The Hindenburg

Out of all the disaster films that came out in the seventies the majority were based on worst case scenarios but at least one was based on fact, The Hindenburg. In 1937, when the disaster happened, there were many theories about what happened, from natural causes to sabotage, this film takes the approach that the explosion that destroyed the airship was a bomb. The all-star cast is headed by George C. Scott, who demonstrates why he was such an accomplished actor with the commanding personality that he had.When a message is received by Nazi Germany that their great airship Hindenburg will be destroyed on its trip to America, an investigation turns up more red herrings then plots of destruction. This movie was made in 1975, a time that if you wanted a blimp in your film you either made a model or used a real blimp. Both were used here and it comes across without any problems. The other thing that helps this film is the blending of archival footage of the actual crash spliced in with film from the movie. The movie is in color but once the explosion happens the film goes to black and white, so that it will work seamlessly with the original footage from 1937.
It's not your usual disaster film, and part of it is a mystery, but its completely enjoyable and seeing some of these actors and actresses together on the screen is a blast. The digital transfer is not a complete success, there are parts that are fuzzy, and it's not from the fog banks that the ship is going through, but you can get by it. If you like disaster films and haven't seen this one, it's worth a viewing, it's probably not the total destruction that you'd be use to but it does have its moments with a strong story.