Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

justincward A TV movie to start with - but a 'British' TV movie from EMI in 1979, when offices still had typing pools and the Walkman was in development. Being British doesn't necessarily make it better than the Cameron film, but for a TV movie budget you get most of the A and B list of recent Hollywood Brits, familiar faces from TV giving it the full stiff upper, excellent costume and sets and an earnest attention to factual accuracy - the only serious mistake is to show the date as April 12th. How did they manage that? Expect static, horizontal camera angles, obvious matte paintings and rear projection, somewhat uninspired though atmospheric music, and note how Ian Holm's and David Warner's, ETC acting didn't change over the rest of their careers.What may surprise you is the tension, and the effective depiction of people in a dreadful situation that will keep you watching, even if there is little more emotional involvement than in a drama-documentary or an episode of 'Kojak'.That's what this is - a big-budget TV docudrama. And a really good one. Just not a cinema-filler. Punching above its weight on a Seven.

robertalexanderlindsey O.K., so it might be a tad worse than some other Titanic films, and 'A Night to Remember' may be to 'S.O.S. Titanic' what '2001: A Space Odyssey' is to 'Star Wars: Attack of the Clones'. But remember how badly directed James Cameron's 1997 'Titanic' was, and bear in mind how badly 'Raise the Titanic' flopped at the box office in 1980. What I'm trying to say is, look at the better things attributed to 'S.O.S Titanic', like David Warner's awesome performance as schoolteacher Lawrence Beesley, who, in 1912, wrote the book 'The Loss of the S.S. Titanic', which stands as one of the most authentic and realistic eyewitness accounts ever written about any disaster. Or how about Howard Blake's wonderful soundtrack, or Cloris Leachman, or Ian Holm as White Star Line president J. Bruce Ismay. And even better, the fact that the original 1979 Television version is superior to the edited theatrical release that many of you have seen. It may not be the best, but 'S.O.S. Titanic' is second only to 'A Night to Remember' when it comes to retelling the story of history's most famous ship.

m0rphy As someone who has all the known videos mentioned by a previous reviewer and most of the leading books, not to mention biographies of Capt. Smith, 2nd Officer Lightoller and other assorted Titanic memorabilia, (I could go on);this positively is the worst film of the trajedy.The funnels were in Cunard's black/red (with black rings) colours, instead black top/buff; the superstructure of the bridge was rounded a la Queen Mary (where it was filmed), when it should have been squared off, the overall dimensions of the film set of the ship were tiny compared to the 886 foot reality.Most farcical was when "Capt. Smith" (Harry Andrews) is bellowing instructions through his megaphone to those getting into the boats - he only looks about 10ft from them!! The portrayals of JJ Astor, J Bruce Ismay and Molly Brown were appalling, totally unconvincing, under-researched and a travesty of the reality.When will film producers realise that when you film historical events, there is an army of highly clued-up amateur historians ready to pounce on you if you make a factual error!!I say lazy reearch.The only redeeming feature for me was to see David Warner playing Lawrence Beesley, the science master who had just resigned from Dulwich College and was taking his first trip abroad.One of my books is his "The Loss of the SS Titanic - Its Story & Lessons" (Mifflin 1912).Read this if you want a factual account from a second class male passenger's perspective.The bit where he tries to seduce an American school teacher sounds almost libellous, at the least, fictitous.Strangely David Warner is the only actor I can recall who has featured in two film productions of this event.The other of course being the dastardly man servant to Cal Hockley, in Cameron's fanciful production from 1997.Yes, I've got this video in my T collection but merely to have a copy of every available depiction.I do not find all the answers in any one but a bit of truth in all of them - admittedly not much in this one.Yes, I know this was made for TV and therefore had a limited budget for such a large canvas.One scene I liked was the Irish emigrants coming out by tender at what was then Queenstown, (now Cobh - I've been there) but why no depiction of Eugene Daly playing "Erin's Lament" on his Irish pipes?There is to my mind still many aspects of this drama still to be filmed.What about: 1.The near collision with the "New York" as T left Southampton?2.What about her construction at Harland & Wolff and delays in Sept. 1911 when workers had to leave off to repair S.S Olympic following her collision in Cowes, Isle of Wight with H.M.S. Hawke?3.What about the correct drama on "The Californian" especially with Ernest Gill, a donkeyman aboard, who saw rockets about the time T sent them up but reported nothing to her officers, (Read "The Ship That Stood Still"- by Leslie Read).Even "A Night to Remember"(1958) got it wrong - "Californian was NOT carrying passengers, merely cargo.Read my critique of this film in June 2002 for other errors in this, the best version yet for history fans, of the drama.4.Could we see more of Chief Officer Wilde someday?5.Could we see the reason these Olympic class ships were devisedand the meeting in 1907 in London attended by J.Bruce Ismay/Alexander Carlisle and other notables when this was discussed?.Film producers have a horrible temptation to dumb down leaving serious students with a feeling of frustration, but I suppose as usual it's all about putting bums on seats, students need to read all the leading works to ascertain the truth!!

dosifei This is one of several film versions of the Titanic disaster. While not as meticulous as A Night to Remember, it is superior to Cameron's bloated epic. The film, originally made for television, gives a soap-opera like telling of the lives of those involved in the disaster, focusing on actual persons instead of fictitious ones. While the special effects are not so good, and the use of the Queen Mary as a set is obvious to anyone with a passing familiarity with ships, the script and acting are superb. David Janssen is terrific in one of his last roles as John Jacob Astor. Also excellent is Ian Holm as the ship's owner, Ismay. Holm portrays Ismay as a real man who suffers because of the disaster, not the cartoonish villain other films have made him. Harry Andrews is impressive as Captain Smith, Cloris Leachman definitive as a raucaus Molly Brown (much better than Kathy Bates's flat performance in Titanic), and David Warner is intelligent and understated as Lawrence Beasley. The rest of the women in the cast don't fare quite as well, however. Susan St. James is pretty wooden as Warner's fictional love interest, and Beverly Ross doesn't do much more than sigh and worry as Madeleine Astor.The score for the film is extremely well-done and is one of the best assetsof the movie.Don't expect pinpoint accuracy about the details of the disaster, but by all means, if you like a good melodrama and are interested in the Titanic, check this film out.