Movie Review: Raise The Titanic (1980)

Genre: Adventure  

Director: Jerry Jameson  

Starring: Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer, Alec Guinness  

Running Time: 114 minutes  

Synopsis: The American Navy's Admiral Sandecker (Jason Robards) concludes that the Titanic's cargo included stockpiles of a rare mineral needed for advanced weapon systems. Sandecker works with scientist Gene Seagram (David Selby) and ex-military adventurer Dirk Pitt (Richard Jordan) on a risky plan to recover the cargo by finding the famous wreck and lifting it to the surface. Seagram and Pitt both have romantic feelings for reporter Dana Archibald (Anne Archer), while members of the Russian military hierarchy take an interest in what their Cold War adversaries are up to.

What Works Well: A Lew Grade production based on a Clive Cussler novel, this is an ambitious adventure combining Cold War tensions, the search for the most famous marine wreck, and the innovative if far-fetched idea of refloating the doomed ship. John Barry's music score is majestic, and several sequences achieve a level of grandeur: the Titanic rising from the ocean, Dirk Pitt exploring its once-luxurious hallways; and the ship arriving in New York. In his one scene, Alec Guinness shines as crusty Titanic survivor John Bigalow.

What Does Not Work As Well: The strains of a troubled and over-budget production are on plain view. With all the money spent on special effects (including a 17-metre long Titanic replica that did not fit into any available water tank), the cast is underpowered, and the script alternates between patchy and clunky. Momentum is lost in the second act as submersibles endlessly search the dark ocean depths, Anne Archer's love interest role is at first clumsy then just discarded, and the attempts to insert Russian villainy are amateurish. The rudimentary scientific explanations of the methods deployed to float the massive ship result in a debris field of implausibilities.

Key Quote:
Bigalow: It's an odd thing, you know. I've had a few ships shot out from under me. More than my share. Three in the 1914-18 fracas, and two in 39-45. But all anybody ever asks me about is the Titanic.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.