Saving the Titanic

I stumbled upon this 2012 "Saving the Titanic", and believed it to be an unrealistic movie in the likes of the 1980 movie "Raise the Titanic". So I checked it out on IMDb and saw that it was a dramatized documentary, so I sat down to watch it.

And this is without a doubt a compelling documentary, made entertaining - for a lack of better words - or easy watching with dramatization of the events. But nonetheless, "Saving the Titanic" tells the story of the boiler room workers hidden well beneath the deck of the Titanic and their heroic efforts to keep the sinking ship afloat. And these people are usually hardly ever mentioned in most other documentaries. So this 2012 documentary was just phenomenal.

The documentary brought so much new information out in the light for me, and definitely revealed a whole side of the disaster that I was only vaguely familiar with, as I knew there were boiler room workers on the boat of course. But the documentaries just never told their stories.

And the way that it was dramatized - if that is the right term - and made into a movie like event, was just a great way of bringing their stories to the screen, making it enjoyable and entertaining, whilst keeping it information and documentary at the same time. This was definitely a very pleasing aspect of this 2012 documentary.

I have watched many a documentary about the tragic accident that befell Titanic, and I must admit that this 2012 documentary titled "Saving the Titanic" is among the best and most informative of documentaries out there.

If you enjoy watching documentaries about the Titanic, then you most certainly have to sit down to watch this particular documentary. Sure, it may not revolve around the actual collision, the first class passengers, the important crew and captain, or the like, but it most definitely have a more vital story to tell about these unsung heroes that kept the ship afloat for about an additional hour and a half, saving countless of lives by doing so, and perishing with the ship themselves.

This was so well-worth the time. My rating of "Saving the Titanic" lands on a very much deserved eight out of ten stars.

I have to agree with many others here that this take on what happened with the sinking of the Titanic is both new and interesting. There were parts of it that felt and looked similar to the German version of 'Das Boot'. The pace, acting, detailed camera work and production are above average in their execution. Apart from a few 'unnecessary' scenarios (like the singing of 'Kelly'), and perhaps a bit too drawn out at times, the tension, grit and determination by these hard-working lowly crew members makes you realize how insignificant we truly are, despite the technology and expertise we have, against natural forces. The inclusion of factual narration that brought out new (to me at least) facts about this event added to the entertainment and historical context in which it is forever set. A solid drama that shows another aspect of both the event and technical issues that led to this disaster. Worth watching!

I concur with L.K.'s review of 11/4/12 and awarded the highest rating accordingly.The two outstanding characters in this production are chief engineering officer Joseph Bell and leading fireman Frederick Barrett.The producers have highlighted the crew below decks, mainly the electricians who bravely kept the lights on until the last moment and the stokers/firemen who fed the many boilers to provide the power.Both historic characters are famous in their own way.Joseph Bell who made a sagacious remembrance comment from his childhood about the Danish king Canute, from British history, who did not believe his courtiers' flattering comments that he was more powerful than nature by having the power to turn back the waves.Meanwhile Frederick Barrett was one of the few survivors to give testimony to the official enquiry about how the sinking affected the men under his control in the boiler room.

Although "A Night to Remember " (1958) was excellent with scenes of life in the engine/boiler rooms, this production concentrated more on the personalities of the afore-mentioned electricians and stokers and firemen, most of whom were not saved. and produced in a modern docudrama style with no Hollywood stars getting in the way.One actor I did recognise was the Northern Irish supervisor who played in another brilliant docudrama production about the birth of RMS Olympic & Titanic.

Well written, well directed, excellent in every craft area. I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. The acting is especially good, as is the casting, and the cinematography is gorgeous. I especially loved the story of the chief engineer and his son, but all of the stories were well told and the ending was perfect.

It seems to be accurate and well-documented. It tells the stories of the men who were heroes and made great sacrifices and whose names deserve to be known.

I don't agree that it is slow starting. I thought every second of it was fascinating. But full disclosure: I've always been a disaster junkie and I became fascinated with the story of the Titanic long before it was trendy.

We are not talking here about a Hollywood blockbuster with mega-stars in a soap opera love story about the sinking of the Titanic. Far from it. This is really more of a behind the scenes docu-drama, offering a look at the struggles of the engineering and electrical crew on the great ship as they fight to keep Titanic afloat as long as possible so that more people can be saved, many sacrificing themselves in the process. It's a nice tribute, certainly mostly dramatized but believable, and it makes no real attempt to dazzle the viewer. It just tells the story.

It's slow starting, picking up with the Titanic undergoing sea trials before the beginning of her doomed voyage, and introducing us to the various characters, supposedly based on the testimony of one of the engineers to a tribunal set up in New York City, which is desperately trying to create heroes out of the disaster. We get a sense of the grandeur of the Titanic, but mostly we get a very believable sense of the hot and grimy work taking place deep in the bowels of the ship, as coal is shovelled and the engines are kept burning. The entire focus is on the engineering crew and a handful of electricians. We never see the rest of the crew and no mention is made of anyone else, although there are a handful of scenes including passengers. As the water pours in, you do feel the increasing desperation and your admiration for these men grows as they fight the odds.

There's a good depiction of religious tensions in this (the Protestant- Catholic rivalry in Ireland is very present) and we see the class divisions of the Titanic, not among the passengers, but among the crew themselves, who are segregated into increasingly less comfortable quarters depending on their jobs. All in all, it's a pretty straightforward account of a chaotic event, and of how people handled the chaos. (7/10)