Raise the Titanic (1980)

Director:

Jerry Jameson

Writers:

Clive Cussler (novel)
Eric Hughes (adaptation)

Release Date:

1 August 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | Adventure

Tagline:

They've found the Titanic. There's just one thing left to do...

Plot:

To obtain a supply of a rare mineral, a ship raising operation is conducted for the only known source, the Titanic.

Plot Keywords:

Titanic | Ship | Military | Ocean | Helicopter

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jason Robards	...	Admiral James Sandecker
Richard Jordan	...	Dirk Pitt
David Selby	...	Dr. Gene Seagram
Anne Archer	...	Dana Archibald
Alec Guinness	...	John Bigalow
Bo Brundin	...	Captain Prevlov
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Master Chief Vinnie Walker
J.D. Cannon	...	Captain Joe Burke
Norman Bartold	...	Admiral Kemper
Elya Baskin	...	Marganin
Dirk Blocker	...	Merker
Robert Broyles	...	Willis
Paul Carr	...	CIA Director Nicholson
Michael C. Gwynne	...	Bohannon
Harvey Lewis	...	Kiel

Also Known As:

La guerre des abîmes (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
1981: Epiheirisi Titanikos (Greece) [el]
A Guerra dos Abismos (Portugal) [pt]
Blitz nell'oceano (Italy) [it]
Hæv Titanic (Denmark) [da]
Hebt die Titanic (West Germany) [de]
Lyft Titanic (Sweden) [sv]
Nostakaa Titanic! (Finland) [fi]
Rescaten el Titanic (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

115 min | Canada:113 min (Ontario) | Australia:119 min (DVD)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 (1981) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Trivia:

M. Emmet Walsh's character was originally Dirk Pitt's literary sidekick Al Giordino, and was referred to as Giordino in some publicity material. He was also killed off towards the end of at least one early draft of the script.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Alec Guinness orders a pink gin. A pink gin is prepared by the barman warming a brandy glass with his hands, adding a few drops of Angostura Bitters, shaking them out, and then adding a single or double optic measure of gin. The actor's glasses would never have been so full or so richly colored.

Quotes:

Dirk Pitt: You want to talk about distress, we have Navy weather forcasting a Force 12 storm, we have Russians looking down our throats and we are on a ship that never learned to do anything but sink, that's distress.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Sahara (2005)

Under the sea,,under the sea,,,

When I first saw this movie years ago, I thought they really had raised the Titanic just to make this movie (Hey, I was a dumb kid!), but now looking at this movie, I can realize just how bad the special effects really were. Knowing what we now know, I wonder what this movie would have been about if they had found the Titanic in half with the crushing depths and Leonardo DiCapro's hands on Billy Zane's neck. The mere concept of raising the ship today of course is sheer lunacy since the decomposition of it would rattle it apart in bits and peices ["Oh,we got it ! Which of it's million peices do you want ?] Jason Robards is a little boring in his role, but I did like seeing David Selby outside of "Dark Shadows." The underwater shots were abysmal; I couldn't make out anything ! The terrorist sub-plot was a bit tagged on, but the overall images of the anti-climactic ending were just short of impressive.