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Titanic (TV movie)

• Time Period: 1912
• Location: Southhampton, then on the Titanic
• Released: 1996

Overview:

This made-for-TV movie wasn't horrible, but it isn't really good either. Catherine Zeta-Jones looks fabulous and actually acted well in this part.

What was Right

1. The costumes were very good, realistic, and historically accurate.
2. The scenes with the Carpathia (the other ship in the vicinity) were historically accurate and were an untold segment of the story in the big-budget movie.
3. The scenes of loading passengers into the boat were good.

What was Wrong

1. England wasn't portrayed as dirty enough. Despite the fact that electricity existed, every city in England was still sooty and gross.
2. There weren't enough bicycles represented. Bicycling was incredibly, unbelievably popular. I really would have liked to have seen more bicyles used in the street scenes.
3. Corners were cut on the set. The lighting fixtures were too new and the lightbulbs shed diffused (naked bulbs of the day weren't so diffused and luminescent), the gates were too obviously gilded with the new fake-gold leaf that wasn't available at the time. The James Cameron, big-budget movie did a much better job with details such as this.
4. The crystal was incorrect. For this movie, they used Waterford crystal glasses, You can see the precise Waterford pattern when Molly Brown's brandy sniffer is placed on the table.