1996 Miniseries

[Matthew Lips]

The "Titanic" miniseries (with Catherine Zeta-Jones etc), almost universally panned on this board, makes a return to the Hallmark Channel this weekend. Well, at least here in South Africa - I'm not sure if the programme schedule is the same everywhere.

I think Part 1 airs at 21.15 Central African Time on Saturday night, September 18th. I imagine Part 2 will be shown on Sunday.

I know most of us agree that it's utter dog poop, but hey, a Titanic movie can never be all bad (or can it?). Anyway, thought you might want to know so you can check your schedules in your corner of the globe.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>but hey, a Titanic movie can never be all bad (or can it?)<<

Uhhhhh....can you say "Raise-The-Titanic" ????

I knew you could!

 

[Robert T. Paige]

>>but hey, a Titanic movie can never be all bad (or can it?).<<

I have the DVD of the (George C. Scott/Catherine Zeta Jones, etc.)TV miniseries of "The Titanic."

At the very least.....I thought there was a better than average portrayal of Captain Rostron, Harold Cottam and the Carpathia, second only to ANTR....I'll qualify that with "just IMHO" of course.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

PS- The graphics were absolutely terrible...especially that showing the Carpathia entering New York Harbor...or maybe I just got a bad copy and the video quality wasn't all that good.

 

[Ann Whitworth Unemori]

Aw c'mon, Michael, maybe the rest of the film was a total flop, but how can you NOT be moved by the scene of Our Lady Titanic breaking the surface?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>but how can you NOT be moved by the scene of Our Lady Titanic breaking the surface?<<

Oh I agree. It made up for a multitude of sins. "Wormie on the hookie" anyone?

 

[Matthew Newman]

How bout "Dynamite fisher person"? >

Agreed though, the scene of the great bow of Titanic bursting through the ocean surface makes up for the films other sins.

 

[Jason Schleisman]

Humm.... "Sound's like a pirate"

Yes, and raising once again the White Star Line burgee -albeit in the wrong location, but whatever- a touching moment.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

Unfortunately (for Me, at least !) I've been watching "Titanic" (the Catherine Zeta Jones - George C. Scott version). It's a nitpicker's dream...or nightmare...for a just a few examples.

Captain Smith says to Bride and Philips":
"Send CQD - Come Quickly Distress". No such thing :"CQ" was a "conventional signal" - more or less a "calling all stations" - if followed by a "D" it did mean "Distress."

Sound of the code being received and sent is of the tone of a modern "CW" (Continuous Wave) musical note tone type of signal and not as a spark gap signal would have sounded.

Scene of the Carpathia entering New York Harbor shows clear and broad daylight - Carpathia entered in rain and at night.

Et Cetera, Et Cetera, and so forth.

So...what is the real "Worst Titanic Movie Ever
Made " ?.......The envelope, please !

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Et Cetera, Et Cetera, and so forth. <<

Don't say I didn't give fair warning!

 

[Shannon Manning]

I personally don't like the Catherine Zeta Jones one with George C Scott because of the rape in it and it's in definite poor taste!! I have the movie with my other Titanic things but rarely see it!!!

 

[Douglas Nieblas]

The Titanic mini-series is awful. Titanic is docked on the wrong side. Molly Brown comes aboard at Southhampton. Did these people do any research? The CGI was terrible. The only thing I liked is that it tells the bizarre story of Lorraine Allison, not told in any other Titanic film. other than that, it was a cheesy double love story that couldn't keep the project afloat.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Did these people do any research?<<

If they did, they gave no evidence of the fact in what was finally put into the can.

 

[Stephen Walker]

This really is a bad mini-series, no doubt about it.

The CGI was pretty lousy--the movie "Midway" used some fairly low-budget model work for some of its scenes and it looked a lot more realistic than what we saw here. Well-done scenes in miniature are always better than bad CGI!


In addition to the catalogue of factual errors (Come Quickly, Distress, white rockets unsuitable as distress signals, etc.) it has some of the most horrible acting I've ever seen. Mr. Pick-Pocket (our Young Hero) grossly overacts in every one of his scenes--was I the only one who stood up and cheered when Tim Curry roughed him up? I was so hoping this guy would wind up on the receiving end of a nice big CGI #1 Funnel when the ship sank...no such luck. You're not supposed to be annoyed by the hero!


The woman playing Alice Cleaver over-acted just as badly. It was really painful to watch--I hope someone can put Mike Nelson onto this movie for RiffTrax--it could be a pretty good candidate!

 

[Robert T. Paige]

Re: "The Titanic" series (George C. Scott, et al.)

Good: Portrayal of J. Bruce Ismay probably closest in physical appearance of any.

Bad: One got the impression that Titanic was not commanded by Captain Edward John Smith but by General George Smith Patton, Junior (Scott, that is.) This has appeared on another thread previously.
One also expected Tim Currie to be continously twirling his mustache. (I think the name of the character was Snidely Whiplash.)