Finally, a film that I know a bit about before I watch it - no "what the hell is this going to be about" this time :) - In fact, I think I saw this years ago and read the book
So, #7 features our biggest star to date - the ol' gal herself, Titanic - We had some delay here, as my library copy turned out to be unplayable - so I did it via Netflix
The thing that sticks out to me about this film is it's superiority, IMO, to the 1997 James Cameron version. The primary reason is because there is so much manufactured and fictionalized drama in the Cameron version, you just get the feeling it was important for Leo and Kate to be the big stars.
There was enough drama, tragedy, and fear this night for the story to stand on it's own, and not need some corny romantic redemption drama written into it for the sake of selling a story to Americans - it's probably an American thing - the British version done here does it in one of the best ways, I think. After the briefest of exposition to some characters we'll see in the film, the Titanic gets underway and strikes the iceberg about 35 minutes into the two hour film which gives plenty of time to watch the crew, passengers, and ship play out their final moments
Little trivia note - this was the last Titanic film to be shot in Black and White - (wikipedia lists about 18 films, ranging from utterly fictional "Raise the Titanic" to silent films made less than 2 months after the sinking for which no prints are available) - It was based on Walter Lord's book, written at a time when interest in the Titanic was at an all time low.
As usual there are some special features, but alas, Netflix only sends the main disk - There's a commentary with a couple Titanic writers and illustrators, and as I understand it, a fine Documentary - might be worth trying to check out of the library a second time just to see the extra features.
A great film that just flew by timewise - a terrible tragedy that will keep me from EVER getting on a cruise ship
RB
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