Titanic debuted in Canada on March 21 and if the rest of the series was like the first episode then I can't recommend this version. Written by Julian Fellowes and shown in four parts, the first part concentrated mostly on a fictitious first class family that embodied all the negative qualities of wealth and privilege. One interesting difference about this version is that the servants of the first class passengers are shown in the on-board servant's hall where they ate and relaxed. If that was true, then that was also educational and interesting. This series also mentions the dogs on board, which are usually ignored. Otherwise, the story is just more of the same fictitious crap devised to retell this story incorrectly in a new, agonizingly dull way.
That boat was filled with thousands of interesting stories that are never told - I have read snippets here and there over the years that include stories of stowaways, a woman who wouldn't sleep at night for fear of the ship sinking, a Japanese businessman, a French mistress travelling secretly with her lover, numerous honeymooning couples... surely these are fodder for new, real stories of the sinking of the Titanic.
To add confusion to the story, there are too many characters, the storyline moves too fast (it jumps from first night's voyage to the night of the disaster in an instant. Now we get to see it repeated from another viewpoint for at least two more weeks. This form of storytelling could work, but the stories would have to be kept tight and intimate, not epically sweeping through the entire story in about 45 minutes (there were a LOT of commercials) because you can't keep up. Frankly, this version of Titanic resembles Downton Abbey on Ice...
Come April 15 I hope TCM has a marathon of the better movies about the Titanic - A Night to Remember, and S.O.S. Titanic, because this series is dull and boring, not like the real story at all.
That boat was filled with thousands of interesting stories that are never told - I have read snippets here and there over the years that include stories of stowaways, a woman who wouldn't sleep at night for fear of the ship sinking, a Japanese businessman, a French mistress travelling secretly with her lover, numerous honeymooning couples... surely these are fodder for new, real stories of the sinking of the Titanic.
To add confusion to the story, there are too many characters, the storyline moves too fast (it jumps from first night's voyage to the night of the disaster in an instant. Now we get to see it repeated from another viewpoint for at least two more weeks. This form of storytelling could work, but the stories would have to be kept tight and intimate, not epically sweeping through the entire story in about 45 minutes (there were a LOT of commercials) because you can't keep up. Frankly, this version of Titanic resembles Downton Abbey on Ice...
Come April 15 I hope TCM has a marathon of the better movies about the Titanic - A Night to Remember, and S.O.S. Titanic, because this series is dull and boring, not like the real story at all.