Product Details

• Actors: Leonard Nimoy
• Directors: Stephen Low
• Producers: Stephen Low, André Picard, Joseph MacInnis, Pietro L. Serapiglia
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: July 28, 1998
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304999968
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,855 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Two years before James Cameron's Titanic became a pop-culture phenomenon, this 1995 IMAX documentary utilized the large-frame movie format to journey to the ocean-floor gravesite of the legendary Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sunk on that fateful night of April 14, 1912. Using re-creations of submersible missions and actual IMAX footage taken at the site of the Titanic wreckage, this spectacular film takes you two and a half miles below the surface of the Atlantic, using state-of-the-art deep-sea technology to capture some of the most eerily detailed footage of the great ship's ghostly remains. It's impossible to re-create the awesome IMAX experience in any home-video format, but this film translates remarkably well to smaller screens, and with its vivid photography and informative historical background, it's one of the best Titanic documentaries available. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A New Re-Edited Updated and SHORTER Version of TITANICA, February 19, 2000

By 

Robert Morris "phase52001" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Titanica (Large Format) (DVD)

I have seen 3 versions of this Imax film. The first was the 90 min long videotape version. The second was the 45 minute theatre version, (as it was shown in Australia), which was basically a cut down version of the video, concentrating on the ocean floor and looking at the wreck, and this newly re-edited 67 minute DVD version. When I purchased the DVD I thought I was getting a DVD copy of the 90 min videotape version. This DVD is a completely re-edited and updated and DIFFERENT version of both the video and the theatrical versions I saw. The video of Titanica is a complete Imax film. The DVD contains numerous new interviews, all shot on video(! ), lots of old photos and film footage from the era, and while it contains Imax film footage, it doesn't end up looking and feeling and sounding like an Imax film. (And some of the Imax film included on this DVD is quiet scartchy in parts). All that said, it is a good update and does tell the story of the Titanic quiet well. Which is the main diffence between this DVD and the video. The video tells the story of the Titanic from the point of view of the Russian/Americam/Imax expedition sent in to film it, and spends a lot of time on the ocean floor, the DVD is more an overall account of the Titanic with the expedition included in the story. Its a great supplement to the video version, but not really as good. If you can afford it, try to get both, if not, go for the 90 minute videotape version, its far more intersting, the comparsion of the Russian and American attitudes to the Titanic site far more revealing and it has a lot more of that incredible Imax footage which gives you more of the feeling of actually being at the bottom of the Atlantic. I would have preferred to see the new footage either added to the original cut of the 90 minute video version or as an additional feature included on the DVD or perhaps BOTH versions could have been included on the DVD. And nothing against Mr.Leonard Nimoy but why was he allowed to say "In Search Of ..."; and why did this DVD version need to have its narration re-recorded; Cedric Smith did a fine job on the video version.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 10% substance - 90% pure boredom!, April 11, 2002

By 

Christopher Fry (Ft. Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Titanica (Large Format) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When I bought the VHS version of Titanica I was 99% certain that when I got it home and played it from start to finish there would be only a small fraction of the running time of the video actually on the ocean floor showing shots of the ship... Why do I always have to be so right?

I knew, obviously, that the images would be very small compared with those on the big screen, but that alone would not have bothered me that much. It was the fact that about 90% of the tape showed things that occurred ON TOP OF THE WATER (getting prepared for the dive, meeting the different characters and their backgrounds, etc.), and the other 10% or so showing actual images of the Titanic below on the ocean floor that really deflated me.

Can't SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE simply take cameras down to the ship and for a solid hour or hour-and-a-half keep the cameras rolling, surveying the entire ship for those of us who yearn to just take a slow, thorough observational tour of the ship in its entirety as it lies in the eerie depths of the North Atlantic? The scenes unfolding could be accompanied by occasional commentary/narration as to what specific points are being shown as the camera moves VERY SLOWLY about. Is this asking too much?

Personally, I think the best video I've come across so far (can anyone recommend any other?) of the entire Titanic story, including shots of her where she lies on the ocean floor, is the National Geographic/Robert Ballard - "Secrets of the Titanic." I think this video has achieved the right balance of the building, voyage, and discovery of the Titanic, and the awesome photos the video has of her down at the bottom of the ocean. What do you all think?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What happened?, April 14, 2004

By 

Matthieu P. Raillard (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Titanica (Large Format) (DVD)

I remember loving the IMAX release of Titanica, and I finally picked up the DVD. Now, I didn't expect the visuals to match those of the big screen (that's why IMAX is what it is), but I was appalled by the "blue-light special" editing job. While the original theatrical release was some 90 minutes long, this DVD was only an hour long, yet it somehow boasted "additional footage"! The result is a version of Titanica-lite that skips a LOT of footage, both underwater as well as biological and scientific insights courtesy of the Russian crew. This is very, very disappointing, seeing as this now feels like half a documentary.