Titanic

The Pros and Cons of this Series
I am a historian, but I have also fairly accepted all Titanic movies and TV shows. So I will tell you about the Pros and Cons about this series and you can decide if you like it or not.

First off, let me say that I liked it. This series presented a new dynamic to seeing the Titanic and it also presented new real people who were on the ship (the Wideners, the Duff Gordons, and Dorothy Gibson are some examples). However, the first thing I will talk about is how the series is set up. The first three episodes have generally so many different points of view that are happening on the show. This is an awesome new way to look at a TV show, but you may not like this new style and thus the whole way the series is filmed will not be good for you. So in the end I liked this new dynamic, but depending who you are you may not like the way it is filmed with various point of views.

Now what are the plots? The good news is that this series did not generally rip off the popular...

Julian Fellowes Lost At Sea
The DVD hasn't been released here yet but the 'mini-series' is now over. It is difficult to call this amalgamation of snippets about an historic tragedy a miniseries because it was spread out so unevenly (3 hours on first night, one hour on second night) and we are now informed that the film is a total of 184 minutes which means that the fourth hour was completely filled with the most distracting and disrupting of commercials. Why this new version of TITANIC wasn't place on cable television where it could have been enjoyed on one uninterrupted three hour showing is beyond understanding. Perhaps when the DVD is released and there are no loud and ugly commercials every 5 minutes the story will hold together.

Julian Fellowes, so respected for his writing of such series as Downton Abbey, etc. seems to have the urge to tell the story of the event through quick snippets of personal stories among the passengers - a commendable idea, but when the tiny tales are buried in the...

Drown-ton Abbey: The Fellowes Formula Falters Due To Uninspired Personal Drama
I was quite excited when I heard that Julian Fellowes had signed on to write a new miniseries exploring the legendary Titanic tragedy. Fellowes is the reigning champion of upstairs/downstairs drama as evidenced by his Oscar winning screenplay for Altman's "Gosford Park" and his wildly successful production of "Downton Abbey." While that upscale soap opera is currently all-the-rage, it seemed a prime opportunity for Fellowes to branch out. Without a doubt, the class divisions, struggles and tensions aboard the Titanic certainly appeared to match his previous themes. And yet, while the idea seemed like an easy home run, "Titanic" (for all its elegance) is lacking in character drama that makes one actually care. The passengers on this ill-fated voyage are only superficially presented and their back stories are largely uninspired or entirely predictable. While there are still some good elements to "Titanic," therefore, I never felt the time investment in watching the four part miniseries...

Click to Editorial Reviews