. But the USA had a near total monopoly on the world's helium and was not selling it to Hitler. Hence they used the lighter, but flammable hydrogen with the result of the tragedy.George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft head the cast as a Luftwaffe official and a worldly old world countess traveling to the USA to visit her deaf mute daughter going to school for same in Boston. The Nazis didn't believe in helping those they considered defectives, another lovable quality about them.The Hindenburg is a sobering and near factual account of what happened in Lakehurst, New Jersey that afternoon. It's one of the best of the Seventies disaster films and should not be missed.