On april 14 1912 just before midnight the unsinkable titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours it had plunged to the bottom of the sea taking with it more than half of its passengers. This depicts the ships final hours in an unforgettable rendering of walter lords book. Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 07/07/1998 Run time: 123 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Roy Baker
Two years after Twentieth Century Fox released its melodramatic disaster film Titanic in 1953, Walter Lord's meticulously researched book A Night to Remember surprised its publishers by becoming a phenomenal bestseller. Lord had an intuition that readers craved the reality of the Titanic disaster, and not the romantically mythologized translations that relied on fictional characters to enhance the world's worst maritime disaster. Lord's book proved that truth is far more compelling than fiction. Three years after it appeared, the book was brought to the screen with the kind of riveting authenticity he had insisted upon in his own research. The 1958 British production of A Night to Remember remains a definitive dramatization of the disaster, adhering to the known facts of the time and achieving a documentary-like immediacy that matches (and in some ways surpasses) the James Cameron epic released 39 years later. The film erroneously perpetuates the once-common belief that Titanic sunk in one piece (instead of breaking in half as its bow began to plunge), but many other misconceptions are accurately corrected, and the intelligent screenplay by thrill-master Eric Ambler is a model of factual suspense. By making Titanic the star of the film, director Roy Baker emphasizes the excessive confidence of the booming industrial age and creates an intense realism that pays tribute to Walter Lord's tenacious quest for truth. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Extraordinary movie, but be careful with your disc...:
There's not much more to be said about this, the *definitive* Titanic movie. But be careful about the DVD. Mine "rotted", and is now unplayable. Search the Web - it seems to be a common problem. Criterion replaces any unplayable copies free of charge. Just be sure to check this disc every now and then - it's a gem.
Accurate and entertaining:
Except for occasional profanity, this version of the Titanic story is far better than the current special-effect-filled version. Intense, tender in places, captivating, and suspenseful, it tells an accurate story of the drama of the Titanic as told from records of survivors with no erotic "love story" to impede the story line. If you enjoyed the recent movie, you should like this older version more. But then, I personally enjoy the older movies, especially English ones with superior acting.
Best Titanic Movie Ever:
After my dissapointment in the documentary of the Titanic I watched this version of the disaster. This was by far the best Titanic story I have seen and I've seen them all. The black and white doesn't even bother me. Spends more time on the actual disaster. Most of the Titanic stories turn into a soap opera. This one does not. Then there is an added bonus of the movie played again but narrated by 2 men that are experts in the disaster that explain everything. So you get 2 stories for the price of one. Worth... more info
Still THE definitive Film About Titanic:
No, there's no CGI in this film, no box office stars or the over blown melodrama that comprised James Cameron's version, but the drama and the tragedy of the Titanic is beautifully brought to life in this 1958 master piece. Though some will argue that it was not all together fair to the captain of the doomed liner, it is VERY faithful to Walter Lord's book. Heartbreaking and brilliant. Well worth owning.
Similar Products:
Titanic from 20th Century Fox (DVD) - Usually ships in 24 hours
