As most people know this was based on the Cussler book and starred Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt. No sign of a Doxa anywhere. The movie was given away free with the Sun newspaper here in the UK a year or so ago. I picked it up off ebay for a couple of bucks.

It was universally slagged off by everyone including Clive himself and at the time Lord Grade who was the producer said something like; 'it would have been cheaper to lower the atlantic' when discusing the films cost.

It pretty much followed the plot of the book and I actually enjoyed it. SHOCK, HORROR, I know, but it wasn't as bad as everyone made out. Be your own judge. Pick up a copy and watch it.

Pete

Thanks for the review, Flying Doctor. I do feel a need to watch it eventually, just haven't done so yet. If anyone is going to throw their copy away out of spite or disgust or something, please send it my way first. Thanks! w:

I remember that, it was given away around a week after I bought it from HMV - beggars :angry:

:lol:

Barnes & Noble has it on DVD doubled with another movie called, Man Friday. w:

I wrote this for a previous topic on this movie...

Like Sahara that would follow, Raise the Titanic doesn't adhere strictly to the source material, and the ending was quite different from the novel, as well. (Most noticable with Seagram's fate and the eventual use of the byzanium, (or however it's spelled). Still, it wasn't as bad a movie as most people give it the credit of being. I enjoyed it, and a lot of the special effects stand up well even by today's standards.

I feel the same way John. I loved the movie. I picked up a copy on ebay on dvd. It was better than on tape. t: th:

Im SOOOO glad you posted that little bit of info about Raise the Titanic! being at Barns&Noble Tony. AND ITS IN DVD!!!!!!! Thats cool. th:
Thanks again,
Heather

On the Barnes & Noble website! I'm terribly sorry about that omission. I buy most of my books online, second after the library booksales. There are mostly secondhand bookstores here in the north Dayton area. All the big bookstores are just south of Dayton near the Dayton Mall. It's either Troy or go down there if I want to go to a bookstore that has current books for sale. w:

We actually have 'Raise The Titanic' on video, got it cheap years ago. My husband, who has only ever read one Cussler book, enjoyed the movie but I didn't like it because of how different it was from the book. Later I heard about how much CC disliked the movie and I haven't watched it since. I think when I watched Sahara that I compared how well it treated the book with RTT and enjoyed it more. I do plan to watch RTT again with a more objective eye - look it more as a movie than as a book adaptation. t:

You will enjoy it more if you watch it now. They didn't do to bad on RTT. It is a good movie and the effects are worth watching again. It is better on DVD. I have it on tape too. It doesn't do it justice. w:

Watched it again tonight.... and the more I think of it, I believe that if Clive had said.. you know what, they didn't do a bad job", people would have liked it a lot more and the general image of the movie would be better. I suppose many people sided with Cussler because of their feelings for him while for others it was a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. I think the movie stands up pretty well in it's own right and as time goes on and people begin to look at the breadth of Cusslers work and how little of it made it to the cinema, RTT and Sahara will be viewed differently. Both movies never filled their potential in terms of box office or sticking to the book, but step back and open your mind and heart and it is Dirk Pitt and his Doxa up there, saving the world. The 2 movies are probably all we will ever get of Dirk and the gang onscreen. They are better than nothing, in my opinion.

Pete

You are more right than you know. Some people only go by what they hear and never go to see the movier and miss out on some of best things. :lol:

I've seen "Raise the Titanic". I think that it wasn't very bad movie. But it was not a Dirk Pitt movie too. It had no... something - that thing, which makes one motion picture so special. Just normal early 80's movie. And RTT follows the book more than Sahara.

Minuses :
- no Giordino,
- the cast - Richard Jordan as Dirk, Jason Robards as Sandecker - they do not look like original characters from the book ,
- a little boring.

Pluses :
- great score,
- the scene when Titanic come out of water,
- Anne Archer (I just like her).

I think that there exists two types of books in the Dirk Pitt series :
- "story books" - not much action, more puzzles to solve (eg. "Night Probe", "Raise the Titanic", maybe "Deep six"),
- "action and story books" - there is a mystery, but also a lot happens ("Inca gold", "Sahara", Flood tide").

All books are great, but for an adventure movie better use "action and story books". And, i think, this can tell us, why RTT has such a bad reviews. (They could have made "Iceberg" for example or even "Mediterranean Caper"). That is only my opinion, of course.

It's worth nothing that when this film was made (to say nothing of optioned) Cussler had published exactly 4 novels, and the first two had already (at least for a while) dropped off the radar. RTT was Cussler's breakout novel, and it had nothing to do with Dirk Pitt. The star of both book and film was the Titanic.

We look back on it with the imperfect hindsight of readers who have follwed Dirk on nearly 20 adventures, each more elaborate than the first. But in 1979-80 when this movie was in production, you can well imagine the producers thinking "This is a movie about the Titanic! We don't need all this spy BS complicating the story. And it's not like this Dirk Pitt fellow is ever going to have his own fan club..."

I agree with You about the main attraction of RTT. Unfortunatelly it was not enough.
I've got one example - look at Dan Brown's novels. There are 3 bestseller books about Robert Langdon. And the producers decided to make a movie from "Da Vinci Code". You can say the same about Langdon, what have You said about Dirk in RTT It a similar situation. But, I think that creators of "Da Vinci Code" will not focus only on the Grail searching.

Well......................It was ok. I liked the Raising of the Titanic, the music, and I liked how they filmed the towing into New York Harbor. Now what I didn't like was how they did the scene with the Russian's coming aboard the Titanic (or lack of). It would have been ten times better if they had the fight and...of course...Dirk showing up from the dead to save the day. All in all....hmmmm....I give it a.......7. Now if they had added Al in the movie instead of that Vinie character I would have giving it another point. :)

It was this movie that taught me a valuable lesson about the realtionship between book and film (or the lack thereof). I've since learned to see the movie first, before reading the book...or (in the case of Sahara), remember to keep an open mind. When I saw RTT back in the theatre, I was outraged at the blatant omission of Al (Master Chief Walker? who the hell is this?), and the lack of the Dana/Pitt dynamic and Seagram's descent into madness. The "showdown" on the Titanic was another matter I didn't like. However... John Barry's score was unforgettable to me, and Sir Alec Guinness' performance was especially touching.

With the passage of time, I've come to like RTT as a "stand alone" feature, even with the horrible inclusion of David Selby (a "never-was" if I ever saw one). And the lack of critical elements led to a more streamlined storyline better suited to the movie audience. Should this be remade? In light of factual events - no. I have this on VHS, laserdisc, and now DVD. I actually have a framed poster from 1980 hanging in my hallway (collecting movie posters is one of a dozen other hobbies I have), so I can say without looking like a Cussler fanboy (which I'm not...I'm a fan yes, but not the rabid fanboy or fangrrl type), that RTT is one of my alltime favorites.

I just found it online the other day and watched all but the last few minutes...

As a Dirk Pitt novel....it lacks character depth. And it through me when the whole Dana thing with her "living with him" I was like "Wait...I don't remember that"

BUT...as a WHOLE....

I liked the movie. If I had never read the books...I would have liked it a lot more. The special effects of this movie (for being made when it was) are SPECTACULAR! Seriously.

No wonder it cost so much to make.

I need to finish it...but as of right now....(The US Sub just popped up) I'm enjoying it.

There are 3 good things about this movie


1 Seeing the Titanic raise off the ocean floor

2 Being towed in to New York

3 The Music which i have the CD of

Raise the Titanic was the first book that I read when I saw the movie I got it rught away. I actually liked it to but then I love all things Clive Cussler

My friend and I were just reading an article about "Sahara" and wasshocked to learn that Clive sued the product company because he didn't not approve the final script and lost and had to pay 5 Million. I now know why there isn't any more movies.
As for movies, in "sahara" I believe all the characters were mis-casted besides Dirk and Sandecker. My choice for Al would have been Luis Guzman. He fills the " Short Barrel Chested Italian" you read about in the books. I also think "Rudy" could have been better, but right now can't remember who I thought would be better. I think the moive portrayal was a "Comic Relief" and not the Horn-rimmed glasses ex- navy man.

MontanaScarecrow

Welcome to the forum, MontanaScarecrow! What did you think of the movie besides the characters? Did you think it was close enough to the book? There's a lot more information about the lawsuit in the forum, as well as other reader/viewer opinions. Enjoy your time here, and feel free to post often!

Yes welcome to the group MontanaScarecrow!