Titanic

I had very mixed feelings about this movie. Although there were quite a few flaws, it was certainly not without its charm. The first thing that must be taken into consideration when commenting on this movie is that it was a low-budget, made-for-tv movie, so the effects and other technical aspects were less than spectacular. However, to me the story is what makes a movie good or bad. Since there were a few stories sprinkled throughout the film, it was at times good, but usually not so good. First the bad things. I think the worst thing about this movie is that there was alot of pointless and boring filler that made the movie seem to drag on, especially around the time of the sinking. The second time I watched the movie, I noticed that I fast fowarded through almost half of it. I also did not care much for the story of the Allison family and their paranoid nanny. I found their part when the ship is sailing extremely tedious and boring and the part when they're searching for their baby too obnoxious to be sad. I also almost couldn't bear the performance of the actress portraying Mrs. Allison. And the whole part about the nanny just became annoying. The Allison family actually existed, and the young Allison girl was the only first-class child to die on the Titanic. This could have been a very sad and touching part, but I just saw it as a complete flop.

Now for the ok things. I really loved Catherine Zeta-Jones and Peter Gallagher in this. Although the love affair between the two was just a little more than okay, they threw in great performances and I found their characters interesting. I enjoyed much of the happenings in first class and especially found the old superficial socialite (that woman with the dog, her name slips my mind as of now) very entertaining and humorous. As for those down in steerage, I found Jamie and Olsa to be quite charming characters and took interest in their affairs. However, my favorite part of the movie was most likely Tim Cury. If there is one thing I love in a film it is a good villian, and he is definately one. His performance was, in my opinion, the best part of the movie. Overall, I'd say that it was not great, but there were some factors that saved it and actually made it an enjoyable made-for-tv movie(how often can you say that?)

Though Titanic purists and some critics did not particularly care for this mini-series, it is rather good.

The cast is strong, including George C. Scott as the captain. The computer FX are well done. The only disappointment for me was the hodge podge way the final sinking was represented -- it was just a confusing series of cross fades that really showed nothing. Nevertheless, the film is worth seeing.

I have seen just about all off the Titanic movies there are. This definately isn't the best but it is worth seeing. Most Titanic movies portray the Astor's, the Straus's, Molly Brown, the wireless operators, and the captain. But this film also shows the story of the Allison's which is never told and they portrayed the story remarkably well. It also showed the third class story as well and did a good job with that one as well. It is a good movie to watch even though it is slow at times.

My Score 7.1/10

The thing with this film is it had good points and it had bad points. Some of the good points are that there were aspects to this film that were far more realistic than James Cameron's. For instance, the young rogue that sneaks onto the ship does so not by winning a suspensful hand of poker, but by stealing the tickets when his drinking buddy has passed out for the evening. This is also the same young rogue who steals a jacket to get into the first-class dining room and then procedes to pick-pocket some of the passengers, starting with John Jacob Astor. The crooked crew member (played by Tim Curry) was a nice touch. And the rape scene was a gritty touch of realism, though painful to watch. And yes folks, stuff like that does, and did happen in real life. This film DID focus on real people that were on the ship, though not neccessarily the same ones as James Cameron. That is neither a good or bad thing, that is what you call a creative decision. For instance, we get a casual glimpse into JJ Astor's Young wife's life through Catherine Zeta-Jones' character, who is in a similar situation. They are friends and have a conversation about it. This makes it feel much more natural than Rose's hurried pointing around the room under the thin guise of gossip.

The thing with the Allisons' maid was interesting- the maid did, in fact, take the baby and get in a life boat, without the mother's consent, causing the parents and their little girl to roam the ship looking for them until it went down. Whether the maid was actually crazy was anybody's guess, but it was an interesting choice of plot in this film. Though just a touch too ridiculous. Captin Smith, though he had a famous actor behind him, was a little off character I thought. He had too much initiative. I'm not using James Cameron's portrayal as a basis for comparison, but Captain Smith, though he had years of sea-faring behind him, had had very little experience with intense situations of that sort and was actually very unprepared for the disaster. He didn't think anything could possibly happen on that voyage. I like Molly Brown better, I don't know why. And I really like the last shot of the first part (cause this was a TV flick)- when the people are kicking the ice around on deck, the camera focuses to the forground where someone has placed a champagne glass on the railing. It slowly slides down the now slight incline and smashes to pieces on the deck. When I saw that, I felt it was worth watching. Overall, this film, was, well, a TV film. Meaning it wasn't that great. But it wasn't that bad either.

A lot of other comments stated that the acting was great, especially George C. Scott. Sorry, but that's just not so. His lines are delivered dripping with melodrama, so much so that I thought I was watching an amature production. His explanation of the ship and what would happen as soon as he stepped in the wheelhouse (after the collision) was laughable. How he knew the ship was doomed before anyone sounded the hull was amazing. Further technical gaffs was the sound of creaking wood and running water, even in the first class section, within minutes of the collision. The rape scene was apparently some scriptwriter's idea of connecting with contemporary stories, but it was ugly and just not true. In fact, this film is filled with more false info than any other (except the film by the same name with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyk (sp?)). If you want to see the most accurate tale of what occurred during that April night, see the superb "A Night to Remember". I rate this one star out of 10.