For over a century, both Hollywood and people all across the world have been fascinated by the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912. The doomed British ocean liner was only five days into its maiden voyage when it struck an iceberg in the freezing Atlantic waters, resulting in the loss of over 1,500 people out of the estimated 2,224 passengers onboard. Though there has always been public intrigue regarding the ill-fated vessel, Titanic-mania spread upon the release of James Cameron’s 1997 masterpiece.
The legendary ship has once again found itself dominating headlines in the wake of the OceanGate Titan tragedy, a submersible that imploded on a dive to the wreckage site that caused the death of all five of its passengers. The lore and mystique surrounding the “unsinkable ship” has continued to captivate the masses, and Tinseltown has never shied away from capitalizing on the allure of the unforgettable disaster. These are some of the most noteworthy films about the Titanic.
10 Titanic: The Legend Goes On
The 2000 animated musical Titanic: The Legend Goes On takes place on the doomed ocean liner and centers on the blossoming romance between wealthy upper-class English passenger William and poor blue-collar young woman Angelica, both of whom have huge hopes for their lives in America. Randomly featuring a slew of talking animals including cats, dogs, and mice, and taking quite a few not-so-subtle cues from James Cameron's Titanic, the film was ripped apart by critics due to its glossing over of the devastating tragedy and its storytelling coming off in bad taste. IndieWire called it "so terribly written and drawn that it’s offensive to the Titanic’s memory" with the animated flick landing on numerous worst-ever lists.
9 Titanic II
A mockbuster to the acclaimed Cameron masterpiece, the 2010 disaster drama Titanic II chronicles the calamitous maiden voyage of the aptly named RMS Titanic II as it sets sail a century after the original vessel's tragic journey and faces the same grim fate as its namesake after a violent tsunami pushes deadly icebergs in its path. Shane Van Dyke (the grandson of Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke) directed and starred in the film, portraying the ship's designer and owner who falls in love with a kind-hearted nurse on the liner.
Titanic II unsurprisingly garnered negative reviews upon its release, with many criticizing its lackluster storyline and low quality cinematography, though the performances of the cast members did earn some appreciation. Dread Central wrote a less-than-glowing review of the drama, posing the question: "What would James Cameron's Titanic have been like if most of the digital effects looked like animation from Wii cutscene?"
8 No Greater Love
Based on the Danielle Steel novel of the same name, the 1996 made-for-television romantic drama No Greater Love stars Kelly Rutherford and Chris Sarandon, and chronicles the efforts of a young woman to raise her siblings and keep her family's successful newspaper business afloat after losing her parents and fiancé in the sinking of the Titanic. As Edwina (Rutherford) fights to keep what's left of her family intact while coping with her own profound grief, she meets a potential suitor who sparks hope and happiness despite her bleak circumstances.
Not only does No Greater Love depict the terrifying sinking of the famous ship, but it also details the aftermath of the tragedy and how the survivors were forced to cope with the unfathomable loss of their loved ones. The sentimental TV film did a solid job at featuring the often-overlooked aspect of the Titanic sinking, which is those who had to keep pushing forward and struggle with the grief and guilt of making it out of the ordeal alive.
7 Saved from the Titanic
The first of countless films that depicted the historical event, the silent film Saved from the Titanic was released just 31 days after the maritime tragedy in 1912 and starred a real-life survivor from the vessel, actress and socialite Dorothy Gibson. The plot of the short picture featured Gibson recounting her personal experiences during the disaster and utilized actual footage of the Titanic's captain Edward Smith, icebergs, and the Olympic, and she also helped write the screenplay; Gibson would later say she appeared in the film as an "opportunity to pay tribute to those who gave their lives on that awful night."
Gibson re-wore the outfit she had been in during the actual sinking, and reporters noted that she was clearly struggling with her own personal trauma while on screen and that she had "the appearance of one whose nerves had been greatly shocked." Saved from the Titanic had audiences flocking to movie theaters and earned praise during its run, though many also felt it capitalized on the catastrophe due to its timing.
6 S.O.S. Titanic
The 1979 disaster drama S.O.S. Titanic was a made-for-TV-movie that features interwoven stories of passengers from the First, Second, and Third Class on the doomed vessel and highlights just how different these groups were when it came to their luxuries and time on the ship and what they experienced after it struck the iceberg. The drama marked the first time a Titanic film was shot and released in color as opposed to black-and-white and also featured Helen Mirren in one of her earlier roles, in which the sensational actress real-life surviving stewardess Mary Slon.
Not only does S.O.S. Titanic depict the lives of the passengers aboard the ship, but it also sheds a light on those were contributed to its untimely demise, namely Captain Edward Smith and White Star Line director J. Bruce Ismay, who were pushing to set a record and ignored the many warnings of icebergs lurking in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The film does a commendable job chronicling the RMS Titanic's sinking via an array of insightful perspectives.
5 Titanic (1996)
The 1996 two-part miniseries/movie Titanic is an Emmy-winning small-screen extravaganza that touts an impressive ensemble cast led by Peter Gallagher, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Tim Curry, chronicling both the forbidden romance between a married first-class passenger and her former flame and the blossoming love between two third-class passengers who become the target of a nefarious presence on board. Titanic made its debut a year before the James Cameron epic, and its production was rushed in order to capitalize on the hype surrounding the upcoming Cameron film.
Titanic was a ratings hit for CBS and was also the first movie or show that depicted the ocean liner splitting into two after striking the iceberg. While the performances of the illustrious cast garnered appreciation, some critics felt the historical inaccuracies and mistakes made in the miniseries overshadowed what could have been a truly impressive picture.
4 The Chambermaid on the Titanic
Based on the Didier Decoin French novel of the same name, the 1997 drama The Chambermaid on the Titanic centers on foundry worker Horty (Oliver Martinez) who wins a contest and is given the chance to see the RMS Titanic depart on her grand voyage in Southampton, where he crosses paths with the beautiful young woman Marie (Romane Bohringer) who will be a chambermaid on the ship. After news of its sinking hits the mainland, Horty decides to embellish his relationship with Marie, whom he believes to be dead in order to gain notoriety and popularity and creates a traveling stage play that makes his lie even more convoluted.
The Chambermaid on the Titanic was a critical and commercial success, earning two Goya Awards and receiving praise for its rich and complex screenplay. Despite premiering before Cameron's own Titanic, the film altered its title by the time it hit American theaters the following year to make sure it didn't appear to take advantage of the blockbuster hit.
3 Titanic (1953)
Following the strained relationship between a separated married couple on the titular ship, the 1953 drama Titanic focuses on wealthy socialite Julia Sturges (Barabara Stanwyck) as she attempts to take her two children to her home in America in hopes of starting over and returning to her humble roots; when her husband catches wind of her plan, he boards the ill-fated vessel in hopes of convincing her to stay. The dysfunctional pair must set aside their personal issues after the Titanic hits the iceberg, and they must fight for their lives if they want to make it off the ship alive.
Titanic went on to win the Academy Award for Best Screenplay and dazzled moviegoers with its thrilling cinematography and compelling story; The Spectator retrospectively wrote in their review, "Titanic, the story of the great liner's first and only trip across the Atlantic, is a perfectly excellent picture, finely balanced between fact and fiction, stocked with plausible characters, working up quietly but strongly to its shattering climax."
2 A Night to Remember
Considered by survivors and historians alike to be one of the most accurate and honest depictions of the maritime tragedy, the 1958 historical disaster docudrama A Night to Remember is adapted from the Walter Lord book of the same name and details the events leading up to the ship's untimely demise on its maiden voyage in a documentary-style approach. The Roy Ward Baker picture was lauded by those directly impacted by the sinking of the Titanic, with Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller's widow praising the drama and stating, "the film is really the truth and has not been embroidered."
Though A Night to Remember failed to dominate the box office, it premiered to widespread critical acclaim and won a Golden Globe Award for Best English-Lanuage Foreign Film. The thrilling picture is credited with sparking a massive wave of unforgettable disaster movies like The Poseidon Adventure, with historian and professor Paul Heyer declaring that it "still stands as the definitive cinematic telling of the story and the prototype and finest example of the disaster-film genre."
1 Titanic (1997)
The groundbreaking, record-setting 1997 blockbuster hit Titanic famously starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as star-crossed lovers who share a passionate, life-altering romance despite coming from two vastly different backgrounds while onboard the doomed ship. James Cameron, who wrote, directed, and co-produced the big-screen extravaganza, had a longtime fascination with shipwrecks and went to the wreckage site twelve times in 1995 to capture the haunting footage of the legendary ocean liner.
Visiting the ship's final resting place made Cameron and the crew want to "live up to that level of reality ... But there was another level of reaction coming away from the real wreck, which was that it wasn't just a story, it wasn't just a drama." Revered for its breathtaking visual effects, production, screenplay, and phenomenal performances by its star-studded ensemble cast, Titanic became the first film to gross a billion dollars and tied Ben-Hur for the most Oscar wins, taking home a whopping eleven, including Best Picture. Though its critical popularity has lessened in the years since its release, the epic film nonetheless remains a major cinematic triumph that continues to dazzle the masses.
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