A Night to Remember Reviews

R.M.S Titanic- 100 years ago today 1912-2012

This year being the centenary of R.M.S Titanic's sinking, I would decide to review this classic film depicting the most famous sea disaster of the 20th century. Now before I review the film, I just want to say that I didn't enjoy the 1997 version of Titanic, I just felt it was a film that had too much fiction and unnecessary drama that tried too hard at over doing the suffering and pain of that horrible tragedy. I thought Cameron had a great eye for the film, but the romantic storyline absolutely ruined the film for me. I see that film as a blunder, and I just hated the fact that they mostly had to sugar the facts with a purposely tear jerking love story, as a person who's very much intrigued by the story of Titanic I was very disappointed with that film. However, A Night to Remember is a film I highly recommend to viewers who want the true story of the Titanic. With this film you get the facts, not fiction. Brilliantly directed by Roy Ward Backer, A Night to Remember is a cinematic classic that tells the true story of the greatest ship ever made. The cast assembled here for this production is phenomenal. I've been fascinated with the Titanic since I was a young kid, and now I'm in my mid to late twenties. This film is superb, it has everything you want that would please a Titanic buff. A Night to Remember is dramatic and suspenseful, and one key element that makes this a worthy film to watch is that it's an accurate portrait of the disaster. The film is brilliant and a flawless piece of cinema. The actors on-screen deliver memorable performances as well. The film is a much more accomplished film compared to the massively overrated Titanic, and if you're interested in the facts about the tragedy, this is the film to watch. After all these years, A Night to Remember remains the definitive Titanic film. James Cameron's film is nothing compared to this one. More accurate, better acting, and hold true to the facts, it's no secret that this film remains a favorite of Titanic enthusiasts the world over. Not only is A Night to Remember a memorable film that accurately portrays this famous disaster, this is a cinematic classic that should be seen by film enthusiasts everywhere. Watching this film, you may agree that it's far superior to the typical Hollywood love story that James Cameron gas made. I think that this is a phenomenal picture and is terrific tribute to the victims that died during the sinking. A brilliantly acted piece of cinema that delivers drama and suspense from start to finish. Forget the sappy purposely tear jerkin love sick Cameron version that relies more on fiction, and pick up this one instead.

The only movie about The Titanic you need to see. Nowhere will you find melodramatic nonsense, or forced love stories. This film is filled with tension and terror way before its time. As the events unfold, it's surprising to see how calm everybody is. The calmness gradually builds to madness, but not to the insanity of the 1997 film. I saw this film when I was very young, and it always stuck with me. Some shots were directly lifted for Cameron's effort. Some may mistake the very Englishness of it all as a lack of emotion. It couldn't be further from the truth. A man lies to his wife about the severity of the impact, a woman runs for her lucky pig, the designer tells a couple their best chance of survival etc. It's the calmness that is unsettling, but also what this film, and those on the

Based on a researched book this movie is like a factual documentary. It's not about storytelling or character building but more about the harsh reality of the disaster. It paints a picture of what ifs and regrets. Very moving and believable depiction. The set is amazing for that period.

all art essentially becomes a comment on the moment of its creation whether it's intentional or not, and this film, made right before the social upheaval of the tumultous sixties, certainly can be seen as just that. the grand lady as a metaphor for the great empire's dwindling? maybe. underlining the entire work is an implicit call for calm, for order, for ... sanity perhaps. powerful moments played in quiet abound here, making this an exemplary work. makes one proud to be a brit, even if one is not.

Hard to find on DVD. In my opinion, it's the BEST Titanic film ever made.

Superbly moving Titanic film. Very well done!

Don't bother with Jack and Sarah!! Watch this instead!!

A british dramatization of the actual recorded events leading up to and during the sinking of the Titanic performed without the melodramatic histrionics of Cameron's bloated monstrosity. The crew are played with a reserved, pragmatic dignity, counterpointing the aloof complacency and later panic of the passengers. It's meticulous in it's detail, solidly acted and features model effects that have stood the test of time rather impressively. It's a little overlong (even though it's an hour shorter than 1997's debacle) but the writer's choice to let the drama of the actual events unfold without embellishment and sentiment was the right one. If only James Cameron had taken a page from his book...

It's "The Titanic Adventure", but unlike "Poseidon", this really happened. I guess that's why they couldn't get Ernest Borgnine for this film; too many painful memories from when he was rescued from the actual Titanic, back when he was in his 50s. It truly was a night to remember, even if you are slipping into senility, something Mr. Borgnine is certainly not slipping into, because if that disaster couldn't kill him, then there's no way alzheimer's is gonna take him out. Wow, I am going the distance with this bogus joke about Ernest Bornine being old enough to have actually been on the Titanic, and, as I said, he's not even in this film. I guess I have to reach for some kind of reference to a star, because, with the exception of Sean Conney, who made some random cameo somewhere in the film, the people in this are such unknowns that, for a seconds there, I thought that they had died in an actual recreation of the Titanic sinking. Of course, then I heard the dialogue, and it quickly hit me that this is anything but authentic pandemonium, because I doubt that they would be knocking out terrible snap-liners during pure, horrifying disaster. Hey, that doesn't make the film any less exciting, partially because the film couldn't get any less exciting. No, the film does really hit some high points in tension, but if you want some consistency in those thrills aboard the Titanic, then wait about 39 years, because as enjoyable as this film is, it's not without its slip-ups.

The film slips a bit from the get-go, rushing atmospheric exposition and pumping out steam, which already found itself diluted by under informative, yet still overlong and repetitive openings for our leads. The film goes immediately underdeveloped and immediately disengaging, but something that is most certainly not immediate is the film's picking up. The film is slow and loose, limply procrastinating, which isn't to say that I wanted them to waste no time in throwing us in the middle of emotional terror before we had even established resonance with the situation, because at that point, it would have been spectacle over substance, but it is to say that the film makes ends meet with dry padding. For the padded-out length, to even the poor dialogue, so much of the substance feels so artificial, and sure, I understand that's how they rolled in the '50s, even in the final years of the era, but that's still no real excuse, partially because it throws some mild inconsistency in the intellegence of the film. The film boasts historical accuracy and ambition, but its substance goes diluted, due to its usage of forced charm and over meditation on characters as cheap substitutes for exposition. It's a false, overlong, lifeless bore of a disaster that could rival the actual Titanic sinking... but enough about "Eyes Wide Shut". Seriously though, this film certainly stands to be better, but it could have fallen so spectacularly flat, as well, yet it goes saved by its ultimately prevailing moments of genuine effectiveness, largely spawned from effective production values.

Now, don't go expecting these production designs to be the 1950s practical equivalent of Jim Cameron's later-to-arrive digital recreation of the sinking, but do expect some pretty impressive usage of the, as Wikipedia put it, "modest" production values. The reconstruction of the Titanic's rooms and exterior are pretty dead-on, and when things start sinking, shaking and falling apart at the seams, you feel it; maybe not all the time, but when things go down, they really hit, and part of that effectiveness lays in the quality of the build-up. Sure, maybe the film takes a little bit too long with the pre-pandemonium, but when push comes to shove, while the film doesn't quite deliver terribly sharply on the emotional aspects of the disaster, it certainly gives you a sense of tension, really playing up the accuracies to hit you, though not bear down and manipulate you. As cheesy as the writing is, the early stages of the colorful characters and story charm you, and as things begin to bash down, you see a lot of characters shift and do things that really catch you offguard. Again, if exposition was sharper, and writing with it, then things would have really hit with more subtlety, but as it stands, the film keeps you going through the slow and wakes you up when things get heavy. Its charm resides within its workmanlike moments, but its style and tension reside in the moments where the limited resources find themselves used to great effect, and while the film won't stick with you terribly thoroughly, it is still rather "a film to remember". Yup, all of that repetition, just to get to a joke about the title; but hey it's still a pretty decent movie anyways.

At the end of this night, limited exposition and padding dull down a film tainted by shoddy writing and bit of a shortage on emotion, but the film boasts enough charm throughout the more relaxed moments to keep you going, and when disaster comes into play, the sharp production and authenticity power the intrigue and tension that help in making "A Night to Remember" a generally impacing and interesting classic study on the final hours of the "Unsinkable" Ship.

2.5/5 - Fair

This is the one that Titanic critics like to extol as the 'real' movie about Titanic. It is, in many ways, better than its latter-day cousin. It focuses on the human drama, and it has its share of heroes, villains, cowards, and just plain folk. Some of the moments were clearly echoed in Cameron's film, such as the father saying goodbye to his wife and daughters as they are lowered away.

Kenneth More gives a good performance from the perspective of the senior surviving officer, Lightoller, and gives the movie a point of focus, although the story is really told in the many little stories of the other characters we meet. Most of the actors are unknowns, so you aren't distracted by that. (David McCallum is one of the few people might even recognize) It also makes an interesting contrast between the reactions of the crew of the Californian and the Carpathia. One crew acted, and the other didn't. History is the judge, and this film will remain a good view of the tragedy. There are apologists for the captain of the Californian, and maybe he was pilloried, but the fact remains, he didn't act when another sailor was in trouble, and that's an unwritten law of the sea.

This Rand production was low budget, but doesn't look it. It was well directed, and captures the tension and disbelief very well. It's also fun (as a Titanicophile) to pick out the various historic characters, that Lord wrote into his book based on Colonel Gracie's memoirs. Some live well, some die well, some live badly and some die badly, it's a great cross-section. The immigrant characters are also interesting, and they get some focus here, too. Once you realize that these were, for the most part, real people you see surviving or dying, you can really feel for them. I found myself tearing up in many places.

The musical score is a bit over-the-top, but that was the style. You can say it's over-romantic, but to balance that you get very realistic reactions of confusion, fear, disbelief, seem quite close to what it might have been. The social classes of the time did behave in ridiculous ways, and we are slowly losing those pretensions somewhat, so it looks unrealistic to our eyes. In short, I don't think it quite replaces the grandeur of Cameron's epic, but it's a very successful telling of the story, even if time has given us more knowledge about the accident itself.

I was lucky enough to see this on a big screen in a local classic house as a double bill with the rather melodramatic Titanic (Clifton Webb) and this blows that one away...it looks great.

Recommended.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the great Titanic's sinking and due to this it seems that all variations of the tragedy are being upgraded to Blu-ray and lucky for us they are some great films overall. "A Night to Remember" is often thought of as the best of these adaptations of the sinking and while I still have yet to watch the original "Titanic" from 1953, I can say this will be a tough act to follow! The film is beautifully captured in gorgeous black and white and is truly stunning to see in motion! The new 2K transfer is breathtaking and the whites are angelic while the blacks are inky and deep with a tremendous clarity and amount of detail in the image! This is the way to do restorations with older films, Criterion went to the original 35mm negative and created the 2K scan and then made further modifications all the while keeping the light layer of grain and theatrical look of the film. The film itself isn't filled with melodrama like the James Cameron "Titanic" from 1997 and while that film had it's own pros and cons, this is by far the superior film in every conceivable way besides maybe special effects. The acting that has over 200 voiced parts is top notch and the characters well developed, even the bit parts all make a world of difference to the feel and mood of the film. The dialogue is smart and the suspense fills every scene in the film from the 30th minute on, when the Titanic hits the iceberg, until the final closing scene. There is a brief passage at the end that sums up the whole event rather well and poetically and really closes the film in a suitable manner. If there is one film you need to see about the Titanic then this is the film to see, although you have probably seen the Cameron version already though due to it's wide release and massive advertising. "A Night to Remember" is a true classic and a wonderful cinematic achievement about one of the greatest of recent day tragedies and the people who were on the ship that fateful night.

Some say this is the best film about the Titanic, I'm not one of them. I found this to be a very bland, very dry depiction of the sinking. Say what you will about James Cameron's Titanic film, I think it was a lot more interesting and a lot more entertaining. It's certainly not a bad film, it's well crafted enough and fairly mellow and respectful. But it could really use more of a central story than it has.

From this you can see where many good ideas of the new Titanic were taken. This film was an epic of its time and at the end puts a positive twist on the story explaining how things have changed after the Titanic and lifeboats are now for all and they have the navy monitoring icebergs to prevent such accidents.

More's role was well written and serves as an inspiring example of idealism, initiative and leadership. I also enjoyed the noble man who did not panic in the sight of death. I did not know that there was a ship "Americana" nearby who did not respond to the calls. It makes it all the more tragic that they even could see it happening and dismissed the rockets etc. The comparative priorities of the passengers was also insightful and it showed the materialistic fashions of the day for the rich.

James Cameron probably saw this 100 times, because there are certain shots/scenes that are almost alike. This movie is bascially the second half of Cameron's film without all the melodrama. Since there are no real main characters, the film focuses more on the sinking itself so when certain character die, there isn't that emotional impact. Still, this is a great true story and should not be overshadowed by the more popular version decades later.

Grade: A-

This movie was the backbone of James Cameron's script for Titanic, and should be given credit for that. Otherwise, it's pretty dull. Very "British." Very "we are upperclass gentleman and will die with honor and composure." Which Jack and Rose kind of make fun of in Cameron's movie; when they meet passengers like that they are just kind of like "WTF! Are you retarded, we're tying to survive here!" Cameron lifted quite a few scenes from this movie; although he generally made them better and expanded on them. The sinking is well done for the time, and seems to hold up pretty accurately (the big main difference being the movie depicts Titanic as sinking whole, the world generally dismissed eye-witness accounts of the ship breaking in two, and it wasn't until the wreck was found that it was corrected. Oh, and they assumed the iceberg created one huge gash alongside the hull, instead of a few smaller holes). Interesting bit of film history, but not much else.

James Cameron who? This is not simply spectacular storytelling, it's a sincere and awesome piece of anthropology on what happens when people are faced with the end of the world - this particular world of the "unsinkable" great ship, which I think is an unintentional(?) metaphor for society in general, where our structure hits a big wall, and we're forced to go down with the ship (just like now perhaps?) Seeing how the people variously react, with no one quite like the other aside from mob mentality, is staggering and hear-rending. While a lot of this is taken from already compelling historical fact culled from the novel by Walter Lord, Baker's direction of the large cast, and these performances (all by people I frankly don't know much at all, though Honor Blackman rings a bell) being all around stellar, not to mention Geoffrey Unsworth's classy cinematography, turn this monumental tragedy into a kind of melancholy poetry that mourns the sadness that comes with men/women/children in peril but honors when people can be good. It's noble and exciting, which is more than can be said for Cameron's film that takes many set pieces straight out of this (not even in a subtle way, I mean like compositions and staging exactly). Aside from special effects, which have dated somewhat, it's a total knock-out from start to finish.

Wow. This British movie came out only a few years after the big Hollywood version with Barbara Stanwyck but is light years ahead of it. This is one of the most quietly brilliant movies I have ever seen. For all the bigger budget, bigger effects versions of the sinking of the Titanic this one does a very good job of presenting the facts (as were known to them before the wreck was found in the 80's)

It really does a great job of highlighting the class struggle of the time, and the tiny moments of life aboard the ship .

Interesting to see some of the shots from the '97 flick were "homaged" to from this version and there is an authenticity to it that makes it something. Hell, even the production value and effects still hold the test of time. Very worth a watch. The editing is very cool as well. There is a scene that cuts back and forth from the steerage dancing party below decks to the first class finery above that is very intriguing.

If I had a complaint it'd be that there is no main characters, you don't have a certain protagonist to glom on to which gives this movie more of a broad feel, but I think that's the point. We weave in and out of these true accounts and private lives of these people aboard the ship in a kind of heartbreaking way. You still care about these people and you still weep for them.

And the Criterion transfer is gorgeous.

A fantastic and meticulous recreation of the Titanic disaster still offers some fantastic visuals as the ships sinks, but unlike the 1997 film it does not get held up on some half baked love story. Instead it follows many strains of people lives as they go about business on the unsinkable ship as well as focusing a little bit on the ships around the Titanic. The effect and shock of discovering they had not conquered anything at all with Titanic, but instead created one of the world?s biggest disasters. The captain is given a bit of depth here, but not as much as his officers who have to herd the women and children onto the boats and maintain order in a time of great panic. Of course, not everyone is well balanced during this time, but offers a nice well-balanced view of the sinking as prejudice is still shown to the lower classes even from the officers and captain only letting them get out at the last moment. I swear that the 1997 Cameron film used half of the scenes from this meticulous film during its sinking sequence and not as well-crafted I might acting wise. For fans of The Great Escape it is interesting to note one of two actors in their young ages playing bit roles in this larger scale production such as David McCallum as the Assistant Wireless Operator Harold Bride. The star of sorts of the film is the second officer played by Kenneth More, but even so he is not given any unneeded time in the plot which is quite trim at a mere 123 minutes. It?s a frustrating film which I think is a good accomplishment as this is what I consider the ultimate disaster film before those films were overwhelmed by flimsy plots and character which go for style over substance.

While J Cameron's version may be more historically accurate, this effort is more involving emotionally since we don't have to put up with 3 hours of Leo and Kate

Oh, so they had all those "Titanic" movies in the late 1990s. This still packs the punch many years after its production, based on the book by the historian Walter Lord.