Yes! The special effects cost more than the actual ship.
Yes! The movie has atrocious acting!
Yes! Some of the "special" effects are shoddy!
Yes! The movie has numerous historical inaccuracies
Yes! They took everything great out of a best-seller!
BUT!!!!
The scenes of the actual raising, accompanied by a great John Barry score, comes off very nicely! Also, Alec Guinness adds a lot to this mess with his one scene as a survivor (who SHOULD be well over 100, but historical inaccuracies ARE this movies strong suit!)
The story concerns a race between America and the Russians to obtain a rare mineral, supposedly aboard the ship, to set up a "Star Wars" type defense system using the mineral. The cast is headed up by Richard Jordan, cast as Dirk(?!) Pitt, rugged adventurer. Jason Robards plays Admiral Sandecker, Pitts boss. David Selby is perpetually uptight scientist, Gene Seagram. Anne Archer is the one, lone female caught up in all this slosh as Dana Archibald, Seagram's girlfriend, who has the most laughable bits of dialogue: "Fishy on the hooky"?????? The novel used Dana much more than the film does and, for fans of Anne Archer, this is a crime!
The movie came from the man who brought us the clunker "The Cassandra Crossing", Lord Lew Grade. After this movie took in less than half what it cost to make and was universally panned, Lord Lew was basically out of business. Over the years the film has gained a substantial fan base of Titanic aficionados, John Barry connoisseures and special effect/model makers. |
