The disaster movie was a trend in the 1970s. The "Airport" movies, that took place in the 1970s, with titles that referred their years of releases, became a series in specific. Apparently, that brought some money. So why not making an "Airport movie" yet with a different time, vehicle, premise, and true story!
(The Hindenburg) was the answer for all of that. It took place in 1937, while the Nazi Germany was turning into an international ogre, with a tyrannical fascist policy that forced many to run away or think of running away, and an active propaganda machine that used the German airships as a giant flying ad for the Third Reich's technological development. Moreover, we're introduced to a zeppelin, sort of a hotel in the sky that's full of rich people, exactly like what the plane looked the year before in Airport 1975 (1974). However, it's bigger this time, with fabulous interior and grand internal. The plot utilized an excitement of "Who has the bomb? What's his or her motive? When it's going to explode? And how can we stop it?". The detective searching for the criminal was sure missed in the Airport series, and added "thriller" beside "disaster" in this movie's genre, with more heat and attractiveness. And finally, the "fact" factor, since this movie retells a real story, with the same events, and nearly characters, let alone presenting its own point of view concerning the reason of The Hindenburg's blowup, which's embarrassing Hitler's regime by the hands of its very men who - at one point - preferred to be its resistance.
This formula generally worked. The movie is non-stop thriller, making me on the edge on my seat for every minute. All the time we're searching for the bomb, living a time-bomb pace ourselves. Unlike all the Airport movies, where the characters are just a drama sideshow or relief, they are used here smartly as a long list of suspects. Although (The Hindenburg) has its share of Excess Baggage, like uninteresting characters (an old pregnant wife, a man with a pen full of diamonds, etc..) and redundant scenes (the police asks about someone on a ship, ..and ponies!), but the editing managed to create a graceful movie, with no flabbiness or bore. (George C. Scott) is a perfect lead. His seriousness carried the movie all along. He was the most charismatic actor around, with the best character too. The line of "I hate Nazism" was well served, saving - for instance - some irony for (Scott) to play. And I liked how it propounds a theory to explain the historical disaster, disagreeing totally with the much known declared reason (nothing but a technical error). It makes (The Hindenburg) precede movie like (JFK) in terms of being a political paranoia, with a theory to present.
The different age provided the image with nice details that were very elegantly cinematographed. The airship's décor impresses highly, you can't find similar visions in the Airport movies. The special effects were no less than great. The shots of the airship flying over many places, day or night, seemed so real (seeing this movie for the first time in 2012, I personally thought that they used a full-size airship, not a small model as I read later!). And the final sequence was inflaming literally. Its factualness, while cutting to the actual Newsreel footage, was undoubtedly freaky. I just hated the matter of freezing the Newsreel footage for seconds; it's where the documentary feel contradicted the drama feel badly.
Speaking about "badness", while achieving a good moment like in which (Scott) facing himself in the mirror with a deep guilt, seeing himself as a monster (albeit he's serving Nazism, participating in one of its massacres, he doesn't believe in it, losing his son somehow due to it too)--some of the other moment's cinematic depiction wasn't effective or taken care of originally; like the moment of discovering the real bomber. Then, the unintentional comedy, which includes a row of shameful moments at the end: The swindler gambler acts like a gentleman and makes way for the countess while all hell is breaking loose! (Richard A. Dysart), as Capt. Lehmann, walks some steps while looking around then falls on his face with smoke coming out of his back (it fits a slapstick!). The picture of the dog comes up among the other passengers' ones while a venerable voice says "Survived"! Or when the bomb explodes because the clumsy (Scott) didn't think of delaying its time of explosion or got scared when his loyal Nazi co-investigator shouted his name! Well, Roger Ebert said that this movie "makes people laugh out loud at all the wrong times." Hmm, few times Rog, only few!
Still the biggest flaw that this movie has is its end. Not for being known, but for being a bit depressive. Yes, almost all of the passengers we knew survived, but the idea of the ideal lead getting killed, as randomly as we've seen, is pure turn off. Let alone the matter of patriotic cause like embarrassing the Nazi, which - without a given statement - got eventually lost.
At its time, (The Hindenburg) was a sacrifice for some hungry angry reviewers. However, despite its minor flaws and depressive sense, this is big and absorbing kind of Airport movie that left me stunned. And it will live longer than many similar disaster movies, due to its nature as a political paranoia. Proved to be right or wrong someday, its theory endows it with a load of interestingness.
(The Hindenburg) was the answer for all of that. It took place in 1937, while the Nazi Germany was turning into an international ogre, with a tyrannical fascist policy that forced many to run away or think of running away, and an active propaganda machine that used the German airships as a giant flying ad for the Third Reich's technological development. Moreover, we're introduced to a zeppelin, sort of a hotel in the sky that's full of rich people, exactly like what the plane looked the year before in Airport 1975 (1974). However, it's bigger this time, with fabulous interior and grand internal. The plot utilized an excitement of "Who has the bomb? What's his or her motive? When it's going to explode? And how can we stop it?". The detective searching for the criminal was sure missed in the Airport series, and added "thriller" beside "disaster" in this movie's genre, with more heat and attractiveness. And finally, the "fact" factor, since this movie retells a real story, with the same events, and nearly characters, let alone presenting its own point of view concerning the reason of The Hindenburg's blowup, which's embarrassing Hitler's regime by the hands of its very men who - at one point - preferred to be its resistance.
This formula generally worked. The movie is non-stop thriller, making me on the edge on my seat for every minute. All the time we're searching for the bomb, living a time-bomb pace ourselves. Unlike all the Airport movies, where the characters are just a drama sideshow or relief, they are used here smartly as a long list of suspects. Although (The Hindenburg) has its share of Excess Baggage, like uninteresting characters (an old pregnant wife, a man with a pen full of diamonds, etc..) and redundant scenes (the police asks about someone on a ship, ..and ponies!), but the editing managed to create a graceful movie, with no flabbiness or bore. (George C. Scott) is a perfect lead. His seriousness carried the movie all along. He was the most charismatic actor around, with the best character too. The line of "I hate Nazism" was well served, saving - for instance - some irony for (Scott) to play. And I liked how it propounds a theory to explain the historical disaster, disagreeing totally with the much known declared reason (nothing but a technical error). It makes (The Hindenburg) precede movie like (JFK) in terms of being a political paranoia, with a theory to present.
The different age provided the image with nice details that were very elegantly cinematographed. The airship's décor impresses highly, you can't find similar visions in the Airport movies. The special effects were no less than great. The shots of the airship flying over many places, day or night, seemed so real (seeing this movie for the first time in 2012, I personally thought that they used a full-size airship, not a small model as I read later!). And the final sequence was inflaming literally. Its factualness, while cutting to the actual Newsreel footage, was undoubtedly freaky. I just hated the matter of freezing the Newsreel footage for seconds; it's where the documentary feel contradicted the drama feel badly.
Speaking about "badness", while achieving a good moment like in which (Scott) facing himself in the mirror with a deep guilt, seeing himself as a monster (albeit he's serving Nazism, participating in one of its massacres, he doesn't believe in it, losing his son somehow due to it too)--some of the other moment's cinematic depiction wasn't effective or taken care of originally; like the moment of discovering the real bomber. Then, the unintentional comedy, which includes a row of shameful moments at the end: The swindler gambler acts like a gentleman and makes way for the countess while all hell is breaking loose! (Richard A. Dysart), as Capt. Lehmann, walks some steps while looking around then falls on his face with smoke coming out of his back (it fits a slapstick!). The picture of the dog comes up among the other passengers' ones while a venerable voice says "Survived"! Or when the bomb explodes because the clumsy (Scott) didn't think of delaying its time of explosion or got scared when his loyal Nazi co-investigator shouted his name! Well, Roger Ebert said that this movie "makes people laugh out loud at all the wrong times." Hmm, few times Rog, only few!
Still the biggest flaw that this movie has is its end. Not for being known, but for being a bit depressive. Yes, almost all of the passengers we knew survived, but the idea of the ideal lead getting killed, as randomly as we've seen, is pure turn off. Let alone the matter of patriotic cause like embarrassing the Nazi, which - without a given statement - got eventually lost.
At its time, (The Hindenburg) was a sacrifice for some hungry angry reviewers. However, despite its minor flaws and depressive sense, this is big and absorbing kind of Airport movie that left me stunned. And it will live longer than many similar disaster movies, due to its nature as a political paranoia. Proved to be right or wrong someday, its theory endows it with a load of interestingness.