The True Story of the Mary Celeste

This was an incredibly well put together and researched documentary, I'm incredibly impressed by how dedicated everyone involved was to telling the true story of these ten lost people. The inspection of the log transcripts, the careful calculations to figure out the ship's path, the interviewing of the descendants, it was all amazingly detailed. I especially was impressed by the inclusion of the interviews, which included a section of clearing the names of the German crewmen involved after a movie directly named them as vicious mutineers, and the part where one of Briggs's descendants mentions how she doesn't think people realize how all the wild speculation affects the families of those lost who just want real closure rather than tall tales about aliens and fingers being pointed at two specific crewmen for their country of origin. She was right, as it certainly wasn't something I had thought about before. I highly recommend watching this documentary as not only is it just a good and entertaining documentary despite what that other review says, it also does a good job of finding a solid, down-to-earth, real explanation of what happened.

This is exactly the type of investigative show one looks for about famous mysteries. Lots of expert talking heads, good use of maps, and lots of visuals of the different locales and the actual ship itself. A bit skimpy on the background of the captain and his family, although talking to his descendants was a nice touch. They real problem, of course, is that the most logical conclusion they come to just ain't all that exciting. But this is not the fault of the researchers or the writers - it's just got to be that way with what happens at sea, away from all the usual observers of the human adventure. Good effort, and it wouldn't hurt to watch it along with the very early Hammer film with Bela Lugosi, Phantom Ship.