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George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes, Gig Young ... see more see more... , Burgess Meredith , Charles Durning , Richard Dysart , ROBERT CLARY , Rene Auberjonois , Peter Donat , Alan Oppenheimer , Joanna Cook Moore , Stephen Elliott , Greg Mullavey , Norman Alden , Val Bisoglio , Peter Canon , Colby Chester , Joe Di Reda , Ted Gehring , Katherine Helmond , Rex Holman , Betsy Jones-Moreland , Ruth Kobart , Curt Lowens , Charles Macauley , Stephen Manley , David Mauro , Jan Merlin , Herbert Nelson , Kip Niven , Teno Pollick , Jean Rasey , Simon Scott , William Sylvester , Joe Turkel , Scott Walker , Sandy Ward , Lisa Pera , Joyce Davis , Kevin Michael Richardson , John Lee , Richard A. Dysart

"The German Air Force is not at all what it used to be," says Anne Bancroft's Countess, about 16 minutes into The Hindenburg, pausing and then adding, "But then, nothing is these days." That seems to ... read more read more...sum up the ponderous, irony-laden script and plot of Robert Wise's movie, which is posited -- in true post-Watergate fashion -- upon notions of conspiracy and cover-up behind the destruction of the German airship. The movie opens with a handy Universal newsreel that gives a vestpocket history of lighter-than-air flight, and that carries us to 1937 Germany. Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott), a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, finds himself assigned to the flight of the Hindenburg as chief of security; reports and rumors about the destruction of the zeppelin have circulated both in Germany and America, and the Nazi government takes these very seriously. What Ritter walks in on is a "Grand Hotel" of the air, several dozen passengers and crew whose ranks contain enough red herrings to keep Ritter (and us) jumping through hoops for most of the first half of the film, when we're not watching glorious shots of the zeppelin in flight. The answer to the script's presentation of the plot against the airship,and theidentityof the bomber and his motivations, are actually presented in the first 15 minutes, but there are so many false leads, subplots, and blind alleys put before us that the solution will probably pass by unnoticed. In the meantime, Ritter dances around with his ex-paramour (Bancroft), scheming businessmen (Gig Young), and passengers with skeletons in their closets (Alan Oppenheimer), an entertainer (Robert Clary) with a knack for offending loyal Nazis, several officers and crew with known "political" differences with the Nazi Party, a Gestapo man (Roy Thinnes) who's got an agenda of his own, and two genuine mystery men (Burgess Meredith, Rene Auberjonois) who don't seem to have any reason for traveling on this particular voyage. It's all a little tiring, or would be, if the setting and special effects weren't that interesting, and the cast wasn't so entertaining to watch in these relatively thankless roles. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Flixster Users

40% liked it

2,088 ratings

Critics

40% liked it

10 critics

PG, 2 hr. 6 min.

Directed by: Robert Wise

Release Date: January 1, 1975

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DVD Release Date: October 27, 1998

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Stats: 85 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (85)

  • paj85
    February 1, 2012
    paj85
    Interesting concept, poor execution. I watched "The Hindenburg" for one reason - I wanted to see the blimp burn. After sitting through a fairly interesting story that wasn't told very well (in spite of its big names), I realized that I could have just youtubed the actual footag... read moree and saved myself two hours. The idea of anti-Nazi forces sabotaging this Zeppelin was one that I had never heard but managed to pique my interest. The mystery of which passenger was the saboteur should have been thrilling; unfortunately, the combination of underdevolped static characters and a plot that moves slower than the blimp led me to focus my attention on anything but the film. Most of the production staff should have been FIRED (Get it? The blimp burst into flames...) or they should've just gone for a rewrite. The only redeeming feature were the vivid shots that brought this blimp to life (from a scale model that is now in the Smithsonian) and the scene where the singer (played by Roy Thinnes) mocked the Nazis. Outside of that... the rest was rather deflating. Names like Anne Bancroft, Burgess Meredith, and George C. Scott should be an indication of a well-acted film but the poorly written characters hindered their ability to entertain. Even the disaster sequence, which was really good at first, managed to disappoint me as it constantly paused on half-way zoomed images for no apparent reason. In the end, we were just left with a story full of hot air (or... hydrogen). I hope that you enjoyed all of these blimp jokes because they surely provided more entertainment than this film can. And if you didn't enjoy them, think of how much you would despise "The Hindenburg."
  • Sunshineyness
    August 28, 2009
    Sunshineyness
    Very few liberties were taken with the re-telling barring a bold decision in saying that the disaster was sabotage by a German Resistance group (actually a favored theory along with simple malfunction/accident). The problem with this movie is that everything up to the ship blowin... read moreg up is obscenely boring. A great cast utterly wasted as well as some beautiful matte paintings, models and special effects of the Hindenburg.

    Now, the good part- that ship done blow up real good. Robert Wise (whom normally was a great musical director) really expertly and neatly mixed special effects shots with real newsreel footage and the infamous radio broadcast ("Oh the humanity!) with all the real life stories (such as the circus performer who used his aerobatic skills to shimmy and jump from the burning ship)... but that's kind of it. The interpersonal stories before hand are pretty glossed over and broadly told and you care about few people on board. There's a random- but fun- anti Nazi song performed on board by the composer and circus performer and a neat sequence where we see St. Elmo's Fire.

    But there's no plot- even the conspiracy aboard is not really a plot even though you REALLY want to know more about the dude planting the bomb and his girlfriend back home who got arrested by the SS it's so glossed over you are saddened it's even there in the first place.
  • LittleMissBloodAndGuts
    February 1, 2009
    LittleMissBloodAndGuts
    One historical criticism, the 18 year old love interest was 12 in real life and did not survive. Otherwise, based on reasonably extensive reading of my own, the most likely scenario.
  • chris200098
    November 2, 2007
    chris200098
    The Hindenburg was a weird movie about a disaster that truly should not have happened, but in all honesty did put a drastic end to Airship travel, It will never be known if it was Sabatoge, conspiracy or a malfunction we will never truly know.
  • jaynyca1
    June 1, 2007
    jaynyca1
    I nice retelling of the Hindenburg fire and crashing back in May of 1937. George C Scott and Anne Bancroft are the leading actors in this film. I'd love to see it re-maded!. . . "hint-hint!"

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Critic Reviews

John A. Nesbit
March 9, 2007
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

Disappointing disaster formula flick

Chuck O'Leary
October 6, 2005
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily

A fascinating historical drama that deserves to be seriously re-evaluated.

Brandon Judell
April 1, 2005
Brandon Judell, PopcornQ

Stilted action adventure. You hang around to see which stars will burn to death.

Steve Crum
October 25, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Blimpy make believe script surrounding a true disaster.

Dennis Schwartz
June 5, 2002
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Nothing could save either the Hindenburg or the film from disaster. Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

May 9, 2005
New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Robin Clifford
October 8, 2004
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

No review available.

Daniel M. Kimmel
January 30, 2004
Daniel M. Kimmel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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