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 | Ocean | Military | Cemetery

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:

Steve McQueen was offered the lead role in the film. However, he felt the script was flat and turned down the offer.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the hastily put together briefing where Pitt brings forward the raising of the Titanic, he states that the explosive charges will be detonated eight seconds apart, when the procedure happens, the explosions are randomly all over the place and with the exception of the last two (late) charges are mostly less than a second apart.

Quotes:

Dana Archibald: I'm a dynamite fisher-person. I just can't put the wormy on the hooky.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Sahara (2005)

If you can ignore the horrible special effects this is a good mindless thriller

Lets get it out in the open the visual effects for this film are beyond awful. Never mind that we've now bee to the Titanic and know what it looks like, this is bad even by 1980's standards. As one critic described it on its release it looks like a toy filmed in the bottom of someones dirty bath tub. Its awful, its horrible and only looks worse with each passing year. Now, if you can look past all of that this is a good, by the numbers thriller.

The plot of this movie has Dirk Pitt (recently seen in Sahara) trying to find a rare mineral for use in a new weapon that will make the world safe from nuclear war, The trouble is that the only known quantity is at the bottom of the ocean on the Titanic. The only solution is find the ship (remember this was 8 or so years prior to its discovery) and raise it. Of course the evil Russians are also trying to get it so its a race against time.

Better than its reputation (or special effects) would have you believe, this is a reasonable facsimile of a Clive Cussler novel. The silliness of the plot raising the titanic for a silly named mineral Byzantium is pure c-grade movie material. However the actors Jason Robards and especially Alec Guinness and Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt are what makes the movie worth watching. The actors seem to believe what they are saying and doing even though its clearly out there.

In defense of the movie and its plot, have you ever read any of Clive Cussler's novels? I've read most of them and they are more often then not rather loopy action adventures that make even the most way out James Bond film seem restrained and real. His stories are set three to five years from now and while they are often filled with great possibility at the time you read them when you look back at them they seem rather quaint and out of touch with reality. That doesn't mean that they, like this film, aren't fun when taken on its own terms. Besides Cussler's strength is characters and Dirk Pitt is one of the best I've ever run across.

No this film isn't "great" its just a good film thats a fun mindless romp, and one which history has proved to be impossible of ever happening. If you take it as it is and not ask for anything more you'll have a good time.