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  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.78:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
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  Extras

    SOS Titanic

    Universal/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 98 mins . PG . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    One thing regularly occurs whenever humankind think they’ve outsmarted nature. Someone says something like...

    "This ship is unsinkable!"

    …and Mama Nature says ‘uh-uh’ and really tears some shit up. This is most evident in the classic story of humankind’s vanity versus nature in the saga of Titanic, the biggest ship ever built (at the time) and foolishly declared unsinkable by all and sundry. Idiots.

    Everyone knows the story of the great ship RMS Titanic by now, but for those who came in late…

    It’s a big arse ship that had a new hull design incorporating giant cells that, even if flooded, wouldn’t allow the ship to sink. Unfortunately, they didn’t count on the whole ship being opened up, which was of course their downfall when this big old iceberg came out of the dark and tore the ship a new rotator cuff. There’s a bunch of the classic tales told here from survivors and eyewitness accounts, but after seeing James Cameron make the monster epic about Titanic to end all monster epics about Titanic, this 98 minute smaller budgeted piece is just a bit hard to get enthused about.

    Plus, this was made in 1979 and special effects were hardly in their heyday. The ship they’ve used for the part isn’t exactly a duplicate of Titanic and looks rather cramped most of the time as well. While performances are pretty convincing, the film does suffer from being made in 1979 and so looks the part. Let’s just say there are a few hairdos just a tad fresher than we would expect aboard the great ship. There are other various smaller markers like that too, but the most unforgiving is in the film itself. It just looks like it was shot in the ‘70s. Be this in the film stock or just the general fashions of the time, it doesn’t really feel like it’s set in 1912.

    If you’re one of those Titanic wonks who enjoys all things Titanic, you will also find a few oddities here regarding actual fact versus Hollywood or just the information that was available back then. The biggest of these will of course be evident in the fact the ship, whilst sinking, does not break in half as it did in reality. Also, I didn’t spot Leonardo di Caprio anywhere, nor Kate Winslet. Factual indeed!

      Video
    Contract

    Well, for a film that’s just passed its 25th year, this is looking okay. There are some issues with a white glow or haze coming off paler objects (white walls, shirt fabric, Irish people’s skin etc.) and a few film artefacts here and there. These occur mainly during the reel changes, though there are smaller infrequent specks and such throughout. The edges get a little soft at times too, but the picture is still quite serviceable and clear enough. Colours are slightly washed out as some older films do appear and blacks are true. Shadow detail is surprisingly pretty good, which is handy given that the last half of the film is in darkness. That’s another point about this film; the ship doesn’t even sink until just on the first hour. The rest is adding character storylines and such while attending to the facts. Liberally attending to the facts. The whole thing is presented here in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with unsinkable enhancement.

      Audio
    Contract

    Dolby Digital mono does the job here and serves its purpose quite well. Surrounds might have been nice, but for such a budget release we couldn’t expect much more than stereo. There are a few accents about, of course, and these are all clear and hassle-free in understanding. The fairly accomplished cast do well with what they have, with notable performances from a young Helen Mirren and Ian Holm as Ismay, the commissioner of Titanic forever labeled a coward.

    Music is scored by Howard Blake with plenty of Irish folk music and pipes before overly dramatic orchestral pieces that build in tempo as the tension of the collision escalates. Not bad and fairly well suited, but again I got the feeling of the ‘70s somehow.

      Extras
    Contract

    The main menu holds the chapter list on this budget release and that’s all folks. The rest lies buried at sea.

      Overall  
    Contract

    Anyone having seen James Cameron’s Titanic will no doubt find this film a more difficult watch due to limited special effects and a storyline that leaves great gaps in times and places of characters. There is the bonus of not having Leonardo di Caprio in this version though, so I guess it’s up to you. The historical inaccuracies may find those who enjoy a good honest telling of an historical event a little deflated, but for Titanic enthusiasts this one will no doubt have its important place in the collection.

    Still, it is by far and away not the best Titanic version on offer. A Night to Remember and, of course, James Cameron’s little effort were both far better tellings than this one.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=3944
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      And I quote...
    "Yet another telling of the sinking of this unsinkable ship proves that historical accuracy can make all the difference."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Teac DVD-990
    • TV:
          AKAI CT-T29S32S 68cm
    • Speakers:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Centre Speaker:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Surrounds:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Subwoofer:
          Akai
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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