Rent The Hindenburg (1975)

Poor - The Hindenburg review by SB

It isn't easy to make a 'disaster movie' about a disaster which only lasted a few minutes, had a known outcome with more suvivors than dead, and has a setting which is much less flexible than an ocean liner, a volcano or a skyscraper. With the loss of the airship Hindenburg, the only fertile ground is offered by the continuing mystery over the cause of its fatal explosion on landing in New Jersey. That is what drives this would-be blockbuster, which offers one explanation for what happened. The 2013 German TV miniseries 'Last Flight of the Hindenberg' also took this approach, and was rather more successful on several counts.

The film is a leaden affair, with a solid cast struggling through a mundane script. George C Scott is a glum lead, meant to be conflicted but really just dull, as he plods around trying to locate a bomb(er). At the end, director Robert Wise spends a good deal of effort and money on stretching out the final minutes - but in a very confusing and irritating way, intercut with newsreel footage.

It is somewhat of an indictment of the film that the greatest tension arises in the episode where one of the crew might or might not fall into the ocean during repairs to the airship's hull.

Good for a dozy afternoon after Sunday lunch.