Wider Screenings HomePage

d. Jerry Jameson; pr. Sir Lew Grade, William Frye; scr. Eric Hughes, Adam Kennedy; novel. Clive Cussler; ph. Matthew F. Leonetti; m. John Barry; ed. Robert F. Shugrue, J. Terry Williams; cast. Richard Jordan, Jason Robrads, Alec Guinness, Richard Selby, Anne Archer, M. Emmet Walsh, JD Cannon (115 mins)

Although producer Sir Lew Grade had initially turned this project down, when re-offered a finished script some years later he began to see its potential as a rival James Bond franchise and duly purchased the rights.

He allocated a large budget although production problems soon overrode this. Original director Stanley Kramer departed, citing creative differences, and the script was extensively re-written. Completion dates were pushed back when the scale model of the Titanic proved too big for any existing water tank to accommodate. When an eventual tank was found, it had to be expanded only to discover that the water pressure was so great that it crushed the model submersibles needed for the underwater scenes. In the press, the plight of this film became almost a metaphor for the fate of Lew Grade’s entire tele-communications company. This was sadly confirmed upon the film’s release. It had been so rushed to meet the scheduled exhibition date that no pre-screening was arranged to allow for potential editing. Thus the film premiered without polishing (or interference perhaps) and flopped so completely that Grade would famously say that it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic. Original author Clive Cussler disowned the movie version and was so appalled by the treatment given his biggest best-seller that he reportedly vowed never again to sell the screen rights to his books.

An agent in Arctic island wilds stumbles upon a cave where there are the frozen remains of former operatives, and a message. He flees pursuers and the information is brought to Washington where a scientist (David Selby) informs a government representative (Jason Robards) of a unique plan for a missile defence system.

Sink Sank Sunk
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now in print and soon in e-book)

Few film flops have the peculiar distinction of Raise the Titanic. Although producer Lew Grade (who seemingly will sadly be known forever to England's loftier critics as "Low" Grade) had been offered the screen rights to the Clive Cussler novel, he initially declined. However, sometime later, he envisioned that the lead character, named Dirk Pitt, could potentially be a rival to James Bond and optioned the screen rights, intending an epic action film. After numerous script re-writes, the immense production budget soon escalated when the original director left, citing the usual "creative differences". In addition, the scale model of the Titanic built for the film proved too big to be accommodated by any existing water tank. Eventually, modifications were made to one such tank in Malta. However, the water pressure was now so great that the model submersibles needed for certain scenes were crushed. Finally completed, the film was so rushed into release that no prior pre-screening could be arranged to judge whether any changes should have been made. Cussler so detested the film that he vowed never again to sell the screen rights to one of his novels. Indeed, Raise the Titanic proved so great a critical and box-office flop that Lew Grade later remarked that it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic.

To set up this system, they need a large supply of a metal known as Byzanium. The efforts of the agent commencing the film have yielded a new source beyond Soviet reach: it seems that the largest supply of Byzanium was in the hold of the Titanic as it sank. A unique proposition is brought forward – to raise the ocean liner and recover its precious cargo. Robards places an agent-for-hire / mercenary (Richard Jordan) in charge of the operation, much to Selby’s dismay. Problems between the two men are on the verge of being exacerbated as Selby’s girlfriend (Anne Archer) has had former dealings with Jordan. Jordan and his crew now seek to find the wreckage, using deep sea diving technology and special submersible units to survey the general area. Meanwhile, Soviet agencies have noticed the unusual activity and set up their own plans. The ship’s wreck is eventually located and indeed brought to the surface whereupon the salvage crew is stopped by a Russian vessel which threatens to sink the Titanic once again unless their demands are met.

Its intriguing premise notwithstanding, Raise the Titanic is, as most critics noted, an almost fatally divided film: part enormous technical feat and part Cold War espionage thriller.

The two threads complement each other but are never woven together well enough to suggest their tense inter-relationship beyond the initial set-up. The Cold War context thus seems an obligatory gesture done in the hope of adding a surrounding tension to what would otherwise risk becoming a fictitious docudrama look at technological capabilities. Thus, the human conflicts seem irrelevant and incidental to the prospect of the film’s title attraction. However, whilst the critics felt that this was the film’s shortcoming, it is in fact one of its more telling thematic assets. For as the character conflicts seem trivial and forced as drama this only underscores what the film considers the sheer pettiness of human motivation. Thus, despite the lofty intention to end the Cold War by developing the nuclear shield, these characters act initially only out of selfish pride. In this, the raising of the ship is considered a noble ideal for it would mark a return to a more innocent age, free of pettiness and political rivalry: an ideal in the end threatened by the very nature of the 20th Century’s depersonalizing human agenda. Thus, the film emerges as a study of how personal and political rivalry threatens to complicate an endeavour that promises to be a great human achievement.

In that respect director Jerry Jameson (better known for television work) actually develops themes he revealed in the earlier Airport 77, about the raising of a submerged plane.

Here again there is a kind of techno-mysticism to the wonders made capable by human invention, which Jameson sees as the only truly redeemable aspect of the human condition, at least within such a world as that created by Cold War pettiness. With this obsessing the director it is shame that he never ventured into science-fiction proper as he seemed on the verge of it in these films. Thus, the raising of the Titanic is the fusion of the best of the old and the new, and its rocket-like return is almost that of a repressed past, first evoked in the stylish opening montage. Jameson invests this with tremendous hope that an event of this magnitude may indeed overcome the pettiness of human nature, and in part it does although he is aware in his plot mechanisms that such is an ideal. The hope is that people will remember what the Titanic once represented: the greatness of the human spirit and that that is truly unsinkable. Jameson’s guarded optimism is so contagious that it makes the viewer truly regret that the surrounding film is not better than it is. The awareness the world has changed permeates the film although the great moment of the ship’s raising is, as intended, a monumental spit in the face to contemporary cynicism.

The 16:9 enhanced transfer in 1.85:1 does not preserve the film’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is only evident in the opening credits sequence. The title event is well rendered and Jameson’s style is formally engaging throughout, with nice shot juxtapositions and aerial work. Underwater scenes, however, are decidedly murky in this transfer and shadow detail is compromised accordingly. It is an ornate film in design, seeming decidedly formal amidst its extremes of the elements, with much difference in location work adding to the tension it is able to maintain. The underwater search and salvage scenes are fascinating but again transfer clarity is at its poorest in these scenes, adding to the frustration of an unsatisfactory DVD treatment. Underwater blackness seems like indistinct blue static and thus the teasing discovery by underwater torchlight of the sunken behemoth itself lacks the impact these scenes ideally should have had. Nevertheless, model work is always capable as the raising and final harbour scenes have a due sense of majesty to them. Daylight scenes fare much better and the scene of Jordan walking the Titanic’s decks is a definite highlight. The sense of awe and discovery are preserved although some of the plot mechanisms feel padded and forced. Scenes involving technology have an almost fetishistic quality despite some blatant brand-name product placement.

Sound

Sound is available in Dolby Digital mono only. Considering the film’s unusual spectacle and the cult reputation of John Barry’s score (never released on CD as it is in the film) such treatment is another disappointment. Details are centred but often seem to hover in and out of crispness and clarity levels as if the mono is about to break out into stereo at any time: some static results in backgrounds at these moments. The near-constant score works well and segues into vibrant background details which give a sense of travel beyond the listed mono. These small aural details (from crickets to motors to the final rush and croaky, rusted metal of the emerging ship) add atmosphere and presence to locations and events. There is some reflexive humour over the name of Jordan’s character (Dirk Pitt) and the vastness of sea level and undersea expanses are well established, as is the use of radio as a tool to bridge vast distances and conditions. The petty bickering between the characters builds to the moment where they can put this aside to save lives and raise the ship – finally almost just for the sake of it now rather than the political context which initially brought them there. The raising of the ship carries with it in scoring and diegesis the thrill Jameson sought. Nice use is also made of a Geiger counter’s ticking as a final reminder of what the Cold War meant to such human greatness as once was possible.

The only special feature is an original theatrical trailer although it is in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. It should be noted, however, that since the time of writing this review, the Carlton DVD reviewed is now out of print and the film has been re-released, listed in original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and those interested in the movie may wish to seek out that transfer.