Very well executed

Boring

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I enjoyed this! After watching the Cameron version I had another look at "A Night to Remember" which I really enjoyed for its lack of glamour and stiff upper lip un-sentimentality. So this "SOS Titanic" is really a happy compromise between the Hollywood extravaganza and the more understated "Night to Remember"I loved this version. Its awareness of human drama and social comment which was more credible than the Kate and Leo story and the story of the whole community on board was moving without being overly dramatic. It is my favourite version now.

There are two versions of this film. One is much better than the other and runs for another 30 minutes and can now be viewed in its entirety on You Tube. This is a made for TV film and as such, the budget is limited, but not entirely noticeable. Yes, some scenes are clearly shot on the Queen Mary, but the film is engrossing so you don't really take much notice. SOS Titanic is also quite different from all of the other versions in that: (1) it starts with the ending and tells the story in a flashback format. And (2), it is the first Titanic film to feature all three passenger classes in some detail. And it also has the distinction of being the fist Titanic film to be filmed in colour. There is some mis-casting. David Janson's Astor gives it his best shot, but does not quite pull it off, and Cloris Leachman is the worst Molly Brown I have seen. Some more real life characters are featured in this film, the Lift Boy and the 'Boot' boys. Even stewardess Violet Jessop is included, but incorrectly portrayed as an elderly stewardess when in fact Violet was in her mid 20s. J Bruce Ismay is portrayed far more accurately in this film and it is through his eyes that we flashback to the events. There is no real plot line as such, and this film plays more like a documentary although does not quite manage to pull it off like 'A Night To Remember' did. There are a few small sub-plots, but this film is based on the book by 2nd class passenger and Titanic survivor Lawrence Beeseley. There is a short scene between him and his fictional female companion where they are shown on the middle decks discussing "them up there" and "those down there", which really emphasises the class distinction to good effect. Although not actually seen, the near collision at Southampton IS mentioned in the dialogue, something all the other films always leave out. There is also a good scene showing the Tenders.The soundtrack is excellent and the music is extremely atmospheric. You really feel like you are there. And with the a great many more scenes showing children, it really does have an effect on you, especially the opening sequence which is superb. OK, Titanic's life boats did NOT have to wade their way through a field of ice to reach the Carpathia, and the crew on the Carpathia actually had everything prepared before the Titanic's boats reached her and not a mad rush as they arrive. But I think this can be forgiven and taken as a bit of poetic license. What is unforgivable is the glaring mistake about the date. They show it as Sunday April 12th, when as we all know it was Sunday April 14th. But the costumes and sets are spot on and we see a lot more of this ship than in other films: The Turkish Baths, The Stewardess' rooms,The Gymnasium to name just a few. All in all, a good film.The sinking sequence is not the best of the bunch, and nothing will surpass Cameron's version in that area, but this film is not about special effects. The ship sinks intact in SOS Titanic but this was the accepted version in 1979.

As someone who has all the known videos mentioned by a previous reviewer and most of the leading books, not to mention biographies of Capt. Smith, 2nd Officer Lightoller and other assorted Titanic memorabilia, (I could go on);this positively is the worst film of the trajedy.The funnels were in Cunard's black/red (with black rings) colours, instead black top/buff; the superstructure of the bridge was rounded a la Queen Mary (where it was filmed), when it should have been squared off, the overall dimensions of the film set of the ship were tiny compared to the 886 foot reality.Most farcical was when "Capt. Smith" (Harry Andrews) is bellowing instructions through his megaphone to those getting into the boats - he only looks about 10ft from them!! The portrayals of JJ Astor, J Bruce Ismay and Molly Brown were appalling, totally unconvincing, under-researched and a travesty of the reality.When will film producers realise that when you film historical events, there is an army of highly clued-up amateur historians ready to pounce on you if you make a factual error!!I say lazy reearch.The only redeeming feature for me was to see David Warner playing Lawrence Beesley, the science master who had just resigned from Dulwich College and was taking his first trip abroad.One of my books is his "The Loss of the SS Titanic - Its Story & Lessons" (Mifflin 1912).Read this if you want a factual account from a second class male passenger's perspective.The bit where he tries to seduce an American school teacher sounds almost libellous, at the least, fictitous.Strangely David Warner is the only actor I can recall who has featured in two film productions of this event.The other of course being the dastardly man servant to Cal Hockley, in Cameron's fanciful production from 1997.Yes, I've got this video in my T collection but merely to have a copy of every available depiction.I do not find all the answers in any one but a bit of truth in all of them - admittedly not much in this one.Yes, I know this was made for TV and therefore had a limited budget for such a large canvas.One scene I liked was the Irish emigrants coming out by tender at what was then Queenstown, (now Cobh - I've been there) but why no depiction of Eugene Daly playing "Erin's Lament" on his Irish pipes?There is to my mind still many aspects of this drama still to be filmed.What about: 1.The near collision with the "New York" as T left Southampton?2.What about her construction at Harland & Wolff and delays in Sept. 1911 when workers had to leave off to repair S.S Olympic following her collision in Cowes, Isle of Wight with H.M.S. Hawke?3.What about the correct drama on "The Californian" especially with Ernest Gill, a donkeyman aboard, who saw rockets about the time T sent them up but reported nothing to her officers, (Read "The Ship That Stood Still"- by Leslie Read).Even "A Night to Remember"(1958) got it wrong - "Californian was NOT carrying passengers, merely cargo.Read my critique of this film in June 2002 for other errors in this, the best version yet for history fans, of the drama.4.Could we see more of Chief Officer Wilde someday?5.Could we see the reason these Olympic class ships were devisedand the meeting in 1907 in London attended by J.Bruce Ismay/Alexander Carlisle and other notables when this was discussed?.Film producers have a horrible temptation to dumb down leaving serious students with a feeling of frustration, but I suppose as usual it's all about putting bums on seats, students need to read all the leading works to ascertain the truth!!

This movie was better than some and worse than others. It was interesting to see the second class point of view, but two major errors in the movie made it difficult for me to take the rest of it too seriously.At the start, when the Carpathia arrives, we see that Captain Rostron has made NO preparations until they've reached the scene. Dramatic license is not adequate reason to show Rostron as incompetent. A little later on, the big Sunday is shown as April 12 rather than April 14. I've made typos myself, but this was a bad one.