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Raise The Titanic (film)
Encyclopedia
Raise the Titanic is a 1980
American
big budget adventure film
by Lew Grade
's ITC Entertainment
, directed
by Jerry Jameson
and written by Eric Hughes
(adaption) and Adam Kennedy
(screenplay). The film stars Jason Robards
, Richard Jordan
, David Selby
, Anne Archer
, and Alec Guinness
. The film's tagline was "Once they said God himself couldn't sink her. Then they said no man on earth could reach her. Now—you will be there when we... RAISE THE TITANIC".
The film was inspired by Clive Cussler
's popular novel Raise the Titanic!
. The film, however, was poorly received by critics and proved to be a box office bomb
, losing most of its $40 million estimated budget. The film only grossed about $7 million in box office revenue plus $6.8 million in rentals, totaling $13.8 million altogether. Lew Grade, one of its major backers, is famously said to have remarked that it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic Ocean
. Raise The Titanic, along with other contemporary flops, has been credited with prompting Grade's withdrawal from continued involvement with the film industry.
to obtain a rare mineral that the US armed forces can use for a sound beam that can take down missiles as they enter US airspace. The Soviet Union also wants to salvage the ship because they claim they own the rare mineral.
The rare mineral that prompted the raising of the wreck is eventually not found on board the ship, but in a false grave in Southby, England
(as per the novel). A change was made to the end, instead of just digging up the mineral, and therefore altering the balance of power between east and west, Pitt tells Seagram to decide whether or not they should dig it up. Seagram decides not to, and they walk away, leaving the mineral undisturbed.
The scale model used in the film currently resides, rusting, in the village of Kalkara
, Malta
at the Mediterranean film studios. Over the years, rust and damage appeared on the model, but in January 2003, a force 12 storm slammed the island and critically damaged the already rusted ship.
created the film's musical score, which became the most acclaimed aspect of the production. Though the original recordings of the music have been lost, Silva Screen Records has since commissioned a re-recording of the complete score with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
in 1999. Christian Clemmensen, sole reviewer of Filmtracks.com
, later considered it one of the best of Barry's career, stating, "When the film came out in the theatres, the score was a remarkably fresh and unique experience, and out of the novelty of that style of music arose the popularity of techniques that would inform Barry's Oscar-winning efforts for Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves
."
was so disgusted with the film that he refused every film company that wanted to adapt a film from one of his books. (When the film Sahara
was made, Cussler sued the filmmakers.)
Although Raise The Titanic scores lower with users at 44%, it received a 60% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
), but while in the book this leads to an affair between Pitt and Dana Seagram, and eventually to Seagram's near suicide, the film has Pitt and Seagram finally reaching a grudging friendship.
The ending of the film also differs markedly from that of the book. In both, the byzanium is not on board the Titanic, a fact only discovered once the vessel has been safely docked in New York City
. Instead, it is hidden in a false grave in Southby. In the book, the byzanium is discovered thanks to Dirk Pitt and is used to power the defense system, completely changing the balance of power. In the film, although it is found by Pitt and Seagram, Pitt is then asked by the head gravedigger if they want them to dig it up. Pitt then tells Seagram that it is his decision. Seagram then decides to leave it there, fearing it will otherwise be used to build a "byzanium bomb" like Sandecker had told him in the previous scene on board the Titanic.
The film also neglects to mention that the Russians board the wreck of the "Titanic" after it has been salvaged in the height of a force nine hurricane and there is a traitor in the NUMA ranks who has attempted to slow down the progress of the vessel as it is towed to New York.
In the book, Titanics masts and funnels are gone, but in the movie they are still there. The second funnel's top half is gone, which Seagram states "cracked off as the Titanic went down". This is presumably an allusion to the real-life collapse of Titanics number one funnel, as reported by survivors of the sinking, the probable reason for changing this was to make the Titanic look more impressive in the film, with its front funnel intact.
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
big budget adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
by Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
's ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
, directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Jerry Jameson
Jerry Jameson
Jerry Jameson is an American Film Director and Producer.- Filmography :*1970 : The Mod Squad*1971 : Dan August*1972 : Brute Corps *1972 : Search*1972 : The Dirt Gang *1972 : The Rookies*1973 : Cannon...
and written by Eric Hughes
Eric Hughes
Eric Hughes was a rugby league footballer for the Widnes Vikings, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and for the Great Britain national side. He unwittingly added confusion to the Canterbury side as he played at the same time as the three Hughes brothers Garry, Graeme and Mark.Hughes coached Rochdale...
(adaption) and Adam Kennedy
Adam Kennedy
Adam Thomas Kennedy is an American Major League Baseball second baseman who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He previously played for the Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners and had two stints with the St. Louis Cardinals.-Early years:Kennedy...
(screenplay). The film stars Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, Richard Jordan
Richard Jordan
Richard Jordan was an American stage, screen and film actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays...
, David Selby
David Selby
David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...
, Anne Archer
Anne Archer
Anne Archer is an American actress who has performed in feature films, television, and stage and was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971. Among her best known roles is that of Beth Gallagher in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award.-Career:Archer's...
, and Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
. The film's tagline was "Once they said God himself couldn't sink her. Then they said no man on earth could reach her. Now—you will be there when we... RAISE THE TITANIC".
The film was inspired by Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
's popular novel Raise the Titanic!
Raise the Titanic!
Raise the Titanic! is a 1976 adventure novel by Clive Cussler, published in the United States by the Viking Press. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated oceanliner RMS Titanic to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean....
. The film, however, was poorly received by critics and proved to be a box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
, losing most of its $40 million estimated budget. The film only grossed about $7 million in box office revenue plus $6.8 million in rentals, totaling $13.8 million altogether. Lew Grade, one of its major backers, is famously said to have remarked that it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Raise The Titanic, along with other contemporary flops, has been credited with prompting Grade's withdrawal from continued involvement with the film industry.
Plot
A group of Americans who have had experience in raising small ships from the sea bed are hired to raise the famous oceanliner RMS Titanic from the North AtlanticAtlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to obtain a rare mineral that the US armed forces can use for a sound beam that can take down missiles as they enter US airspace. The Soviet Union also wants to salvage the ship because they claim they own the rare mineral.
Main cast
- Richard JordanRichard JordanRichard Jordan was an American stage, screen and film actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays...
- Dirk PittDirk PittDirk Pitt is a fictional character, the protagonist of a series of bestselling adventure novels written by Clive Cussler. The name Dirk Pitt is a registered trademark of Clive Cussler.-Character information and the supporting cast:... - Jason RobardsJason RobardsJason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
- Admiral James SandeckerJames SandeckerAdmiral James Sandecker is a fictional character in the Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin adventure novels by acclaimed novelist Clive Cussler. Sandecker is the Director of NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency... - David SelbyDavid SelbyDavid Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...
- Dr. Gene Seagram - Anne ArcherAnne ArcherAnne Archer is an American actress who has performed in feature films, television, and stage and was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971. Among her best known roles is that of Beth Gallagher in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award.-Career:Archer's...
- Dana Seagram - Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
- John Bigalow
Writing
The writers decided to make parts of the film different from the book. In the book Dirk Pitt and Seagram's wife Dana have an affair, leaving Gene Seagram near suicidal, eventually suffering a nervous breakdown, but in the film Dr. Seagram and Pitt reach a grudging friendship.The rare mineral that prompted the raising of the wreck is eventually not found on board the ship, but in a false grave in Southby, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(as per the novel). A change was made to the end, instead of just digging up the mineral, and therefore altering the balance of power between east and west, Pitt tells Seagram to decide whether or not they should dig it up. Seagram decides not to, and they walk away, leaving the mineral undisturbed.
Rebuilding the Titanic
The production spent a sizable amount of its budget converting an old Greek oceanliner into a replica of the Titanic and creating a scale model for the underwater scenes. In the movie, the wreck appears as an intact vessel on the ocean floor, unlike in reality; however this information was not known at the time of filming; in 1980 the wreck of the Titanic had not yet been found.The scale model used in the film currently resides, rusting, in the village of Kalkara
Kalkara
Il-Kalkara is a small picturesque village in Malta, with a population of 2,856 . The name is derived from the Latin word for lime , and it is believed that there was a lime kiln present there since Roman times. Kalkara forms part of the inner harbour area and occupies the area around Kalkara Creek...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
at the Mediterranean film studios. Over the years, rust and damage appeared on the model, but in January 2003, a force 12 storm slammed the island and critically damaged the already rusted ship.
Music
Renowned Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning English composer John BarryJohn Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
created the film's musical score, which became the most acclaimed aspect of the production. Though the original recordings of the music have been lost, Silva Screen Records has since commissioned a re-recording of the complete score with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is a professional, philharmonic symphony orchestra, over 61 years old, predominantly it is composed of Czech and Slovak classical and jazz musicians...
in 1999. Christian Clemmensen, sole reviewer of Filmtracks.com
Filmtracks.com
Filmtracks.com is a leading modern film score review website created and maintained out of Missoula, Montana by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen...
, later considered it one of the best of Barry's career, stating, "When the film came out in the theatres, the score was a remarkably fresh and unique experience, and out of the novelty of that style of music arose the popularity of techniques that would inform Barry's Oscar-winning efforts for Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves
Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...
."
Box office
The film only grossed $7 million at the box office plus $6,800,000 in video rentals. Altogether the film only grossed a total of $13,800,000.Reviews
The film received many negative reviews but received some positive reviews because of its musical score. Author Clive CusslerClive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
was so disgusted with the film that he refused every film company that wanted to adapt a film from one of his books. (When the film Sahara
Sahara (2005 film)
Sahara is a 2005 action-comedy adventure film directed by Breck Eisner and based on the best-selling book of the same name by Clive Cussler...
was made, Cussler sued the filmmakers.)
Although Raise The Titanic scores lower with users at 44%, it received a 60% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Awards and nominations
- 1st Golden Raspberry Award
- Nominated: Worst PictureRazzie Award for Worst PictureThe Razzie Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each film's distribution company and producer.-1980s:...
- Nominated: Worst Supporting ActorRazzie Award for Worst Supporting ActorThe Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst supporting actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated. Brooke Shields is the...
- Nominated: Worst ScreenplayRazzie Award for Worst ScreenplayThe Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst film screenplay of the past year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each screenplay's author...
Differences between the movie and the book
The plot of the film generally followed that of the book, but changed a number of key features. In both, the relationship between Dirk Pitt and Dr. Gene Seagram is colored by Pitt's previous relationship with Seagram's wife Dana (played by Anne ArcherAnne Archer
Anne Archer is an American actress who has performed in feature films, television, and stage and was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971. Among her best known roles is that of Beth Gallagher in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award.-Career:Archer's...
), but while in the book this leads to an affair between Pitt and Dana Seagram, and eventually to Seagram's near suicide, the film has Pitt and Seagram finally reaching a grudging friendship.
The ending of the film also differs markedly from that of the book. In both, the byzanium is not on board the Titanic, a fact only discovered once the vessel has been safely docked in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Instead, it is hidden in a false grave in Southby. In the book, the byzanium is discovered thanks to Dirk Pitt and is used to power the defense system, completely changing the balance of power. In the film, although it is found by Pitt and Seagram, Pitt is then asked by the head gravedigger if they want them to dig it up. Pitt then tells Seagram that it is his decision. Seagram then decides to leave it there, fearing it will otherwise be used to build a "byzanium bomb" like Sandecker had told him in the previous scene on board the Titanic.
The film also neglects to mention that the Russians board the wreck of the "Titanic" after it has been salvaged in the height of a force nine hurricane and there is a traitor in the NUMA ranks who has attempted to slow down the progress of the vessel as it is towed to New York.
In the book, Titanics masts and funnels are gone, but in the movie they are still there. The second funnel's top half is gone, which Seagram states "cracked off as the Titanic went down". This is presumably an allusion to the real-life collapse of Titanics number one funnel, as reported by survivors of the sinking, the probable reason for changing this was to make the Titanic look more impressive in the film, with its front funnel intact.