I just found this great film in the Walmart $5.50 DVD bin. I bought it based on the superb cast and the fact that it had a Hallmark credit. I am assuming it is a three hour no commercial version of a two night four hour Hallmark Hall of Fame miniseries. I will refer to this version of Titanic as the CZJ version for Catherine Zeta-Jones one of its most shining stars.
I was far from being disappointed. The CZJ version was very different from its 1997 Cameron Academey Award winning successor. Whereas THE Titanic movie had great music, a single overarching love story and very expensive sets and special effects, the CZJ version gives the big boy a run for its money.
CZJ has two love stories, adequate graphics and effects, ordinary music and average sets and costuming. Where the CZJ version shines is in the concentration of the story on a much broader range of characters and a lot more scenes portraying details of what actually happened from April 9-16, 1914 on the Titanic, California and Carpathia.
Where CZJ really shines is in its casting and the performances of the stars. The well known stars: CZJ, Peter Gallagher, George C. Scott, Marilu Henner and Eva Marie Saint live up to their performances before and after this relatively unknown TV turn. The lesser known young players do an extremely credible job as well.
As I am writing this I can't help comparing these performances to the ones it the big Titanic. In the big Titanic as far as I'm concerned the only decent performances were by players in the "overstory" i.e. the discovery and exploration of the sunken Titanic. These would be performances by Gloria Stuart and Bill Paxton. As far as Kate Winslet and Leornardo DeCrapio are concerned they were badly miscast and stunk up the whole film for me. Actually the real stars of big Titanic were James Cameron and Celine Dion.
Overall,I rated both these versions just about equal. I highly recommend you go to Your local Wal-Mart DVD bin or Amazon.com and find yourself a copy of this overlooked gem. you won't be sorry!
I was far from being disappointed. The CZJ version was very different from its 1997 Cameron Academey Award winning successor. Whereas THE Titanic movie had great music, a single overarching love story and very expensive sets and special effects, the CZJ version gives the big boy a run for its money.
CZJ has two love stories, adequate graphics and effects, ordinary music and average sets and costuming. Where the CZJ version shines is in the concentration of the story on a much broader range of characters and a lot more scenes portraying details of what actually happened from April 9-16, 1914 on the Titanic, California and Carpathia.
Where CZJ really shines is in its casting and the performances of the stars. The well known stars: CZJ, Peter Gallagher, George C. Scott, Marilu Henner and Eva Marie Saint live up to their performances before and after this relatively unknown TV turn. The lesser known young players do an extremely credible job as well.
As I am writing this I can't help comparing these performances to the ones it the big Titanic. In the big Titanic as far as I'm concerned the only decent performances were by players in the "overstory" i.e. the discovery and exploration of the sunken Titanic. These would be performances by Gloria Stuart and Bill Paxton. As far as Kate Winslet and Leornardo DeCrapio are concerned they were badly miscast and stunk up the whole film for me. Actually the real stars of big Titanic were James Cameron and Celine Dion.
Overall,I rated both these versions just about equal. I highly recommend you go to Your local Wal-Mart DVD bin or Amazon.com and find yourself a copy of this overlooked gem. you won't be sorry!