Les Survivants du Goliath

Goliath Awaits is available on YouTube in its full, unedited format, and is also available for purchase on DVR. Just do an internet search and you will find it.

If you can suspend your disbelief, this is a very enjoyable science fantasy, with reasonably good acting and writing. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, and manages to avoid the boring melodrama that one might expect in a two-part mini-series of this kind. It hails from the hay day of 1970s and 80s made-for-tv horror and science-fiction movies, and holds up surprisingly well if you enjoy the latter, which is almost a genre unto itself.

An ocean liner goes down during WWII and a number of passengers survive and establish a civilization under the sea in the wreck. The film starts out good but then begins to wither. Too many little subplots are injected into the story, which sink it. (No pun intended) It begins to take on a Voyage to the Bottom of The Sea TV series episode type plot and the chilling Twilight Zone potential of the picture is lost. Christopher Lee does a superb job as the ship captain and is the film only really interesting character. A man who has gone from captain of the ship to absolute God in his underwater kingdom. The other characters particularly the Navy personnel who discover the wreck are weak to say the least. John Carradine co-stars as a silent film star who was aboard the liner when it went down and is now revered by the younger generation as one of the `Elders' Frank Gorshin is also aboard as the captains sinister law enforcer.

An ocean liner goes down during WWII and a number of passengers survive and establish a civilization under the sea in the wreck. The film starts out good with but then begins to wither. Too many little subplots are injected into the story, which sink it. (No pun intended) It begins to take on a Voyage to the Bottom of The Sea TV series episode type plot and the chilling Twilight Zone potential of the picture is lost. Christopher Lee does a superb job as the ship captain and is the only really interesting character. A man who has gone from captain of the ship to absolute God in his underwater kingdom. The other characters particularly the Navy personnel who discover the wreck are weak to say the least. John Carradine co-stars as a silent film star who was aboard the liner when it went down and is now revered by the younger generation as one of the `Elders'. Frank Gorshin is also aboard as an individual who serves the captain in much the same way Beria served Stalin.

When I saw this mini-series in 1981 I was very young and it made a real impact on me. The idea of a ship that sunk 42 years ago (1981-1939) and still had survivors is a great idea for a movie, or mini-series in this case.

As a viewer you have to buy a lot of unbelievable stuff to still enjoy it. First the enormous pressure at a depth of 300 meters to which the ship sank in matter of minutes. Somehow this pressure was no issue for all the people aboard but for the divers in 1981 it was because they have to compress and decompress for days! Then somehow the ship didn't leak at all at this depth and didn't so after 42 years in saltwater! Air, drink water, food and electricity made possible by the genius leader of the survivors. If you buy in to that, you are set to go. Oh, and there are the bow people who can survive by stealing from the others for years despite being hunted down with guns. How difficult would it be to just bar the entrances to the bow? Then, nobody - NOBODY- is happy to see the divers after 42 years. The leaders OK, they have their little empire to lose, but the hundreds of people who are treated as slaves? No cheers, laughs, clapping or happiness at all? And the first two questions what comes to mind, -who won the war and how is this rescue mission going to be organized- are addressed only after a day or so.

BUT, as a film lover you must have a flexible mind and then a very interesting en nice story will unfold. If some producer would remake this movie, it surely must address the plausibility I wrote above. The story of people stranded together making a new society with all the good and bad human qualities is worth any storytelling. Therefore it is after 35 still a good story to tell and to watch with good actors like a young Mark Harmon and Christopher Lee.

I remember this when it premiered in Nov. of 1981 when I was in the 7th grade. I remember the specifics very well, however other reviewers are wrong about a few of the facts. First off Christopher Lee's character was NOT the captain, he was the third officer of the ship and was in charge of the engine room. Second, the movie was not made to be a horror flick. I remember the T.V. Guide writeup about it then and it is a Mystery-Suspense story. Overall a very cool movie that had an interesting premise of what if? What if the Queen Mary sank or the Queen Elizabeth sank and what would the people be like after 40 years of isolation from the world. Lee is the most noteable when it comes to the acting. I like the other actors in the film but I will say that Mark Harmon, who is a good actor, in this one really overacted a few times. All in all a great story, decent acting and cool sets.