While not critically acclaimed, the movie does add some interesting points to the Titanic saga. As usual, the movie shows life in First Class, represented by imaginary characters Wynn Park (Peter Gallagher) and Isabella Paradine (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and less-than-life in Third by more imaginary folks like con artist Jamie Perse (Mike Doyle) There is a representation of true life characters like Molly Brown (Marilu Henner) and Bruce Ismay (Roger Rees).
As far as I can tell, every myth and semi-myth was wheeled out for this 173 minutes of missed opportunity. Everything from Captain Smith (George C. Scott) saying that CQD means "Come Quick Distress" to the rape of a Third Class girl by the (apparently) sexually ambiguous steward, Simon Doonan (Tim Curry) makes this movie less than stellar.
It does make an attempt to show real life happenings onboard, like the story of The Allison family and there psycho nanny, Alice Cleaver.
If you are not overly-familiar with the facts of April 14th, or on the other hand, want to feel superior in your knowledge of April 14th, I recommend this movie, just ignore the historical mistakes, and the attempts to make the First Class overly rich,spoiled and heartless (Eva Marie Saint is a hoot as the old bitch, Hazel Foley, more concerned with her dogs survival, than her husbands) Apparently the DVD of this movie is defective, with the sound out-of-synch in certain scenes.
