Titanic II

Peacock Films

R4 DVD

Titanic II owes a lot of its plot to the original Titanic disaster. All the basic elements of the plot are there. The latest and greatest tourist ship runs into an iceberg, just like its predecessor, and many people are killed. Unlike the dreadful Titanic movie of a decade or so go the plot is more important than the twee love story. In this one there is still a low key love/hate relationship between the ship’s designer and one of the girl crew members running through the plot but it doesn’t distract from the story of the ship and the rescue.

The additional elements are a huge iceberg loosened from the polar icepack by global warming. As it crashes into the ocean it creates a monstrous fast-moving tsunami that sweeps it rapidly into the shipping lanes. The father is a Coastguard officer who recognises the disaster that is on the way and warns his daughter and the ship’s captain so they are not entirely unprepared.

When the iceberg hits there are the usual hordes of screaming women, selfish men and valiant ship’s crew. As the passengers are put into the undamaged lifeboats they find another iceberg has dropped off the icepack and an even bigger tsunami is following the first. It will destroy the lifeboats and kill everyone in them. The crew member girl and her ship designer boyfriend will be safer if they stay on the still-afloat ship, even though it is likely to be capsized. In the rescue attempts helicopters are crashed, a submarine runs into the base of the iceberg, and the rescue gets off to a very dangerous start.

The CGI is mostly fairly well done and the live shots, which are mostly of the old Cunard liner Queen Mary superimposed on contemporary backgrounds, are well integrated into the film. Such a film relies heavily on CGI and poorly done graphics would have let it down badly.

There are a few minor nitpicks about the film – a submarine that can’t see a massive iceberg in front of it? A modern passenger ship that is holed in many places along its side by the iceberg repeatedly striking it? (that is also the way the original Titanic was sunk). A designer who says the ship was only designed for frontal collisions? (again, so was the original Titanic). A helicopter pilot who attempts a rescue even though he is out of fuel? Why is a modern cruise ship designed at great cost to look like its 1920s predecessor?

These are minor problems in the overall drama of what is really a simple, entertaining film.

Reviews appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with multiple images and with expanded content.

This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 6 of the digital and print edition of Synergy.

We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy. The print and digital editions of Synergy also include a large selection of articles and features not found on the website. If you have a limited download quota you can view the digital edition via the Issuu viewer on the digital edition page.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the front page of Synergy Website or use the following link: http://www.synergy-magazine.com