S.O.S. Titanic (1980)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Very disappointing...

Expected more

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are two versions of this film. One is much better than the other and runs for another 30 minutes and can now be viewed in its entirety on You Tube. This is a made for TV film and as such, the budget is limited, but not entirely noticeable. Yes, some scenes are clearly shot on the Queen Mary, but the film is engrossing so you don't really take much notice. SOS Titanic is also quite different from all of the other versions in that: (1) it starts with the ending and tells the story in a flashback format. And (2), it is the first Titanic film to feature all three passenger classes in some detail. And it also has the distinction of being the fist Titanic film to be filmed in colour. There is some mis-casting. David Janson's Astor gives it his best shot, but does not quite pull it off, and Cloris Leachman is the worst Molly Brown I have seen. Some more real life characters are featured in this film, the Lift Boy and the 'Boot' boys. Even stewardess Violet Jessop is included, but incorrectly portrayed as an elderly stewardess when in fact Violet was in her mid 20s. J Bruce Ismay is portrayed far more accurately in this film and it is through his eyes that we flashback to the events. There is no real plot line as such, and this film plays more like a documentary although does not quite manage to pull it off like 'A Night To Remember' did. There are a few small sub-plots, but this film is based on the book by 2nd class passenger and Titanic survivor Lawrence Beeseley. There is a short scene between him and his fictional female companion where they are shown on the middle decks discussing "them up there" and "those down there", which really emphasises the class distinction to good effect. Although not actually seen, the near collision at Southampton IS mentioned in the dialogue, something all the other films always leave out. There is also a good scene showing the Tenders.The soundtrack is excellent and the music is extremely atmospheric. You really feel like you are there. And with the a great many more scenes showing children, it really does have an effect on you, especially the opening sequence which is superb. OK, Titanic's life boats did NOT have to wade their way through a field of ice to reach the Carpathia, and the crew on the Carpathia actually had everything prepared before the Titanic's boats reached her and not a mad rush as they arrive. But I think this can be forgiven and taken as a bit of poetic license. What is unforgivable is the glaring mistake about the date. They show it as Sunday April 12th, when as we all know it was Sunday April 14th. But the costumes and sets are spot on and we see a lot more of this ship than in other films: The Turkish Baths, The Stewardess' rooms,The Gymnasium to name just a few. All in all, a good film.The sinking sequence is not the best of the bunch, and nothing will surpass Cameron's version in that area, but this film is not about special effects. The ship sinks intact in SOS Titanic but this was the accepted version in 1979.

This is an intelligent mans' version of the Titanic tragedy & possibly my favorite film on the disaster. An ambitious production, it was filmed in England, Nova Scotia & Long Beach. It has the distinction of being the first Titanic movie filmed in color albeit for television. Contrary to previous posts it does not, to my knowledge, use recycled(colorized)footage from A Night To Remember. Bothe films use the newsreel footage of the original Queen Elizabeth being launched as a stand in for Titanic. If this had been made for the big screen it probably would've been better received as well as being better known today. The movie is based primarily on a book by 2nd Class pasenger/survivor Lawrence Beasley. Beasley's book came out in June 1912 only two months after the real disaster. So his recollections, such as getting into a lifeboat with his pajamas on, was still quite fresh and not diluted by forty or fifty years of time. Beesley is played here by David Warner who was the bodyguard Spicer in the Cameron-Titanic film. The film makers shot the picture in a sort of muted colors. that is to say what would be the opposite of splashy Technicolor. The 3rd Class gets the good treatment in this film. the scenes showing the Irish immigrants being ferried out to the liner are well done. Also the Phun Boats that marketed over priced Irish goods to wealthy ocean liner passengers. Beasley & his female consort Leigh Goodwin stand in for the generic 2nd Class passengers...adding to our consciousness the plights of the haves(1st Class)& the have nots(3rd Class). Some characterizations stand out: Maurice Roeves as stoker Fred Barrett, Geoffrey Whitehead as Thomas Andrews(he favors the real Andrews), Ian Holm as the best Bruce Ismay of any of the Titanic movies, Chloris Leachman as Molly Brown, David Janssen & Beverly Ross as the Astors, Harry Andrews as Captain Smith, Susan Saint James as a dignified Leigh Goodwin & D.Warner as a very thoughtful Lawrence Beasley. Exterior shots of the Queen Mary in Long Bch are obvious but it never hampens the story. It's just good film making to make the QM look like the Titanic. The soundtrack is excellent, mixed with elegant tunes from the period, from Victor Herbert to Scott Joplin as well as the film's original score. Particularly nice is the middle eastern theme playing while the women get a massage & their hair done as well as many other themes. Characters are included in this film that are left out in others ie: Leigh Goodwin, the two boot cleaners, Alvie the elevator boy, 1st Class stewardess Violet Jessop, Fred Barrett, Rene Harris etc. The film is wonderfully paced & takes it's time. The full uncut version(with Carpathia rescue at beginning)can run on t.v. for 3hrs. This is the version I'd recommend not the cut 90 min home vid version. There are long scenes of passengers going about their business like the elderly lady just sitting in her deck chair enjoying the excitement. This most likely was 1st Class passenger Emily Ryerson because the actress is made up to look just like a photo of Ryerson. The sinking of the ship is handled very well & shot from many of the passengers' points of view. There's no ship shown breaking in half as this was 1978 and before the wreck of the real ship was found. But the producers couldn't have been far off from the truth the way it is presented her.Discrepancies abound as in every Titanic film. Violet Jessop while included here is shown as an old woman stewardess, not the young 25 yr old w/artist model looks that she was in 1912. Chief Officer,who drowned, is accurately shown writing a letter to his sister which he did but the film shows him writing words that 1st Officer Lighttoller had written in his own account of the sinking years later. And as stated earlier the QM is so obviously not the Titanic. Also the crew of the Carpathia are shown making rescue preparations at the site of the sinking instead of enroute to it.So sit back and enjoy the Titanic tragedy events re-enacted sumptuously. Like I stated, it's a well mae & ambitious production intended for television at that. It gets a 9 out of 10 from me.

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!!

This Titanic movie that came out had the lack of special effects, but had a wonderful, but fictional cast. Lawrence Beesley who was played by David Warner was my number one favorite character of the movie, more of the hero type of man. The movie shows the lives of all three classes, not just only a certain portion. Though rarely seen on cable television anymore, SOS Titanic was general a good movie to watch. Most of the filming was took aboard the Queen Mary, which I think that was nice too. This film should be good for all viewers to see.