Product Details

• Actors: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, Burgess Meredith, Gig Young, Charles Durning
• Directors: Robert Wise
• Writers: Nelson Gidding
• Producers: Robert Wise
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: December 25, 1975
• Run Time: 127 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783229372
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,784 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Hindenburg" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"One gasbag meets another" is how critic Pauline Kael described the "flatulent seriousness" that director Robert Wise brought to this 1975 thriller about the ill-fated German zeppelin which exploded while landing in New Jersey in 1937. The great air disaster is speculatively depicted here as an act of sabotage, and the airship's trans-Atlantic journey gives the saboteur's plot plenty of time to unfold while the story introduces a variety of characters aboard for the luxurious flight. While the anti-Nazi message is delivered loud and clear, Anne Bancroft and George C. Scott lead an illustrious cast in what amounts to a pre-World War II episode of The Love Blimp, only there's not much romance and precious little suspense. It's all rather flatly intriguing, but aviation buffs will certainly appreciate the meticulous attention to period detail, and the film won special achievement Oscars for its impressive sound and visual effects. Worth a look, if you're a student of this particular chapter of history, and the movie earns some credit for having at least the kernel of a good idea. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft. This story of the events that led to the Hindenburg's disastrous flight in 1937 features an all-star cast. 1975/color/126 min/PG/widescreen.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good attempt to dramatize the Hindenburg disaster... November 6, 2002

By Mark Savary

Format:DVD

"Hindenburg" is a pretty good film that unfortunately falls a bit flat. The concept, sets, effects, and the cast are all excellent, but there just seems to be some element missing.

The cast is populated with famous faces from yesterday, a standard practice in all 70's disaster movies. Here we have the incomparable Gig Young, Burgess Meredith, Charles Durning, Richard A. Dysart, Robert Clary (late from "Hogan's Heroes" at this point), future Star Trek actor Rene Auberjonois, and Roy Thinnes. And of course, we have Anne Bancroft and George C. Scott. Scott and Thinnes really do their best, too (look at their confrontation scene when Thinnes' character mentions Scott's dead son!).

Still, the cast just seems to be shuffling through this one, with little or no true tension generated, other than an emergency repair by some crewmen who must venture out onto the hull of the ship (an act that was accomplished, but never happened on Hindenburg's last trip).

The end result is somewhat sparse, even strangely emotionless for the most part. Despite the overall blandness in tone, the film is compelling to watch anyway (thanks in large part to the cast and the effects).

Knowing as we do what will eventually happen at Lakehurst, one cannot help but marvel at the ironic line the Hindenburg's Captain Proust utters several times throughout the course of film. In regards to the United States' bad luck with dirigibles he remarks, "It's no wonder they lose all their airships."

The ending of the film seems to mystify some viewers today, but it is, in reality, an incredibly artistic, stylish (and daring), choice on the part of director Robert Wise and the producers.... Capturing the action in black and white, with actual newsreel footage of the disaster added, and freezing images in place, Wise makes a stunning montage of the disaster and of the cast members as they flee the impending peril. Even though the end result is only partially effective, the montage makes an artistic statement nevertheless, the kind that Hollywood avoids today. With noisy garbage like "XXX" and "Ace Ventura" littering our cineplexes, it's nice to know that at one time in the recent past, there was room in Hollywood for some creative and bold artistry in films! Would that it could become fashionable again!

An interesting side note here is the night time launch of the Hindenburg. The ship is lit with searchlights that create odd, circular patches of light on the airship's hull. Five years later, Wise directed the critically panned "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". In that film, the Starship Enterprise is lit in a similar fashion, with spotlights on the ship's various insignia that create pools of light from odd angles. Read more ›

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Remaster needed! January 28, 2011

By P. Chamberlain

Format:DVD

"The Hindenburg" is a wonderful film that is in desperate need of a re-mastering. The DVD uses the standard definition (480-I, with 120 lines of color) master created for the stereo Widescreen LaserDisc that was released on April 18, 1991. Sadly, that transfer was so bad that the very first release of "The Hindenburg" to home video, on December 15, 1978, (as a CAV - Standard Play - 5-sided MCA DiscoVision LaserDisc release for $15.95) actually has better definition and sharpness - and without the bugaboo of the widescreen transfer's HORRIBLY excessive edge enhancement - the DiscoVision discs' only drawback is a pan & scan transfer and mono sound from an optical release print. The edge enhancement of the Widescreen LD/DVD transfer is so excessive that I really can't think of any other title, not even bootleg videos, that contain a higher amount. Everything seen on the DVD looks as if it's a 2nd generation VHS dupe that's been put through a Photoshop "emboss" filter about five times. It's really that bad - anything smaller than about 100 lines of resolution is etched out of the image with a HUGE white line around it. It's so bad that the Widescreen LD edition from '91 was considered over-sharpened even back then! And add to the fact that the image isn't enhanced for 16x9 televisions only makes it look worse. In addition, the transfer shows the garbage mattes around Albert Whitlock's breathtaking matte paintings and the beautiful model work of the ship as it's floating through the sky - kinda like the garbage mattes around all the ships in the original Beta, VHS and LaserDisc releases of "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back".... In every respect, a new High Definition transfer is called for - and one that doesn't suffer from ANY edge enhancement, unlike many Blu-ray's on the market now (such as "2001: A Space Odyssey")

MCA/Universal Studios originally considered releasing "The Hindenburg" in SENSURROUND, but didn't beacuse "Midway" was in production with its release date up in the air and SENSURROUND was being re-engineered into SENSURROUND MOD-II, which made it unsuitable for magnetic stereo prints - plus, many 2nd run theaters were still showing "Earthquake" in SENSURROUND, which was tying up all the SENSURROUND Horns and Control Boxes (which were slated for circuit modifications into Mod-II when the equipment was returned to MCA Systems (the technical subsidiary of MCA/Universal) So, "The Hindenburg" went into theaters with 35mm Panavision prints and a STUNNING 4-track magnetic stereo mix. The stereo/surround sound mix was considered so advanced and breathtaking, with such deep bass and sparkling treble, that many in the industry said that they had never heard anything that matched it. Not only did it have incredible surround sound and fidelity, but also fully directional dialog and, thanks to Westrex, Ampex, RCA and MCA's own work on the mag print striping, recording/playback heads, mag equalizers and the actual magnetic particles, the film had a frequency response and dynamic range that rivaled 70mm mag prints - plus, the re-engineered mag surround track (which was narrower than the 3 other tracks on mag prints and thus noisier) was quiet enough that it no longer required a 12kHz switching tone to turn it on and off (which, before Dolby and dbx noise reduction, was used on mag prints to prevent audiences from hearing mag hiss from the surround/effects speakers). The DVD and WS LD releases are plain old 2-channel Dolby Stereo - in other words, 2-channel stereo sound with the Surround and Center matrixed in (and the beautiful directional dialog de-directionalized into mono), requiring decoding with a Dolby Pro-Logic decoder. Because of this, Pro-Logic decoders have a heck of a time separating the sounds and steering them correctly without audible sound pumping or sounds shifting. In many scenes set in the Hindenburg's interior, there is dialog in the Center Front channel with other sounds, such as the creaks and groans of the airships Duralumnium skeleton and wires in left and right, while the surround track contains other sounds and deep, full rumble of the airships exterior engines. This is a no-no for Dolby Stereo (surround) soundtracks because it's absolutely impossible for the channels to be separated at the same time. The theatrical release got around this because of the fully discrete 4 channel prints. Now that we have 8-channel discrete digital sound - lossless on Blu-ray even - the Hindenburg deserves an HD release that takes full advantage of its wonderful sound mix.

In terms of extras, except for the trailer, there aren't any on the DVD - which is sad considering that Universal made a documentary about the making of the film - it was a 15 million dollar production, which was a LOT of movie at the time, and Universal was rightly proud of it - any new release should have this included. Plus the deleted scenes - while the film didn't suffer from extensive editing, there were a few scenes cut before it opened, and these should be available too. Universal has treated "Earthquake" and "Rollercoaster" similarly on DVD with their lack of easily available extras. At least "Earthquake" on DVD is from a newer, anamorphic, 24 fps, 1080-P High Definition transfer with an "attempt" to give the effect of SENSURROUND in the home. And the same goes with "Midway", but in that case, the DVD is chock full of extras, plus the shot-later, made-for-TV scenes.

In terms of historical accuracy, the inside of the ship is spot on. The Zeppelin company gave the filmmakers previously un-released blueprints, diagrams and specifications for the Hindenburg, and Universal copied them exactly for the sets. Even minor things, such as the number of rivets and their placement, were duplicated precisely. The walls of the staterooms were made from the same lightweight materials as the original - leather was used for the walls in the dining room, etc. Placement of items such as ballast storage pouches and Duralumnium tanks were correct, as was their exact size. Details, that most people would never notice, such as the emergency steering wheel in the bottom tail fin of the ship, are correct. "The Hindenburg" is James Cameron's "Titanic" of 1975 in terms of getting the ship right. Even Hindenburg historians have to be careful because they can't tell otherwise un-identified photos of the movie's sets apart from photos of the actual ship. It's THAT good.

Now we just have to get Universal - Comcast, ugh! - to give us a Blu-ray release! Along with "Earthquake", "Midway", "Rollercoaster" and "Battlestar Galactica"! Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A lost classic is found June 24, 2003

By C. Chow

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I never even heard of this movie until I saw it on AMC. What a film.

...First of all the movie is not about the Hindenburg disaster. Unlike 'Titanic' it's not about the crash.

'Hindenburg' is a suspense mystery. Germany learns the Hindenburg will be destroyed before it reaches New Jersy. But instead of canceling the flight, they send it George C. Scott as a spy to find the bomber on board. 'Hindenburg' gives us many interesting suspects.

I can see why it won for best FX. Back when they used models and super imposing before this computer animation crap. Suprisingly after 2 hours of great FX, they cheap out at the end and go to black and white so they can splice in that famous footage of the crash. Cheesy, bust as I said the movie isn't about the crash.

It's also interesting to see how we were once on good terms with the Nazis. Yeah we even had the Olympics there.

If you want a great suspense film with great production quality, this is it. Look else where for big explosions.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Final Moments October 18, 2002

By James L.

Format:VHS Tape

This fictionalized account of the real life disaster takes a while to get going, but does deliver some good scenes in the final third of the film. George C. Scott is a Nazi colonel sent aboard the Hindenburg due to threats made about its voyage. He is joined by a cast of familiar actors, including Anne Bancroft as a bitter German countess. As was typical with disaster films of the Seventies, there are several small stories involving the various passengers, but none of them are particularly interesting. I found the set up scenes for the bombing plotline confusing to follow. The film's strength is the terrific set pieces for the Hindenburg and its final thirty minutes. The actual explosion doesn't feature the level of special effects we're used to seeing, but since it combines real footage of the disaster, it made a strong impact on me. By no means a great film, The Hindenburg is salvaged by its final moments and by the audience's knowledge that it really did happen, although perhaps not for the reasons presented in the movie.