Release Date: March 13, 2012
Rating: NR
Running Time: Approx. 5 hrs
The “unsinkable” Titanic was a dream come true: Four city blocks long and a passenger list worth 250 million dollars. But on her maiden voyage in April 1912, that dream became a nightmare when the giant ship struck an iceberg and sank in the cold North Atlantic. More than 1,500 lives were lost in one of the greatest disasters of the 20th century. Now, as the 100th anniversary of the sinking approaches this April, the complete sensational history of the premier liner is recounted in TITANIC: THE COMPLETE STORY, now repackaged and re-priced for ultimate collectability.
Using newsreels, stills, diaries, and exclusive interviews with survivors, TITANIC: THE COMPLETE STORY charts the fateful history of the ship and its passengers as well as providing an overview on the popular culture phenomenon that this tragedy has become. The complete story is recounted across three 3 feature-length programs: DEATH OF A DREAM, which brings viewers to the christening of the largest ship ever built, before a cheering Irish crowd of 100,000; then, witness the disaster this trek becomes as numerous iceberg warnings go unheeded and the ship sinks in the icy North Atlantic; THE LEGEND LIVES ON chronicles the stunning sinking, as over-crowded lifeboats edge away from the crippled liner and futile SOS signals flare into the night, leaving 1,500 passengers to a watery grave; and, TITANIC’S ACHILLES HEEL, which follows elite divers as they explore the explosive theory that the doomed liner may have had a fatal design flaw in this doc that utilizes advanced CGI technology, archive documents and photographs, as well as footage from modern-day expeditions.
In time to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, A+E and HISTORY have released Titanic The Complete Story on DVD. Three feature length programs are included in this DVD set, two of which are programs first aired in 1994 with the final program having first aired in 2007. The difference between the first two features and the final are vastly different. The first two programs tell the history of Titanic, all the way back to the creation of the ship and people involved in supporting the building of the ship. Survivors are on hand to share what they’ve witnessed among other things, which is a great highlight of the first two programs. It’s one thing to watch the movie, Titanic but it’s another thing to put a real face to the tragedy. Still, there’s an awful lot of information to soak in here and with a 1994 look (remastered what?), this is not a DVD that I would recommend watching back to back.
“Titanic’s Achilles Heel” follows people of our time who are on a mission to find out why exactly Titanic was so weak. The work that these men do on their expedition is astounding, their theories all leading to the same heartbreaking result and while insight given is definitely helpful in efforts to prevent a similar disaster… we may never know exactly all of the things that could have been done differently to prevent this tragedy. Because of that, I actually surprisingly found the first two programs to be much more engaging and worth watching than the last. I’m drawn to the stories of the people, so this may not come as a very surprising note for some. No matter what draws you into the story of Titanic, you’ll find this DVD to be a great resource in your research of this piece of history. I would not be shocked if any of these programs are shown in schools when the topic of Titanic comes up. Is this worth a buy? Probably not, unless you are a collector of all things Titanic and need to have this information standing by. But it’s worth the watch, so be sure to check these programs out this April.
Bonus Feature:
*Timeline of Critical Events from 1867-May 1912 (Format of Text & Background Pictures, No Autoplay or Slideshow Feature
Own Titanic The Complete Story on DVD today.