A One Mann’s Movies review of “Unsinkable: Titanic Untold” (2024).
Available to rent on Prime Video is “Unsinkable: Titanic Untold” adding yet more cinematic nourishment to the public’s insatiable desire for stories about the 1912 disaster. The illustrious Mrs Movie Man was invited to the premier of this movie, through her association with the (truly excellent) Southamption Titanic museum, but they ran out of tickets! So we are catching up with it now.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Following the disaster at sea, Senator Smith (Cotter Smith) leads the US senate inquiry into who was to blame and how such disasters can be avoided in the future. Meanwhile, a diligent journalist, Alaine Ricard (Fiona Dourif) is drilling into the mystery and finding danger in her search for evidence to help Smith.
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate threat, infrequent violence, sex references”.)
Talent:
Starring: Cotter Smith, Fiona Dourif, Jayne Wisener, Karen Allen, Sam Turich.
Directed by: Cody Hartman.
Written by: Brian Hartman, Cody Hartman & Eileen Enwright Hodgetts.
Twitter Handle: #UnsinkableTitanicUntold.
Running Time: 1h 40m.
“Unsinkable: Titanic Untold” Summary:
Positives:
- It’s interesting in covering an aspect of the history not covered by other films: the post-disaster inquiry.
- The production should be commended for a good use of what was probably a micro-budget.
Negatives:
- Some of the acting is a bit iffy.
- Sometimes the lack of budget shows through.
Review of “Unsinkable: Titanic Untold”:
Ambitious or Just Foolhardy?
James Cameron’s “TItanic” was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with a production budget of $200 million. It was so expensive it was co-financed by both Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. It turned out to be a good investment: “Titanic” is still the 4th highest grossing film of all time having made $2,264,750,694 to date at the box office.
In comparison, “Unsinkable” has (according to imdb) made just $6,636 at the box office, but that’s not surprising as it only had a very limited theatrical release. The streaming revenues are unknown, as is the budget, but I’m assuming the latter was very small. Against this backdrop, you can’t fault the ambition of the filmmakers in trying to maximise their bang for the buck. It would have been simple to reflect in the film only the ‘land-based’ scenes, centred on the senate hearing. But fair dues to them, they include a number of recreations of the disaster itself: little vignettes of the people giving evidence or of the ‘cowardly’ Bruce Ismay (Sam Turich) scurrying off the ship in the last lifeboat. While some of these scenes lack the scale to make them credible, they are brave to try it at all and I respect that.
A different slice of history
I liked the fact that this film was trying to reflect a different take on the well-worn story. The post-disaster inquiry was not something that I was familiar with and as someone who thought he knew everything about that fateful trip, I learned some new angles. Many of the well-worn tropes of Titanic lore – the Ismay departure; the old lady getting off the lifeboat to die with her husband; the quartet playing “Abide With Me”, etc. – are all in there and – sorry – but they were done so much better by Cameron 27 years ago.
Karen Allen is lovely, but…
We were commenting while we were watching the film how elegantly Karen (“Indiana Jones”) Allen has aged. So fresh-faced, with no evidence of ‘work’ being done, she is a gorgeous woman for her age. Here she plays the Senator’s wife Nancy. and she turns in a good performance. Cotter Smith, Fiona Dourif and Jayne Wisener are also fine, but futher down the acting pecking order, some of the performances are a bit more creaky and wooden.
Summary Thoughts on “Unsinkable: Titanic Untold”
An interesting and different take on the Titanic story that zealots of the subject should watch. With a very low budget though, it’s a bit creaky round the edges.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Unsinkable: Titanic Untold”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HgPkOJvFPk :
Subscribe
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to One Mann’s Movies to receive future reviews by email right here. No salesman will call!
