Raise the Titanic

Raise the Titanic
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Jerry Jameson
Screenplay by	Eric Hughes (adaptation) Adam Kennedy (screenplay)
Based on	Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler
Starring	Jason Robards Richard Jordan David Selby Anne Archer Alec Guinness
Music by	John Barry
Cinematography	Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing by	Robert F. Shugrue J. Terry Williams
Studio	ITC Entertainment
Distributed by	Associated Film Distribution (USA)
Release date(s)	August 1, 1980
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40,000,000 (est.)[1]
Box office	$7,000,000 (US)[1]

Raise the Titanic is a 1980 American big budget adventure film by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment, directed by Jerry Jameson and written by Eric Hughes (adaptation) and Adam Kennedy (screenplay). The film stars Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer, and Alec Guinness. The film's tagline was "Once they said God himself couldn't sink her. Then they said no man on earth could reach her. Now—you will be there when we... RAISE THE TITANIC".

The film was inspired by Clive Cussler's popular novel Raise the Titanic!. The film, however, was poorly received by critics and proved to be a box office bomb, losing most of its $40 million estimated budget. The film only grossed about $7 million in box office revenue plus $6.8 million in rentals, totaling $13.8 million altogether. Lew Grade, one of its major backers, is famously said to have remarked that it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic Ocean.^[2] Raise The Titanic, along with other contemporary flops, has been credited with prompting Grade's withdrawal from continued involvement with the film industry.

Plot

A group of Americans who have had no experience in raising small ships from the sea bed are hired to raise the famous ocean liner RMS Titanic from the North Atlantic to obtain a rare mineral that the US armed forces can use for a sound beam that can take down missiles as they enter US airspace. The Soviet Union also wants to salvage the ship because they claim they own the rare mineral.

Main cast

• Richard Jordan - Dirk Pitt
• Jason Robards - Admiral James Sandecker
• David Selby - Dr. Gene Seagram
• Anne Archer - Dana Seagram
• Alec Guinness - John Bigalow

Production

Filming

The film was shot in 1978 but not released until 1980. The production spent a large amount of its budget converting an old Greek ocean liner into a replica of the Titanic and creating a scale model for the underwater scenes. In the movie, the wreck appears as an intact vessel on the ocean floor, unlike in reality; however this information was not known at the time of filming; in 1980 the wreck of the Titanic had not yet been found. Model filming was undertaken at Mediterranean Film Studios near Kalkara, Malta using one of the world's first horizon tanks to create the illusion of a ship at sea.

Following the completion of filming, the scale model was left to rust for 30 years at the side of the horizon tank (35°53′36.36″N 14°32′4.41″E / 35.8934333°N 14.5345583°E / 35.8934333; 14.5345583). In January 2003, a storm caused damage to the model. By 2012, the remains of the metal structure has been moved to a new location close to the sea (35°53′37.51″N 14°32′6.13″E / 35.8937528°N 14.5350361°E / 35.8937528; 14.5350361).

Music

Renowned Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning English composer John Barry created the film's musical score, which became the most acclaimed aspect of the production. Though the original recordings of the music have been lost, Silva Screen Records has since commissioned a re-recording of the complete score with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999. Christian Clemmensen, reviewer of Filmtracks.com, later considered it one of the best of Barry's career, stating, "When the film came out in the theatres, the score was a remarkably fresh and unique experience, and out of the novelty of that style of music arose the popularity of techniques that would inform Barry's Oscar-winning efforts for Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves."^[3]

Reception

Box office

The film only grossed $7 million at the box office plus $6.8 million in video rentals, for a total of $13.8 million.^[1]

Reviews

The film received many negative reviews but received some positive reviews because of its musical score. Author Clive Cussler was so disgusted with the film that he refused every film company that wanted to adapt a film from one of his books. (When the film Sahara was made, Cussler sued the filmmakers.)

Although Raise The Titanic scores lower with users at 44%, it received a 60% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards and nominations

• 1st Golden Raspberry Award

Nominated: Worst Picture

Nominated: Worst Supporting Actor

Nominated: Worst Screenplay

External links

• Raise the Titanic at the Internet Movie Database
• Raise the Titanic at Rotten Tomatoes

References