Titanic

I wanted to like this mini-series, really I did. I love Downton Abbey and Gosford Park is great fun, so it isn't as if I am not a fan of Julian Fellowes. And this had a great cast on paper. Unfortunately, apart from some beautiful photography, gorgeous costumes and a wonderfully-rendered ship as well as some decent turns from Glen Blackhall and Geraldine Somerville, this soggy ITV drama sadly never seems to leave the deck. A main problem of mine was the pace. Most of the drama had a very rushed feel to it, consequently characters came and went, story lines(and rather derivative ones at that) were introduced but never satisfactorily elaborated upon or resolved(especially Mary Maloney's) and the main characters lack depth or even any sort of genuine personality and it doesn't help that here they are all underdeveloped stereotypes.

Some scenes particularly at the start take a while to get going, maybe in an attempt to give the characters depth but seeing as they failed with that aspect the first episode was dull, and the sinking scenes which had potential to be riveting lacked any true tension. The dialogue lacks the control and wit also of Downton Abbey and Gosford Park, it is all very stilted and soap-opera-ish with some parts like with the younger actors cringe-worthy and there are a couple of heavy accents too making some of the dialogue muddled. The rest of the acting considering the cast pedigree was disappointing, and the fact that a lot don't have much to do has a lot to do with it.

Toby Jones for example is a good actor, but is one of these, and for me he also had a character that was all too derivative of some of his other roles(such as a less-evil version of Quilp from The Old Curiosity Shop). The rest of the cast that aren't the main focus of the drama are so little used and so scatter-shot in their appearances that their acting is downright forgettable. All in all, a big soggy and largely unmoving disappointment, better than the animated versions, which are the "what-the-devil-did-I-just-watch?" sort of quality, but for a better version try the sumptuous James Cameron version which had an absolutely riveting last hour and especially the brilliant A Night to Remember. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The DVD hasn't been released here yet but the 'mini-series' is now over. It is difficult to call this amalgamation of snippets about an historic tragedy a miniseries because it was spread out so unevenly (3 hours on first night, one hour on second night) and we are now informed that the film is a total of 184 minutes which means that the fourth hour was completely filled with the most distracting and disrupting of commercials. Why this new version of TITANIC wasn't place on cable television where it could have been enjoyed on one uninterrupted three hour showing is beyond understanding. Perhaps when the DVD is released and there are no loud and ugly commercials every 5 minutes the story will hold together.

Julian Fellowes, so respected for his writing of such series as Downton Abbey, etc. seems to have the urge to tell the story of the event through quick snippets of personal stories among the passengers - a commendable idea, but when the tiny tales are buried in the almost immediate collision with the iceberg and the attempt to flesh out the story by making it about how tragedy affects people's relationships come as little disconnected pop-ups, it is difficult to care about anybody, much less get to know them well enough to remember them at picture's end. Granted there are some moments before the ship is finished that emphasize the fact that the unsinkable Titanic was rushed to completion before it was safely ready, and those flashbacks to offer some interesting moments.

But basically the story is the same as all the other TITANIC movies - a study about class distinction not only among the peerage of Brits but also the differentiation among first, second and third (steerage) classes - with a hefty dollop of snubbing the crass American passengers. Jon Jones directs this amalgamation of ideas. There are some brief but tasty moments for actors such as Glen Blackhall (a memorable Paolo) and Antonio Magro (Paolo's brother Mario), Peter McDonald, Steven Waddington, Ruth Bradley Linus Roache and Geraldine Somerville as the Mantons, Toby Jones and Maria Doyle Kennedy, Celia Emrie, James Wilby and Dragos Bucur (the stowaway Russian). The rest of the cast is so little used that they all but disappear.

The film was apparently shot on digital video. Some of the effects are fine, but the whole film lacks cohesion - at least on the American release on commercial television!

Tale of the Titanic disaster in four parts. The first three tell the same basic story but through the eyes of passengers in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class (steerage). The story lines overlap and all meet in the same disastrous finale: the sinking of the ship.

Although there are no big names in the cast, several are familiar faces (Maria Doyle Kennedy, Linus Roache, Toby Jones, Steven Waddington, Stephen Campbell Moore, Celia Imrie, James Wilby, Linda Kash).

To my knowledge this is the only "Titanic" story that has included the real-life Dorothy Gibson (played by Sophie Winkleman), an American movie actress, who survived the disaster. Back in the US, she was rushed into "Saved from the Titanic" within a month of the sinking. She played herself, recounting the disaster, but was so overcome by grief, she suffered a nervous breakdown during the filming and retired from acting. The 1912 film was an absolute sensation, one of the biggest hits of the time. The film was tragically lost in a 1914 studio fire.

I thought I would re-write my review for the DVD and Blu-Ray version, as it might be of some interest or knowledge to some. I recently purchased my own copy of Titanic on Blu-Ray since and thought it would be of some use to share what I discovered. The DVD version has additional deleted scenes that fill in the gaps of where they put the commercial breaks. The most predominant scenes include: 1. Thomas Andrews and Benjamin Guggenheim in the first class smoking room as the ship is foundering as both the Manton's and Lightholler pass through. 2. A conversation on the bridge between Chief Officer Wilde and First Officer Murdoch. 3. A conversation on the bridge between First officer Murdoch and Captain Smith before Titanic's bridge is submerged. Other additional scenes (although not as drastic) are included that make the story lines better developed and flow much nicer between each episode. Also because of the added scenes, the characters' conclusions are much more satisfying (the only conclusion that still left me unsatisfied was that of Mary Maloney, in the end you are almost left wondering if you were ever supposed to really care about her or her story at all. I feel as though her character never truly developed as much as the other characters, because I was still lacking understanding for some of her actions). The deleted scenes are not bonus features and are included within the film. You have the option to "play all" episodes, or watch them one by one. I highly recommend the "play all" option, it has a running time of 187 minutes which will be long for some, but I find you are more aware and drawn into the stories, and because it is a drama it is much more of an emotional experience if you watch them consecutively because you are still in that mindset. The 1080i (not 1080p) high definition quality of the picture is beautiful and crisp. I didn't pay much attention to the sound quality but it was good for my ears (on a side note I did have to put subtitles on at times to understand some muddled dialogue because of some of their accents). Titanic is a two disc collection, Disc One contains all four episodes and the Set Up options. Disc Two contains 2 hours of bonus material for those interested, including: The making-of Featurette, Titanic: Behind-the-Production, Episode One Audio Commentary, and "The Curse of the Titanic Sisters" Documentary. Do not go on the opinion of others, watch it first then make your own judgements. Julian Fellowes' Titanic felt to me more like a re-imagining than a retelling of an all too familiar story. Titanic is told in such a style both visually and narratively, that I found it to be compelling. Of course that is just a personal opinion. If you still feel uncertain about purchasing Titanic, rent it (if you can) first it is your safest and cheapest option.

9 out of 10 stars

I'm quite an avid Titanic enthusiast. Not as big a buff as I used to be, but I could probably still teach a couple of things. I wasn't expecting great things of this title (I have issues regarding things made by ITV), but as its the 100th anniversary coming up, I felt I should give this a watch, without trying to get to excited (although admittedly, I was really looking forward to watching it).

So far, I've only seen two episodes, and I have to say, while they aren't perfect, I feel that they are a good watch for a casual enthusiast of Titanic. Let me just touch on a couple of bad points.

Now, I don't know as much as a lot of people about the ship, but it does have some errors in historical accuracy, although reviewing from my perspective as somebody who knows a fair bit, but not a massive amount (or somebody, like me, who used to know, but is too stupid to remember...), I can say that you won't notice anything so bad that will ruin it for you, even though looking at the forums, some people seem to have taken great offence to this.

My main gripe with these episodes is that they are very rushed. A lot of effort has gone into the writing, but really I think there is too much going on and in such a short space of time to fit it in. While it was an interesting, if ambitious attempt at telling the story, I have to admit, I think that it would have worked better by going through in order, rather than chopping and changing the main characters every episode (although I have to say, it's nice they aren't doing a Cameron and just focusing on a couple of people). I'm hoping for the final chapter to be tighter.

Apart from the above, I really enjoyed watching the first two episodes and will be recording the final two as well. I'd really recommend this to someone like myself, it has some interesting characters and plots, and hopefully will be soon setting up to be an entertaining and engaging finale.