YMMV / The Hindenburg (1975)

• Harsher in Hindsight: An ironic twist of fate happened on November 7th, 2023 when Hangar Number One at MCAS Tustin suffered heavy damage from a three alarm fire…the very same hangar that stood in for both Lakehurst and Frankfurt.
• Narm: The apparent need to tack on mention of the dalmatian onto the end of the casualty list at the coda ("Survived") very nearly smacks of being tongue-in-cheek, but it's played entirely seriously. (Regrettably, the dog really on board, a German shepherd named Ulla that belonged to Joseph Spah, did not survive.)
• Nightmare Fuel: The climax includes Stock Footage newsreel clips of the real-life disaster; these are enlarged to match the film's 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio, with the side effect of making the viewer feel that much closer to the unfolding events. Yikes.
• Retroactive Recognition: William Atherton, best known these days (much to his chagrin) as Walter Peck aka "Dickless", the Obstructive Bureaucrat from Ghostbusters (1984); also René Auberjonois who, like Charles Durning, was a busy character actor in The '70s.
• Vindicated by History: Depending on your point of view, this film has been positively received by disaster movie goers and Hindenburg historians for its degree of accuracy even after its initial release. At the time, though, critical reviews seemed mixed to negative. It doesn’t help that any DVD/Blu Ray releases lack the much deserved supplementary material, and the LaserDisc release only came with the film's theatrical trailer. The closest thing you'll get to seeing its behind the scenes featurette LTA Means Lighter Than Air Craft:...And The Future Is Fantastic! is a trip to the Academy Film Archive or the UCLA Film & Television Archive in California.

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