Zeppelin

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Product Details

Director : Étienne Périer
Actor : Michael York, Elke Sommer, Peter Carsten, Marius Goring, Anton Diffring
Format : NTSC
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 9786301959988
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 1996-06-11
Studio : Warner
UPC : 085391156239

ASIN : 6301959981

Editorial Reviews

From 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

Giant in the Clouds. (2002-09-04)

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.;-)

A tale of divided loyalties (2002-07-12)

The setting is WWI Britain. A young, German-born, Scottish officer, played by Michael York, has a desk job with the ministry partly due to problems with vertigo. He is recruited to act as a spy and return to Germany to find out what he can about the new Zeppelin project.

The premise sounded good, but many of the elements needed to make this into a great story were thrown in haphazardly. His lover seems to be more important than is told in the story. His connections to a well known, German scientist seems serendipitous. His vertigo and divided loyalties are touched on lightly then disregarded. By the time I felt the elements would be pulled together, the movie was over, leaving me mildly disappointed.

Elke Sommers is very attractive, but I am not sure why she was in the movie. She had a speaking part, but I don't find that her role was necessary. My guess is that the producers wanted an attractive lady to put on the movie poster.

I would not recommend seeing this movie.

A very good action movie (2000-05-06)

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. . .

wonderfull movie (2000-04-30)

I loved it no other movie like it the cast was great a wonderfull LTA movie

WWI British spy flies on new LZ-36 test flight & raid. (1998-08-12)

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

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