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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST "LUSITANIA" DOCU-DRAMA EVER MADE, April 26, 2008
This review is from: Sinking of the Lusitania (DVD)
This Discovery Channel special 90-minute feature is the closets thing to a movie that has been released on the world's second most famous shipwreck after Titanic. In many ways, it can be considered a movie because it fully renacts the events which led up to the most famous sinking of World War I. Actor John Hannah, who was in all three "Mummy" movies as Jonathan, is the star of this docu-drama. The set used as the Lusitania herself does look almost identitcal to the real ship. Newsreel footage allegedly taken on May 1, 1915 the day the Lusitania set sail from New York on her fatal voyage is included. Also included is a full recreation of the infamous German submarine U-20 and her crew, who were responsible for torpedoing the Lusitania off the southern Irish coast on May 7, 1915, killing 1,195 innocent men, women and children. In just 18 minutes, the 785-foot long ship sank after listing completly to her starboard (right) side, the same side where the torpedo struck. Within seconds of the torpedo's impact, a secondary mysterious explosion occured farther forward; this is believed to have been the TRUE cause for the Lusitania's rapid destruction. To this day, no one can say for sure what caused it; whether it was a coal dust explosion, boilers or even the war supplies rumored to have been aboard near where the torpedo hit. Unfortunatley, the docu-drama does not go into detail as to what may have caused the secondary explosion. The feature does recreate the heart-breaking aftermath of the sinking; the recovery of floating bodies in Queenstown (now Cobh) Southern Ireland; the trial held the month after; and the fate of some of those who survivied. Hopefully, a movie shall be made one day to help keep the memory of those who perished alive; and to promote further education into World War I, for there are not a lot of movies based on the First World War as there are about World War II. The story of the Lusitania coincides with her great rival TITANIC; its the story of one of the world's most luxurious, biggest and fastest ships that ever existed. And like the story of Titanic, the richest people in the world traveled aboard her during this final voyage. In many ways, the sinking of the Lusitania is perhaps somewhat more tragic than TITANIC; it was a deliberate murderous act of war upon a ship of innocent souls.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A movie shown in Documentary Form, April 16, 2009
This review is from: Sinking of the Lusitania (DVD)
THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA is truly a nice piece of work, it's done in a movie/documentary format, while there are no top name stars in it, the actors themselves did a good job.
There is however, a question as to how many torpedoes struck the ship because there was two distinct explosions heard, the first one was the torpedo from the german u-boat and then there was another much larger explosion after that one. THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE LUSITANIA by National Geographic covers this well so I won't give anything away but the Germans were not 100% at fault for sinking this ship and I'll leave it at that. This is a good DVD and I reccomend it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Pride Of The Cunard Line Meets Her Horrible End, June 13, 2010
This review is from: Sinking of the Lusitania (DVD)
The "Lusitania," Cunard Line's early twentieth century wonder, is an often overlooked, though very worthy historical subject. "Sinking of the 'Lusitania'" is a docu-drama told through the eyes of a surviving Scottish academic, Professor Ian Holbourn (John Hannah.) The plot intertwines World War One tensions, the failure of the British Admiralty to protect the great liner, and life onboard the "Lusitania" and the German submarine that sunk her, the U-20. To fill out the running time there is a subplot about the friendship between Holbourn and a young girl, Avis Dolphin (Madeleine Garrood,) which I expected to be cloying but which actually turned out to be very well done. The acting in the film is generally quite good, and a special mention needs to go to Kenneth Cranham as Captain Turner, who was superb.
The film has very good sets, especially the ship and submarine interiors, although the effect of the ship on the water and especially when sinking were less than fully credible. The film also advances some theories as facts, and goes out of its way to paint the English in a light that makes them look as culpable as the Germans in the sinking of the ship. The storyline and narration from Holbourn makes this moral equivalence clear. Certainly nobody is sparing the British Admiralty of the responsibilities and it's unquestionable that tragic mistakes were made at high levels, though this film makes the leaders of the Royal Navy into the real enemies of the "Lusitania," rather than the German submariner who elected to fire his torpedo on the liner full of civilians.
I debated on a three versus four star rating for this docu-drama, but settled on four, as despite its flaws, the film is generally quite well made, is captivating to watch, and is historically important. As an aside the absolutely riveting painting of the ship sinking on the cover is duplicated inside the case in a larger format. It's by famed maritime artist Ken Marschall, is stunningly accurate, and is worth long contemplation on its own merits.
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