MovieChat Forums > S.O.S. Titanic (1979) Discussion > Dreadfull

Dreadfull

posted 20 years ago by dmaherishere
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I managed to make myself watch this movie. Whilst I thought the movie was quite disturbing, the costumes good the acting ok but the accents NOT, I thought this Titanic movie is aewful, worse than the 1953 version where they sing as the ship goes down! It didn;t even look like the Titanic! It was clearly the Queen Mary, A Night To Remember was made in 1958 and even they manged to get it looking like it was!!! The sinking was a big let down aswell, I mean whats with the whole stern rising, people in the lifeboats gasping and then the thing dissappearing!! I was left with felling like I had watched the whole 3 hours of this drivel to see an impressive sinking only to be met by a very very dissappointing climax.

[–] flashbuck 20 years ago

I think this movie is both over-praised and over-blasted. I would definitely not say it's dreadful -- I think its overall feel is true to life, devastating and powerful. It accurately takes us from the opulance and romance and too-good-to-be-true paradise of life on the Titanic to the fear and terror and mayhem of the sinking to the ominous silence of the survivors on the Carpathia. It's the only movie I've seen where Ismay gets a sympathetic portrayal; I appreciate that, since I think he was unfairly villified.

On the other hand, those who say this is the best and most accurate movie about the Titanic either need to read more about the tragedy or see some more Titanic movies. The Titanic is not accurately portrayed, the sets are all wrong, the actors do not play their parts accurately (except for Ian Holm, Geoffrey Whitehead, and to a certain extent David Warner), and most of the events are played-up for dramatic effect, particularly Ida Strauss refusing to leave her husband and the hilariously overdone scene in which Ismay gets into the lifeboat.

The FX are well-done for TV. Although some shots are obvious paintings and others are lifted from A Night to Remember, overall it looks better than the '97 miniseries, and is much more interesting. But it's not nearly as good on any level as A Night to Remember, or even the James Cameron soap opera.

Collin R. Skocik