Product Details

• Actors: Michael York, Elke Sommer, Peter Carsten, Marius Goring, Anton Diffring
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Full Screen
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 24, 1995
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301959981
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,199 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In this 1971 film, fans of lighter-than-air transport are able to experience what it must have been like to operate a "zepp" in wartime. The effects and attention to detail will please even the most jaded aficionado of dirigibles. Unfortunately, the rest of the audience will find Zeppelin wanting. Neither Michael York nor Elke Sommer manages to be very convincing. While Sommer's Frau Altschul is mere window dressing, York seems torn between playing British spy Richter-Douglas as either an inexperienced bumbler or a Bond-like man of action (York's close-quarters combat with a radio operator seems strikingly similar to a fight sequence in From Russia with Love). Despite the problems, the film still somehow manages to satisfy at least 70 percent of the time. And how many recent films can you think of that feature action aboard a World War I zeppelin? --Mark Savary

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good action movie, May 5, 2000

By 

Kleber Navarro Figueiredo (Campinas, Sao Paulo Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zeppelin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Zeppelin is a very good action movie. The history is very exciting and the aircrafts used are next to the real. The airship's internal details are very impressing, and the battle with airplanes is really rich in details. I think this Warner's production is excellent. The director Ethienne Perrier is fantastic. LTA enthusiasts must see this movie many times. . .

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars WWI British spy flies on new LZ-36 test flight & raid., August 11, 1998

By 

[e-mail] or Eric Ostendorff (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zeppelin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A 1972 classic movie starring a very young Michael York as a British lieutenant and a very attractive Elke Sommer as the wife of old Zeppelin designer Altschul (a Count Zeppelin/Nutty Professor derivative). York, who has German family ties and is a family friend of Herr Altschul's, apparently changes sides and enlists in the German Army. For reasons unknown to him, he is whisked aboard the newest Zeppelin for a "test flight". After passing its trials, the ship is commandeered and refueled for a raid on Scotland. With civilians aboard, the LZ36 starts its wild ride, and York is used for navigation during the raid. Duty to country and loyalty to friends are tested as York tries to foil the German's nefarious plan.

A very noble effort for 1972. A passable plot with reasonably good acting. The special effects include a nice zeppelin model (albeit a bit blunt-nosed) flying through the clouds, a few spy basket shots, and properly cluttered (but a bit roomy) internal catwalks. Shots of York and the crew climbing up the exposed ladder from the control car into the hull do convey the idea of extreme conditions in a fragile machine.

Even though it's not Oscar material, "Zeppelin" IS entertaining, and certainly belongs in the collection of any LTA fan. There aren't that many movies themed around airships, but this one definitely wins the prize for the prettiest co-star, Elke. END

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Giant in the Clouds., September 4, 2002

By 

Robert S. Clay Jr. (St. Louis, MO., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zeppelin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This action-adventure flick is a mixed blessing. Michael York is more awkward than heroic as a reluctant WWI spy, who is afraid of heights. Naturally, the British send him on a mission that involves a zeppelin that flies at 15,000 feet. His inexperience at espionage leads to clumsy attempts at humor. The comic book plot is of the newly developed super zeppelin, LZ36. The Germans fly the great airship on a daring mission to remote Scotland to capture the British archives, including the Magna Carta itself. The movie's virtues are the airborne photography and the special effects. The realization of a WWI zeppelin is a triumph of non-computerized visual display. The aerial combat scenes of WWI era planes attacking the zeppelin are exciting, and should please aviation history buffs. The blood and thunder of the attack on the castle that houses the archives will satisfy action fans. Casting the delectable Elke Sommer may have been commercially viable, but her role as a zeppelin engineer married to an older, absent-minded professor is not a good fit. Her interactions with York are dull rather than provocative. Covering her curves with a bulky flying suit was poor use of her natural talents. Zeppelins and vintage aircraft are fine. In that light, the movie is worth the price.
;-)