Raise the Titanic (1980)

To obtain a supply of a rare mineral, a ship raising operation is conducted for the only known source, the Titanic.

Director:

Jerry Jameson

Writers:

Adam Kennedy (screenplay), Eric Hughes (adaptation)

Stars:

Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Robards	...	Admiral James Sandecker
Richard Jordan	...	Dirk Pitt
David Selby	...	Dr. Gene Seagram
Anne Archer	...	Dana Archibald
Alec Guinness	...	John Bigalow
Bo Brundin	...	Captain Prevlov
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Master Chief Vinnie Walker
J.D. Cannon	...	Captain Joe Burke
Norman Bartold	...	Admiral Kemper
Elya Baskin	...	Marganin
Dirk Blocker	...	Merker
Robert Broyles	...	Willis
Paul Carr	...	CIA Director Nicholson
Michael C. Gwynne	...	Bohannon
Harvey Lewis	...	Kiel

Storyline

A group of Americans are interested in raising the ill-fated Ocean liner Titanic. One of the team members finds out the Russians also have plans to raise the ship from its watery grave. Why all the interest ? A rare mineral on board could be used to power a sound beam that will knock any missile out of the air when entering us airspace.

---

Plot Keywords:

mineral | titanic | ship | ship raising | military | 

---

Taglines:

They said that God himself couldn't sink it. Now they say that no man could raise it.

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | Adventure

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

La guerre des abîmes

Filming Locations:

Morven Park, 17195 Southern Planter Ln, Leesburg, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$36,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$7,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 113 min (Ontario) 119 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alec Guinness character was young during the Titanic disaster. Actually Guinness was born in 1914, 2 years after the sinking.

---

Goofs

Sandecker tells Pitt that they "got all the stuff from the White Star Line; engineering drawings and a complete structural design for the Titanic." White Star Line merged with Cunard Line in 1934, becoming Cunard White Star, Ltd. By the end of 1949, Cunard acquired the rest of White Star's assets, and changed its name back to Cunard. No ship has flown the White Star flag since 1968. Furthermore, at the time of the film's production the blueprints and drawings for the Olympic and Titanic were believed to have been destroyed when the Luftwaffe bombed the Belfast shipyards during WWII. A surviving set of structural blueprints for the Olympic class was discovered in the late 1990s.

---

Quotes

[last lines]
Dr. Gene Seagram: What's so funny?
Dirk Pitt: Eh... I knew a girl once.
Dr. Gene Seagram: I'll bet you did.
Dirk Pitt: Years later I ran into her again, she says "What happened to you? I thought you were going to change the world."
Dr. Gene Seagram: What'd you say?
Dirk Pitt: I said they had me outnumbered.
Dr. Gene Seagram: Is that my lesson for the day?
Dirk Pitt: [laughs] No more lessons, no more lectures.
Dr. Gene Seagram: You mean school's out?
[...]

---

Connections

Referenced in Sahara (2005)

User Reviews

Why Cussler Doesn't Do Movies

Inexplicably bad adaption of Clive Cussler's novel, the failure of this movie may be in its focus on an actual historical event. Most of Cussler's novels revolve around odd sinkings and lost-at-sea type events: perhaps this movie couldn't stand up to the scrutiny that accompanies any Titanic -based project. Richard Jordan is badly miscast (as is Jason Robards). Cussler's novels would make excellent Bond-type big budget movies in the right hands, but here Jerry Jameson and the writers managed to suck anything interesting out of Cussler's entertaining original work.