Titanic: The Complete Story (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Melissa Peltier, Jerry Decker, and Tom Jennings
Directed by Melissa Peltier & Edith Becker
Narrated by David McCallum

Features:

• Timeline of Critical Events
  
• Biographies of Notable Passengers
  
• Essay on the History of the Tragedy as Seen in the Popular Culture
  

Released by: A&E
Rating: NR (suitable for all audiences)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format

My Advice: Own it

On April 12, 1912, more than 1500 souls lost their lives in what is arguably the single greatest naval disaster of the 20th Century. The R.M.S. Titanic set sail from Southampton bound for New York City, but a single iceberg floating in the North Atlantic Ocean saw to the fact that she would never make it. Those who built and designed (and marketed) her claimed that she was unsinkable, but that iceberg proved that to be untrue. Titanic's place in world history was further secured by the fact that there were barely enough lifeboats on board for even half of the passengers and crew. When you look at the history of this ship, it becomes easy to see why this ship's voyage was not to New York, but to the bottom of the North Atlantic.

The History Channel has put together one of the most comprehensive documentaries on this subject that has ever been. Spanning nearly five hours, it covers the event and the uproar that was created when the news of the disaster hit the shore (which was before the survivors did, thanks to the new Marconi wireless). The amount of research and the attention paid to the intricate details of the story are outstanding. There are three documentaries spanning the two discs of this set. The first is entitled "Death of a Dream" and it covers the story of the building of the ship through its maiden and last voyage to its disasterous end. The second, "The Legend Lives On," covers the eerie details of the disaster itself including the lack of adequate lifeboats for the fact that not one ship answered the distress calls until it was too late. The third, "Beyond Titanic," covers everything that happened in the months and years after the disaster and the mounting of the largest and most important searches in history. The use of first-hand accounts in as many different ways possible accounts makes this disc even more compelling than its subject matter inherently is.

The DVD is put together very well, but there is a noticable lack of bonus material. Sure, we've got five hours of main content, but it only whetted my appetite for more. Still, I should say that what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The timeline that resides in this set is second only to the one that can be found on the Pearl Harbor DVD. Its simple elegance makes it easy to use and very informative. And, just in case you didn't get enough information about the notable people who were among the passengers of the Titanic, there are detailed biographies on these people included on the disc. These are brief, but concise. Then there is the "Essay on the History of the Tragedy As Seen in Popular Culture". This is the weakest of the special features in the set. Most of this material is presented in any of the three documentaries, but it is presented here as text on screen just in case you missed it the first time.

So, if you are a fan of the history of the tragedy, you will not want to miss this DVD from The History Channel. Everyone else will want to rent it.