Customer Reviews

National Geographic's Secrets of the Titanic [VHS]

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

My kids, 5 and 8, both love this video. My youngest is fascinated with anything Titanic, and the high-tech equipment in this video, along with historical background, make this film a good watch. Good, educational material, not too long, and suitable for most kids.

In this superb video, Dr. Robert Ballard takes us beneath the sea to view the remains of the legendary Titanic. The insightful theories about the sinking and the actual newsreels of the ship in 1912 are fascinating. Also, get "Last Voyage of the Lusitania" by Dr. Ballard. Both videos are wonderful.

Before I start this review, I would like to say that today marks the ninetieth anniversary of the Titanic disaster (But, since it sank in the morning of April 15th, the real anniversary of the sinking is tomorrow. However, the ship hit the berg at 11:40 PM and many people would rather say one date than April 14-15).

This story is the ultimate tragedy and could have been avoided. Since the sinking, historians have been asking various what ifs: What if the ship had enough lifeboats? What if Captain Smith and the wireless operators had obeyed iceberg warnings? What if the ship had not tried to steer away from the ice (Ramming the berg head on would have only folded one or two compartments)? And what if other ships had gotten there in time to rescue passengers (The Californian was only about ten or twenty miles away)? The sinking of the Titanic also brought an end to what Mark Twain called "The Gilded Age". Before the Titanic's voyage, the focus was on larger, faster and higher. Man believed that it could do anything, including conquering the sea with an unsinkable ship. This disaster, however, was a reality check. People were never again as confident in technology and began focusing more on safety than speed, size and luxury.

This video documentary was made in 1986, a year after Dr. Robert Ballard and his Woods Hole Institute found the ship, and follows their subsequent expedition of the wreck. The footage is not as spectacular as say the IMAX-quality footage found in "Titanica" or on some Discovery and History Channel specials, but this was back when the wreck was first being explored. The major goal was to examine and map out the site. Then, after the footage and results were examined, they would come back to get some pretty pictures. This also shows how far we have advanced in the field of underwater research. And that shot of the ship's bow coming out of the darkness still gets me every time.

Ballard hopes at the end of the video that the world would treat the site with respect. Sadly, the events that have occurred since the discovery of this wreck have been far different. Instead of respecting the wreck and increasing our knowledge of the tragedy and of the people aboard, savalgers have scavenged it. Thousands of items have been raised and placed on exhibit at museums. The people who do this claim that it is to protect these items from decaying, but this is unnecessary. It is very much like going to a graveyard, prying open the coffins and stealing the clothing and other possessions of the dead. We already know about the time period and about life back then. Raising artifacts won't help archeologically and they won't add to the context. If anything, every artifact recovered takes away from the context.

I am also glad that many more people are now aware of the Titanic's story and the tragedy. But when did many learn this? After seeing the 1997 movie, of course. While I admit that James Cameron's film is very accurate to the history and events of that night (At least according to historians) and is very entertaining at the same time, whenever someone watches a special like this documentary now, they relate it to the movie. They say things such as "Oh that's where Jack and Rose were when they met" or "That's where this person got killed" or where "That person met that person". I also dislike those people who claim to know everything about the Titanic because they saw the movie five times. I saw this documentary many times long before I saw the feature length film. And I will tell you that nothing beats the factual history. In here, you get the straight facts, not mixed in with a romance.

My opinions, however, should stick to the documentary. This documentary, though its hopes for the wreck site have been somewhat dated by time, is still incredible and is one of National Geographic's top specials on shipwrecks and oceanography.

Ok, to start with, I LOVE the Titanic! It is onen of my fav. times in history, I mean think about how it would be to be on that ship and everything anyways, I need to get to the point: This is the best ed. movie about it that I have seen! It has close up footage and its like your walking on the ship when it first sailed off in 1912. Its like you are the one exploring it and in person and not just looking at a tv. I would suggest that anyone and everyone see this movie!

I ordered it on 24 August, after a number of delays delivery is expected in late October. Frankly, I approved the delay just to see when they will 'fess up that they really do not have in stock.

If I had known they did not really have the darn thing from the get-go I could have ordered it elsewhere.

UPDATE - Delivery is now expected in late November!

UPDATE 2 - Now promised for delivery by Christmas. What is that? Four months?

UPDATE 3 - Shipped on 24 January; exactly five months since I ordered it.