{"id":79209,"date":"2024-06-05T09:50:26","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T14:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=79209"},"modified":"2024-06-05T09:50:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T14:50:28","slug":"have-you-seen-titanic-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=79209","title":{"rendered":"Have you seen&#8230; <i>Titanic (1996)<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By JOHN BILLINGER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After weeks of delays, it\u2019s finally here. The Titanic movie review we\u2019ve all been expecting. The big one. The one from the 1990s with big-name actors. Yes. That\u2019s right. The big one. It\u2019s time for \u201cTitanic\u201d&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026the 1996 CBS miniseries starring the likes of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tim Curry, George C. Scott, and a cast of many more. What, did you expect something else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"titanic 1996 trailer\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PYz6Fag-qgE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Produced to cash in on the publicity of the production of James Cameron\u2019s \u201cTitanic\u201d and released a year prior, this miniseries had half the budget, half the production time, half the appeal, and none of everything that made the much more remembered Cameron version as popular as it continues to be. Although it was the first film made about the Titanic to depict the ship breaking in half. So I guess it\u2019s got that going for it. This film is generally considered the worst film made about the disaster (unless you count those horrible animated Titanic films, one of which features a rapping dog). Much like \u201cRaise the Titanic,\u201d I\u2019ve only seen clips of it here and there. I never checked out the whole thing because I always figured it would be disappointing. Boy, was I right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plot is as follows\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell me if this sounds familiar. It\u2019s April 1912. The Titanic is setting sail on its maiden voyage. We follow several different plots that are going on onboard. For our purposes, we\u2019ll just focus on the main three. We have a wealthy woman named Isabella Paradine. She is returning home to her family in America, but she has an affair with an old fling. Then there\u2019s the Allison Family (a real family that was actually on the Titanic) who are returning to America. They\u2019ve recently hired a nanny by the name of Alice Cleaver, who is clearly mentally unstable (we\u2019ll get to that). Then, in third class, there\u2019s a stowaway named Jamie who is being blackmailed by a criminal (played by Tim Curry) into robbing the purser\u2019s officer. During the voyage, he falls in love with a third-class passenger named Ases, who has recently converted to Christianity. Anyway, this might be a bit of a spoiler, but the ship hits an iceberg, and the characters must find some way to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know that that synopsis seems somewhat sarcastic, but I\u2019ve seen several Titanic films now. There are only so many creative ways that one can spin the plot. Now, where to begin with this thing? How about the DVD box cover?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-tiled-gallery aligncenter is-style-rectangular\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__gallery\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:50.00000%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"79211\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79211\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?fit=331%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"331,512\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?fit=168%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?fit=331%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-attachment-id=\"79211\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79211\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?fit=331%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"331,512\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?fit=168%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?fit=331%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=331&#038;ssl=1 331w\" alt=\"\" data-height=\"512\" data-id=\"79211\" data-link=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79211\" data-url=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg\" data-width=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-2.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:50.00000%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"79210\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79210\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?fit=512%2C386&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"512,386\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?fit=345%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?fit=512%2C386&amp;ssl=1\" data-attachment-id=\"79210\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79210\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?fit=512%2C386&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"512,386\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?fit=345%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?fit=512%2C386&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=512&#038;ssl=1 512w\" alt=\"\" data-height=\"386\" data-id=\"79210\" data-link=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79210\" data-url=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg\" data-width=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-3.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>The DVD and the real photo that was used<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I\u2019m sure one can look at this box cover and go, \u201cAh, that\u2019s the Titanic.\u201d Well, not me. As soon as I saw the cover, I knew something was wrong with it. It\u2019s quite simple. The ship on the box cover is NOT the Titanic. It\u2019s actually the Titanic\u2019s sister ship, the Olympic. You can tell by the window configuration on A-deck (look that up on Google if you are unfamiliar with it). But ok. They used a picture of the Olympic instead of the actual ship due to <em>reasons<\/em>. No big deal. It was probably a mistake or something. But you wanna know what really stuns me about the picture that they used? The box cover uses a cropped version of the photo. The full photo features the Titanic to the immediate right of the Olympic. Not only did they use a picture of a ship that is not the Titanic, they used a picture that actually HAS the Titanic, but they didn\u2019t use it. Let that fact set up the immense dumpster fire that this miniseries is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing I want to discuss is the plot of this thing. Since we have three plots going on simultaneously (excluding the historical stuff, which we\u2019ll get to), I\u2019ll split it up into the following three sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Wealthy Woman Going On A Affair<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This section is about Catherine Zeta-Jones\u2019 character reunited with an old fling while she is on her way to rejoin her family in America. It\u2019s pretty much a soap opera-type plot. They meet, they dance, they schmooze, one of them survives the sinking, the end. The acting is ok, I guess. Although Catherine Zeta-Jones does have a pretty bad performance where she\u2019s on the Carpathia, discovers the recovered body of her lover, and has this emotional scene. It\u2019s a good thing she was able to get better projects after this. I don\u2019t really have too much to say about it other than it\u2019s basically what a Titanic film would\u2019ve been about if there was one made in the 1930s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Allison Family<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This section is about the film\u2019s portrayal of the Allison Family, a real-life Canadian family that was aboard the Titanic in first class. They consisted of Hudson Allison (the head of the family), his wife Bess, and their two children, Loraine and Trevor (both were toddlers). Also traveling with them were the nanny, Alice Cleaver, maid, Sarah Daniels, cook, Mildred Brown, and the butler George Swane. On the night of the sinking, all members of the Allison Family died, with the exception of Trevor, who was taken aboard a lifeboat by Alice Cleaver. There is some controversy over what exactly happened, but it\u2019s generally believed that Alice and Trevor were separated in all the confusion and were escorted into a lifeboat. In addition, George Swane was also lost in the sinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\" data-attachment-id=\"79213\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79213\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?fit=400%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"400,500\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-4\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?fit=208%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?fit=400%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" data-id=\"79213\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?resize=400%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?resize=208%2C260&amp;ssl=1 208w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-4.jpg?resize=120%2C150&amp;ssl=1 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"371\" data-attachment-id=\"79212\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79212\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?fit=512%2C371&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"512,371\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-5\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?fit=359%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?fit=512%2C371&amp;ssl=1\" data-id=\"79212\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?resize=512%2C371&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?w=512&amp;ssl=1 512w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?resize=359%2C260&amp;ssl=1 359w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-5.jpg?resize=150%2C109&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n<figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption wp-element-caption\"><strong><strong><em>The Real Alice Cleaver and the film\u2019s version of \u201cAlice Cleaver\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The film omits all of the family servants, with the exception of Alice Cleaver, and ages up Loraine from 2 years old to 6. Oh, and Alice Cleaver is portrayed as being mentally unstable. She is constantly staring off into the distance, talking nonsense to herself, having nightmares, being dismissive over her past, and generally acting crazy. In light of all of this, and in true 1912 fashion, the parents decide that when they arrive in America, Alice is going to get fired instead of giving her help. But the thing is, Alice Cleaver isn\u2019t just a mentally unstable nanny. No. She\u2019s a mentally unstable child murderer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, apparently, prior to the events of the film, she threw her baby out of a train. Now, from what I\u2019ve read, the real Alice Cleaver did not do this. There was a woman named Alice Mary Cleaver in 1909 who was convicted for doing that, but make no mistake, Alice Catherine Cleaver, who was on the Titanic, was not that woman. From what I can tell, this has been a misconception that has existed for decades that they were the same person. And wouldn\u2019t you know it, it was used here. Poorly. The actress who plays Alice is awful. All she does is look weird and creepy with bug eyes. It\u2019s a really bad portrait and it makes Allison&#8217;s parents look bad because it begs the question of why they would hire this obviously unstable woman to watch their kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Stowaway subplot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This section is about a street criminal named Jamie who steals a ticket to get on board the Titanic. He gets blackmailed by a crooked steward, played by Tim Curry, and they plan on robbing the riches from the purser\u2019s office. During the voyage, Jamie has a romance with a girl named Ases. When the ship begins sinking, he must choose what to do and who to save. Oh man, this section is awful. The acting for both Jaime and Ases is pretty bad. Neither of them is particularly convincing, especially Mike Doyle as Jamie. He uses a really fake\/terrible lower-class British accent (by the way, all the American actors who play British characters in this movie use awful accents). The romance for these is also unconvincing. Sure, people say that Jack and Rose\u2019s romance in the Cameron film was ridiculous, but at least they had a reason why they hung out. He saved her from death, thus she opened up to him about all their problems. I can buy that. In this film, Jamie and Ases talk talk talk. I really don\u2019t know why they stick with each other initially.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" data-attachment-id=\"79214\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=79214\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?fit=512%2C384&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"512,384\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Titanic-6\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?fit=347%2C260&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?fit=512%2C384&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?resize=512%2C384&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79214\" style=\"width:396px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?w=512&amp;ssl=1 512w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?resize=347%2C260&amp;ssl=1 347w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-6.jpg?resize=150%2C113&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>But by far, the worst thing about this plot is Tim Curry. Yes, I said that. You\u2019re probably thinking why? Tim Curry is always the best part of any bad movie he\u2019s in. Not in this film. Initially, he seems like a typical shady criminal with a Curry-esque sense of humor. If you\u2019re a fan of his, you might start off enjoying his scenes, but then this totally unnecessary and downright brutal scene happens right before the ship hits the iceberg that totally changes how you view this character for the rest of the movie.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Trigger Warning: sexual assault<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So this is what happens: Tim Curry\u2019s character sexually assaults Ases in the shower. It comes out of nowhere. It\u2019s totally unnecessary and disturbing. It makes the character too evil. Not to mention, the movie just has Ases get abused so that Jamie could go on his redemption arc. You know, they could\u2019ve done a redemption arc for Jamie that didn\u2019t involve the girl getting assaulted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I heard once that for every one-star movie Tim Curry is in, he\u2019s the reason it got that one star. This film didn\u2019t get that marker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On to the rest of the film<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for the other stuff that happens in this movie, it\u2019s just historical stuff. But it\u2019s all historically inaccurate. The 1953 film was also inaccurate, but that film was made at a time when information on the disaster wasn\u2019t as easily accessible, so you can excuse it. This film was made at a time when such information was much more easily accessible, and they didn\u2019t bother to use that information well. Inaccuracies that this film has included the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Several key real-life characters are excluded including Thomas Andrews (whose attributes are combined with Captain Smith), Chief Officer Wilde, Third Officer Pitman, and Sixth Officer Moody (whose attributes are combined with Fourth Officer Boxhall).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bruce Ismay is depicted as convincing the Captain to try for a speed record. No matter how many people say this did happen, make no mistake that THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. In fact, Ismay is depicted as a straight-up coward in this. Quite the opposite from the real man.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Much of the interior set decoration is wrong.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Characters like Molly Brown and Alice Cleaver are depicted very inaccurately. The real-life Molly Brown in 1912 was a well-spoken political activist and socialite who was in her 40s. This film\u2019s version of her is a much younger, sexy hillbilly-type. Alice Cleaver, we\u2019ve already discussed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fourth Officer Boxhall is depicted as dying during the sinking. He did not. He actually survived, went on to serve in WWI, and has a technical advisor on \u201cA Night To Remember.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And many more!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of the 1958 \u201cA Night To Remember,\u201d as for the rest of the historical stuff that they depicted, I swear their research for this thing must\u2019ve been that they watched that film, then they read a bunch of old newspapers from 1912, and called it good. There are scenes in this film that are pretty much stolen from the 1958 film, such as the scenes involving the SS Californian. There are scenes depicting stuff that has only been reported in sensational newspaper stories from the period, such as Captain Smith telling his crew to \u201cBe British.\u201d There is one more big historical thing that they depict in this movie that has to be discussed, and coincidentally this was also depicted in the Cameron film &#8211; the Murdoch Suicide Scene.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a rumor that when the last lifeboats were being lowered, a group of men tried to storm the boats. An officer is said to have shot both of them, and after realizing what he had done, turned the gun on himself. It is rumored to have been First Officer William Murdoch but there is no way to prove it one way or the other. Both this film and the Cameron film depict Murdoch shooting himself. When Murdoch\u2019s surviving family spoke out against the depiction, James Cameron attracted controversy and criticism. Cameron has since stated that if he were to make the film today, he would not include Murdoch shooting himself. Fair enough, but the Murdoch Suicide Scene in the 1996 miniseries is WAY worse than how it was in the 1997 film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Worst Murdoch Death Scene Ever\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UY4tHL36u3s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Just look at it. The bad acting. Bad script. Bad direction. Bad sets (notice how right behind them is a giant black wall). It speaks for itself. Why Cameron got the blame and this film received a free pass, I\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Honestly, that last paragraph pretty much sums everything up to say about this film. What else is there to say? Well, the film has terrible effects. There\u2019s a lot of CGI, but they clearly didn\u2019t have the budget for it. As for the practical effects, it\u2019s pretty lackluster for the same reason as having a low budget. I read once somewhere that some of the extras were strategically placed around the set to conceal the fact that the sets were falling apart. Oh, and there\u2019s this thing\u2019s claim to fame of being the first Titanic film to show the ship break in half. Surprise, it\u2019s poorly done because of the bad editing of the final moments scene. It might just be one of the worst-edited scenes I\u2019ve ever seen. Take a look:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Titanic 1996 Sinking Scene\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4srByHVefGY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, I would say that the 1996 Titanic miniseries is the worst thing to bear the ship\u2019s name, but the Titanic is famous because of a horrible tragedy. So instead, I say that the 1996 miniseries is the worst thing ever made about it. If you want a good film from the 90s about the Titanic, then watch the James Cameron version. It\u2019s a way way way way better movie than this. At best, this miniseries\u2026film\u2026whatever, could be a good film to sit down and make fun of, but at a two hours and 50 minutes running time, it\u2019ll be a slog. If you ever find this thing, steer clear away from it at full speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Side Note<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got a bonus review for Titanic-a-thon coming soon. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By JOHN BILLINGER Tiger Media Network After weeks of delays, it\u2019s finally here. The Titanic movie review we\u2019ve all been expecting. The big one. The&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":79215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3391,3505,55],"tags":[14981,12484,21,15207,15699],"class_list":["post-79209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-movie-reviews","category-local-movies","category-opinion","tag-john-billinger","tag-movie-reviews","tag-movies-2","tag-titanic","tag-titanicthon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Titanic-1996-Thumbnail.jpg?fit=514%2C381&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79209"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79218,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79209\/revisions\/79218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}