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

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:

In the scene where the camera pans across the Titanic immediately after she surfaces, about midway along the hull, look for a very tiny bit of movement in the lower part of the picture. As a gag, the spfx guys rigged up a little prop consisting of two tiny scale figures working a hand pump.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Sandecker tells Pitt that they "got all the stuff from the White Star Line; engineering drawings and a complete structural design for the Titanic." The White Star Line did not exist anymore by 1980; it was merged with the Cunard Line in 1934 and became part of Cunard White Star, Ltd. By the end of 1949, Cunard had acquired the rest of White Star's assets and the company reverted to the name Cunard. No ship has flown the White Star flag since 1968. Also, in 1980 it was thought that the blueprints and drawings for Olympic and Titanic had been destroyed by the Luftwaffe when they bombed the Belfast shipyards of Harland & Wolff during WWII. Not until the late 1990's was it discovered that a set of structural blueprints for the Olympic class had survived and still existed.

Quotes:

Dr. Gene Seagram: Dirk Pitt... What kind of name is that? Sounds like a pirate.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Beyond Titanic (1998) (TV)

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.