RAISE THE TITANIC

However, the year in which this film was released is important for more Titanic-related reasons. In 1980, no-one had a clue where the wreck actually was, so 'Raise the Titanic' is pure speculation. Thank goodness it came out when it did, because in 1985 when Robert Ballard finally located the wreck, they were hit with the revelation that the ship had split in two as some survivors had claimed (and as the White Star Line had covered up). Not only that, but the stern section was absolutely shattered. There was no way in hell anyone was raising that thing. This might threaten to make 'Raise the Titanic' even more ridiculous and obsolete, but to my surprise, rather than endlessly scoffing at it, I was impressed at how accurate the film turned out to be.

There's all the technical stuff they get right (the distance from the surface, the general area they were looking), stuff that would have been good educated guesses. More unexpected though is how, with hindsight, the sequences of submersibles scouring the ocean floor suddenly have a potency to them. We now have a better understanding of just how perilous and difficult it is to go down there (apart from the fact they seem to zip up and down there pretty quickly), and so there's a genuine tension to this stretch of the film. What they're depicting isn't that far from the footage Cameron shot for his film, and there's even a submersible implosion that now feels all too prescient and accurate. In many ways, I found this stretch of the film the most compelling, and both Jameson and cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti find some elegant ways to make potentially repetitive sequences feel dynamic and visually interesting (though John Barry is also doing a lot of the heavy lifting too).

The actual raising of the titular ship is all kinds of nonsense (Strap airbags to the ship? Fill it with foam? Fix the hole? Explosives?!), but when it comes to the main event itself, the one that's right there on the poster and was in all those books I stared at as a kid, I have to admit, it's pretty remarkable. It's so beautifully shot and paced that it doesn't take a lot to suspend your disbelief about this being a model (and the Titanic being in one piece). Shot in elegant slow motion and with John Barry absolutely going for it, the sequence never cuts away, instead showing the Titanic breaching the surface from several angles. It reminded me of the ostentatious reveal of the Enterprise in 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' (1979) - the film knows this is what the audience is here to see, and it's going to milk the moment for all its worth. And I was totally here for it. When that thing broke the surface, I almost found myself getting emotional. Maybe it was Barry's music, but maybe it's also the power of the image itself, a resurrection of a lost icon seeing the light of day for the first time in decades. Part of the appeal of the Titanic is its intense romanticism, which is there as much in its design as it is in its demise. If the film was going to sell itself on anything, it was going to sell itself on this, and these few minutes with this gorgeous model coming out of the water are an unqualified triumph.

And then the film completely loses steam because, obviously, it's just about getting the byzanium and pissing off the Soviets, and the story suddenly becomes more about Cold War nonsense than about the fact that they just raised the goddamn Titanic. Like, what do you do with it? Just tow it to New York and leave it there? Also, no one feels weird at all that they just resurfaced an object in which around 1,500 people died?!. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the final act is how weirdly similar it is to the MacGuffin of Cameron's film, one that (as infinitely superior as it is to this and practically 99% of all cinema) does owe an odd debt to 'Raise the Titanic'. Apart from a few story beats and some visual ideas, the stately tone of both is worth noting.

So after years of wondering what on earth this film was like, I've finally watched 'Raise the Titanic'. And in many ways, I'm glad it's 40-year-old Daniel watching it rather than 10-year-old Daniel. He would have been bored at the lack of action and frustrated at all the things they get wrong, not willing to give them the grace of making the film before anyone had found the damn ship. It's a strange thing to consider, but time may have actually worked in this film's favour. We have two definitive masterpieces on this event, so a silly bit of speculative trash isn't hurting anyone, and what might have been dull in 1980 now at least has a bit of extra power. There's also some fun pompous work from Robards and Selby, Richard Jordan is a serviceable hunk of beef as Dirk Pitt, and you get Alec Guinness as an old sea dog reminiscing about the sinking and calling the increasingly panicked passengers "pathetic". I can appreciate all those things now more than when I was younger, and who knows, maybe more so than audiences could have in 1980. One thing both me and 10-year-old me would definitely agree on is that the moment we came for, the raising of the Titanic... yeah, that bit is pretty cool. It could never, would never and should never happen (I'm in the camp that believe we should leave the gravesite of over 1,500 people well enough alone), but isn't it fun to imagine?

PICTURE & SOUND

'Raise the Titanic' was released on Blu-ray by Shout in the U.S. in 2014 and by Network in the UK in 2015, licensing the film from ITV Studios. With their own agreement with ITV, I suspect this is the same 1080p 2.35:1 transfer used for this Imprint release. No one is going to be shelling out for a 4K restoration of the film anytime soon, so even though this transfer feels pretty rough around the edges, it's likely the best we're going to get. The film certainly looks its age, with some mild wear-and-tear present and the colours a tad washed out (it leans into its browns and greys a lot), and without a proper restoration, detail is often a little lacking. The healthy grain structure does help alleviate this, firmly preserving its late-70s visual style. While there's no question it could have looked better, nothing about this transfer is overly egregious. The fact the film is on its own disc with all the special features relegated to a second disc might also give this release an added advantage over the earlier ones, with more room to breathe.

In terms of sound, this release includes both the original stereo mix in LPCM 2.0 Stereo and a DTS HD 5.1 Surround version. This is at least consistent with the Shout release. The sound fares a bit better, with both tracks clean and clear and the 5.1 track giving it a bit of extra boost. 'Raise the Titanic' is not the most dynamic aural experience; most of its power comes from Barry's revered score, so it is often in focus, with long stretches where we hear little else. Dialogue is always nicely balanced against it.

This is probably the best (if not, better) than 'Raise the Titanic' could have expected on Blu-ray, so despite the transfer overall never achieving anything close to reference quality, it's nice to have it look and sound as good as it does here.

SPECIAL FEATURES

With the transfer carried over from previous releases, it's the special features that make this Imprint release a massive improvement over the Shout and Network releases. While the set carries over a few items from the Network disc, the bulk of the material consists of newly recorded interviews and rediscovered archival material.

The breakdown of the material is as follows...

DISC ONE

• Theatrical Trailer [3:09]
• "Lighting The Titanic" Alternate Scene [1:38] - 4x3 footage of a longer version of the scene where lights are dropped down to the wreck. It's not clear where this footage is from.

DISC TWO

• "The Last Great Human Adventure" - a rare and bizarre 1980 TV documentary on 'Raise the Titanic' sourced from a VHS recording [24:26]
• Interview with 'Raise the Titanic' historian Jonathan Smith (NEW) 932:20]
• "Syncing a Sunken Ship" - interview with assistant editor Geoffrey Mackrill (NEW) [28:19]
• "Muller in Malta" - interview with production manager Frederick Muller (NEW) [6:45]
• Behind-the Scenes Footage from Malta of Water Tank and Model Construction - raw silent footage from the construction of the water tank and model made specifically for the film, including footage of the model of the wreck breaking the surface [10:39]
• Test footage of unused 1912 opening sequence - black-and-white material shot for an extended prologue showing the sinking itself, which would have been closer to the opening of Clusser's novel [00:56]
• "Raise the Titanic Photo Gallery" - an extended slideshow of images from the John Smith Collection relating to the film, including storyboards and release material, set to Barry's score (NEW) [1:02:13]
• "Time-Lapse Titanic" - a slideshow of photographs of the Titanic model created for the film, left in Malta after production to deteriorate [5:51]
• Three original radio ads [1:38]

The new material from Imprint continues their trend of extended interviews with film experts and surviving cast and crew, intercut with archival images. The interview with historian Jonathan Smith provides an enormous amount of information on the complicated development, tempestuous production and difficult release of the film. This complements the direct and candid recollections from Geoffrey Mackrill and Frederick Muller. The main focus of much of these interviews is the construction of the tank in Malta, setting up nicely the behind-the-scenes footage also included on the disc. The "Raise the Titanic Photo Gallery" is also a lot more impressive than the title suggests, the longest feature on the disc presenting an exhaustive amount of material, often with text screens to give them context, all set to Barry's score (I suspect from the 1999 recording of the score, the original master tapes being lost).

Of the archival material, the strangest is easily "The Last Great Adventure", which is both documentary and a mockumentary, looking at both the real-life search for the wreck in the late 70's and the making of the film that both pretends the events of the film are real and the construct of a motion picture. There are even interviews with Jason Robards in character as Admiral Sandecker. The most fascinating is the silent footage from the tank in Malta, specially built for the film. You get to see how the breaching sequence was shot, which only makes it more impressive. The test footage for the abounded prologue (mentioned in the interview with Mackrill) shows the limitations of the models they used, while "Time-Lapse Titanic" shows the devastating deterioration of the model.

Despite the extensive collection of extras, there are a few missing from the Shout and Network releases. The Shot release include a nearly half-hour compilation of interviews with crew members not interviewed for this release, including cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti. The Network release, while including the images of the deteriorating model, also includes a suite of Barry's score, though it isn't clear if this is the same used for the Image Gallery feature here, as well as notes on the film. The Shout featurette is probably the only thing that might be missed here.

Along with the on-disc content, the film comes with a hardcover 80-page book with a new essay, "It Would Have Been Cheaper to Have Lowered the Atlantic: The Making of Raise the Titanic", written by Smith. It covers a lot of information mentioned in his interview, accompanied by plenty of archival images from the development, production and release of the film. Hidden inside the Blu-ray case are a set of reproductions of the film's lobby cards.

As has become standard for Imprint with these deluxe releases, 'Raise the Titanic' comes in a robust, handsome hard box which opens at the top, though this time they've placed both discs in the one case inside. Their artwork for their recent releases has been a real improvement, and the front of the box is resplendent with the iconic poster image of the breaching wreck. On the back, along with the film's tagline, is a still image of Dirk Pitt with the film's love interest Dana Archibald, played by Anne Archer, who is very charming in the film while given basically nothing to do.

Imprint have really gone above and beyond for 'Raise the Titanic', offering a forgotten film a robust Blu-ray release that highlights, not just the film, but the unusual nature of its production. Maybe it's the fact this is more than this film probably deserves, but this is one of my favourite releases from Imprint of late. A lot of care and attention has gone into this, and it shows in the impressive results.