Customer Reviews

Raise the Titanic

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Sorry, I am so tired of "dog pile on the rabbit" with this movie. It was the Waterloo for Cussler and Lew Grade, and had the grave mistiming of premiering as they found the real Titanic. Here was Dirk Pitt riding the Titanic in NYC harbour when footage was shown of the real Titanic on the ocean floor - in pieces.

But you know - SO WHAT? This is FICTION not a documentary. This film has SO MANY people lining up to take potshots at it because it was "shooting fish in a barrel". People grumped because the Titanic could not be raised - OH, is this the first time Hollywood did not follow TRUTH, but opted for fiction? Others grumped it did not follow the book (a Book I loved!) and again I am forced to asked, since WHEN did they EVER really follow a book. By definition, films rarely match a book, because it's not "your" imagination on the film. So toss that ruler out going in.

Did you know they play this film on Bravo? Seems other see something worth viewing. Bravo does not play dogs!

What are you left with? A great, fun sea adventure with the wonderful, late Richard Jordon as Dirk Pitt. You have great backup work from Jason Robards, David Shelby (Quinton from Dark Shadows) and well stocked with solid character actors for support. Nicely done effects, and well paced suspense. Add the wizard John Barry's so beautiful score, this is great fun!

So stop taking the easy road of trashing a film for not living up to real life or not living up to the book. Just enjoy it.

And accept the beauty of seeing Titanic sail into NYC harbour as our wishes of what we wanted to see. I think in our hearts, we always wanted to see the Titantic whole and raised again... You might find, it's an enjoying time after all.

I'm sick and tired of all the negative reviews for this film. So it didn't follow the book 100%. But it had some top quality acting, great action pieces, and awesome visual effects. Buy it and watch it. And please, don't diss it! Grade: A-

Seriously, this is one of my favorite movies! Granted it's got a hackneyed script and having a nuclear submarine head off the Russians (we were still in the "Cold War" remember?) was a bit far fetched, but what makes it a favorite is:

Richard Jordan - Always a treat to watch act, no matter if he is playing Harley on the Equalizer or General Armistead in Gettysburg.

Sir Alec Guiness and Jason Robards for the same reasons.

The best part - the first 15 minutes when you have the excellent John Williams score interspersed with photos of the actual Titanic before it's maiden voyage. Not even James Horner, with Cameron's Titanic comes close. It brings back the feeling of the era and the pathos of man thinking that humans could design a "ship that God, himself, couldn't sink".

This is definitely worth a watch even if you find you don't like it. It's a couple of hours well spent.

I have this great film in VHS and is a "must have" when the DVD is released. The creative imagination and special effects done were a tribute to this magnificent ship. It also created a realm of possibility to the viewer's imagination. Even now knowing the Titanic will never be raised, it is the best of all the Titanic movies.

People watch this movie for the soundtrack. Forget the acting. the Titanic is the Star. Clive Cussler is a brillant author and Dirk Pitt is the all american hero (James Bond, Indiana Jones and Macgyver all rolled into one) who gets a little short changed in this novel adaption. Watch the watch movie, buy the soundtrack and then listin to it while reading the book.

Recently released on DVD in Australia, this movie is not as bad as you mya have heard. Remember, it was filmed in 1980 when the mystery of the Titanic's exact whereabouts were still unknown. Also, no-one knew what condition it was in, people naturally assumed it would be preserved because of the sea. What I like about this film is it gave audiences the chance to "imagine" what it would have been like to search the ocean floors looking for the great ship, and then attempting to raise it. In 1985, National Geographic located the Titanic and revealed that the ship had broken in two, and many of the parts were affected by the environment.

This DVD has been tricky to locate over the years. Finally I have got my hands on a copy which is glorious widescreen (although the cover incorrectly statedfull-frame). This is the only way to see the great special effects before CGI came about. Overall, a film worth owning if you have an interest in all that is Titanic. Let your mind wander a little.

Having seen this movie specifically because of my love of Clive Cussler novels, I cannot help but pile on the criticism of this movie as one of the more horrible film adaptations of a truly spectacular adventure novel. Why? Because those who made this movie, attempted to re-write what was virtually perfect ALREADY.

However...for those who have never read the book, this movie really CAN have some fun & adventurous moments. So why all of the negative comments? I have YET to see a really decent and faithful adaptation of a novel to the big screen. Why? Who can say other than of COURSE there are several reasons why specific scenes are difficult or downright impossible to recreate visually, either by budget limitations or special effects difficulties or is simply unnecessary to the plot. HOWEVER, with that said, when eliminating certain portions of a film end up literally changing such large sections of the storyline as to render it almost an entirely different story, you have to ask yourself WHY DO IT? For those who have read the sequel to Jurassic Park and seen the abysmal movie version, you have to wonder if they even made the movie based on the novel AT ALL. In the case of Raise The Titanic, this is yet another case of plot alterations so severe that it renders the movie almost frighteningly different than the book.

One MAJOR problem with the movie HAS to be the casting of Dirk Pitt. While I am not entirely sold on the casting in 'Sahara' (other than Penelope Cruz as PERFECTLY fitting as Eva Rojas), Titanic's Dirk was simply mis-cast entirely. Somewhat like picking Regis Philbin to be Indiana Jones...well maybe not quite THAT bad. The special effects are surprisingly well done, though. Unlike some films, as time goes by many movies which when first viewed seem to have fantastic effects, only to be seen decades later and you wonder at just how cheesey they look today, this film's effects manage to hold up rather well over the years. However for those of us who are Cussler-aholics, we still find the re-written script to be silly by comparrison. This ISN'T to say the movie is not worth seeing, especially for those who haven't read the book. I can appreciate the film for what it is, and even for what it was INTENDED to be, but I find it almost in-excuseable to rate this movie beyond 2 stars for how much of a horrific adaptation it made.

A little over a year ago I had the incredible opportunity to interview Clive himself, and I asked him specifically about this movie. He said he was so disappointed with how it turned out he vowed to NEVER again sell one of his books to Hollywood unless he had script approval, actor approval and director approval. Since it has been a VERY long time in between Titanic and the release of Sahara, you can see that it took Hollywood a considerably long amount of time to finally wise up and allow him what he wanted. All things considered, I felt the elimination of the President Lincoln angle from the movie took quite a bit of the REAL fun out of it.

Will I pay to see another Cussler film if ever adapted for the big screen no matter HOW badly it is scripted? Probably. But I sincerely hope that before any Producer makes this attempt to consider one VERY important thing first: Remember WHY the book was so good to begin with. Don't mess with the original. Leave out only what is absolutely necessary and don't take too many liberties with the storyline. See how successful the Lord of the Rings movies were?? They adhered to the actual story about 85% of the time and look at the incredible success it enjoyed as a result? Just something to think about.

I agree with one of the reviewers below though I haven't red the book (yet): it's far from the first screen-adaption not being faithful to the book it's based on, far from!

And this adventure-movie, that's all it tries to be, is extremely entertaining -so adventure-fans, haven't you given this one a chanse yet, well, then you've missed something - I guarantee!

The filming of the raising: all I can say is WOW!!! It looks real, though I must admit as a big fan of the movie some wreck-shots on the "bottom of the Atlantic", well, you can tell it is a model -but not all data-animation looks real today either, and that's a fact. This movie must have required a lot of hard work and planning.

I really enjoy "Raise The Titanic", every time I watch it - and I never get bored.

One more thing -the fabolous John Barry soundtrack. Worthy of an Academy Award (and this is serious), the music is so mighty -and the music alone makes this movie worth seing. Fantastic soundtrack!

It's not on dvd here on the amazon.com, I've checked - but it's released on dvd over here in Norway. It contains the trailer, no behind-the-scenes. But I was very happy the day I found it... again!

You can buy it on dvd on www.play.com (in case you're a fan, and would like to buy it). Trailer included. And Cast-biographies.

Recommended!

Yes, I love this film. There is something about RAISE THE TITANIC that continues to draw me to it. If I were unbiased I know that this is not one of the best films ever made and is probably not even considered a good film by many. However, beyond two scenes that I actually consider truly and exceptional good filmmaking, there is a hokey but appealing quality to this film that I cannot seem to shake. I still remember the first time I saw RAISE THE TITANIC. What impressed me most about the entire film was its prologue. It was a montage of black & white photographs depicting the construction, the launching and the setting sail of the Titanic on its maiden voyage. The montage was accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful piece of music composed by John Barry. In this short yet effective composition John Barry captured the majesty of the Titanic, the romanticism of the sea and the mystique of Britain's maritime heritage in what I consider to be one of the best pieces of film scoring that I ever heard. John Barry's score seems more inspired by the actual tragedy of the Titanic and the unknown dangers of the cold Atlantic waters. Despite the shortcomings of the film, which can probably be attributed to weak editing and not necessarily the script, John Barry's music remains focused on the ship and the sentimentality its tragedy holds for Richard Jordan and Alec Guinness. Jordan and Guinness seem to be quixotically tied to the sea. The scene where Alec Guinness reminisces over his experiences aboard the sinking of the Titanic is a haunting and beautiful piece of histrionics. Guinness' heartbreaking sentimentality as he reverently hands over to Jordan the flag he took from the sinking Titanic many years before is one of the best pieces of film I have ever seen. Alec Guinness and Richard Jordan's performances and John Barry's score in this scene are truly heartfelt renderings by these craftsmen and stand as a genuine memoriam to the actual tragedy. This scene and the prologue really touched me and for that reason I always have enjoyed this film and it remains one of my favorites. I am very impressed by Richard Jordan's performance. This man died much too young and this film almost seems like a tribute to an actor who deserved much greater recognition. He gives a performance of determination tempered with a dedication to the memory of the TITANIC and is sincerely convincing as a man of strength who has braved the elements of the cruel Atlantic yet maintains a reverence for the perils of the sea and those who succumbed to those perils. What more can one say.

This entertaining adaptation of the Clive Cussler novel is readily available on DVD in Europe. Armed with a region-free player and you have access to a whole wealth of movies that are not released yet in Region 1 for example HIGH ROAD TO CHINA (Region 2), SILVER BEARS (Region 4), WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL (Region 2) and THE FOURTH PROTOCOL (Region 2) to name just a few.
This movie may take some liberties with the Clive Cussler novel and the plot may be implausible but I still love this movie. If you approach this production as just a fun adventure movie you will likely enjoy it, it has its scenes of high tension (Cold War-era Russians flexing their military muscle) and some pretty nifty special effects (who can forget the image of the liner rising from the waters). The movie is perfectly complimented by a simply beautiful score by James Bond composer John Barry whose stirring ballads evoke a sense of nostalgia and passion.
This movie was released in 1980 and the real Titanic was not discovered for another four or five years so there was at that point a fascination as to why nobody seemed able to find the ocean liner. The search for the liner in the depths of the ocean includes some fabulous underwater photography and the MgGuffin (plot device to move the story along) of a rare ore leads to some great detective work from the opening in the Arctic Circle to the very end.
It is also worthwhile to note the gravitas that are lended to the proceedings by the inclusion of Sir Alec Guinness (of David Lean and STAR WARS fame) in a small but amiable role as a survivor of the ocean liner and Jason Robards as Sandecker. The always appealing and very attractive Anne Archer is also in the cast and (since I saw this movie before I read any of the books) to this day I still picture Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt.
I enjoyed the whole drama of the production, give this movie a chance and I'm sure you will too.