Titanic Disaster, The (DVD Review)

14 Dec, 2011 By: John Latchem

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Available via TitanicDisasterDVD.com
Southport Productions
Documentary
$29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, plus $7.95 S&H
Not rated.

The sinking of the Titanic April 15, 1912, still fascinates historians and laypersons alike. With the 100th anniversary approaching, there likely will be no shortage of opportunities to reflect on the event, such as this documentary directed by Mark Gumbinger and available through his website (TitanicDisasterDVD.com).

The earnest effort combines archival photos, film and interviews with experts to give viewers as much of an overview of the disaster as is possible in less than an hour.

Most of the core facts stated here will already be well known to most people familiar with the Titanic, or even those who have simply seen the James Cameron movie. The documentary repeats itself in a few spots, but does put forth a few bits of information a lot of people might not have realized.

For example, one of the experts mentions that a higher percentage of Americans survived the sinking because they were more aggressive and less inclined to honor the class system, as British passengers were apt to do.

Another expert suspects a similar accident may happen again if only because the cruise ships of today are getting much too big.

Curiously, one of the newspapers included as an example of the coverage of the event is a fake headline from the Onion News (“World’s Largest Metaphor Hits Ice-Berg … Titanic, Representation of Man’s Hubris …”) that might slip by some viewers who aren’t aware it’s a joke.

This may not be the end-all-be all of Titanic documentaries, but it satisfactorily conveys the facts to anyone not already familiar with the details and provides a nice starting point for anyone who wants to learn more about what happened.
 

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