Review of Raise the Titanic

Introduction

So much went wrong with this picture it was the "Heaven`s Gate" of the British Film Industry. Aimed to be the crowning achievement in ITC`s cinematic efforts, Lord Lew Grade threw $36million at the project and was dismayed to find a return of only $7million on his investment. "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic" he was later heard to mutter. Contrary to popular belief, the movie was not the last movie ITC would make, as both acclaimed and Oscar-winning titles On Golden Pond and Sophie`s Choice came out after Raise The Titanic.

The movie was based on one of the early (1976) Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler, and Cussler`s experience of having one of his works adapted for the screen proved such a harrowing ordeal that he steadfastly opposed any further adaptations of his stories until Sahara was set up in 2004 (and which resulted in further disenchantment on his part). Curiously, the script was adapted by first-time scriptwriter Eric Hughes and Domino Principle author Adam Kennedy (his third script). With so much riding on the project and the initial choice for the lead Steve McQueen having turned down the script as too flat, one would have expected a script polish by a more seasoned hand before going into production. The story is primarily a Cold War thriller about a race between US and Soviet forces to locate the wreck of the Titanic and raise the vessel in order to obtain the McGuffin - the rare mineral Byzanium crucial to development of the next generation of tactical nukes. It is the need for Byzanium that bankrolls the mission to raise the Titanic.

The movie was helmed by TV director Jerry Jameson, whose other theatrical movie of note was Airport `77. First choice director had been Stanley Kramer, who had quit two weeks into production because of "creative differences".

Heading the cast (at least in contractual order) was Jason Robards as Admiral Sandecker, boss of the lead of the picture Dirk Pitt, played by former Logan`s Run baddie Richard Jordan. Seagram, the earnest scientist, was played by David Selby and love interest Dana was played by Anne Archer. With support from Sir Alec Guiness, M. Emmet Walsh and JD Cannon, the movie should have been better than it undoubtedly is.

The director of the model unit was 007 stalwart and former Creature from the Black Lagoon Ricou Browning. The effects crew included fellow 007 crewmembers John Evans and John Morris, and the effects in the movie are on a par with the Bond movies of the time, as opposed to the ILM-style effects audiences were soon to expect post-Empire Strikes Back, which came out that same summer. A $350,000 miniature of the Titanic was constructed for the picture, but when it was shipped down to the sea tank at Malta for filming, it was found to be too big and a new tank had to be built for filming at an additional cost of $6million.

Problematically, Raise The Titanic is structured like a 1970s disaster movie but in reverse, with a very long and involved build-up introducing a great number of supporting characters before giving a last-reel pay-off where all the real action takes place. The plot is extremely thin, and the script screams out the inexperience of its writers. Combined with TV movie performances by all the actors concerned, it adds up to a really disappointing movie experience.

Video

I`m not sure who is exactly to blame about these Network ITC movie releases - whether Network doesn`t press ITV DVD for the best materials possible or ITV doesn`t care enough to provide Network with anything better. Either way, a 2.35:1 letterboxed in 4:3 transfer just isn`t good enough (no matter what George Lucas might think).

Audio

The most notable thing about Raise The Titanic is John Barry`s soaring score. Reminiscent of his epic scores for Born Free and Out Of Africa, it is one of the few things that is truly big about this minnow of a movie. Unfortunately the score is crapped all over by a tinny Dolby 2.0 mono mix - in spite of there being a six-track mix done at the time of release for the 70mm presentation.

Features

Trailer. Image Galleries. Press Pack PDF. Big Deal. No subtitles as per usual.

Conclusion

Call me perverse but I like to defend some movies that are friendless in this cruel world. Raise The Titanic was a turkey (although it only got nominated for three Razzies, it didn`t win), but it wasn`t as bad as, say, The Swarm. I think the main reason audiences flocked away from the movie was that in a year when everybody was making spectacular stuff like Empire Strikes Back and Flash Gordon, Raise The Titanic looked like a disaster movie, walked like a disaster movie and quacked like a disaster movie. Unfortunately nobody wanted to watch disaster movies any more as Irwin Allen discovered that summer with the wreck that was When Time Ran Out. Shame.

What is particularly galling about this release is that apparently, the old Carlton release was both anamorphic (16:9 - possibly cropped to that) and had subtitles.