Review of Atlantic

This is the first feature film to be made about the Titanic disaster, and while technically weak compared to even the 1953 and 1958 versions, it's interesting from a historical standpoint even if it is painful to watch. There apparently are none of the historical characters we saw in any of the other versions. There's no Molly Brown, no John Jacob Astor or Guggenheim or the Strauss's. Certainly no poor American or High Society rich girl, just a bunch of fictional characters with their own individual soap opera storylines, and those aren't particularly well developed. As far as the crew, they have been given fictional names, including the captain. A scene where the captain describes what will happen as the ship sinks is told painfully slow, sounding more like a radio drama rather than a motion picture.

Of the cast, only Madeline Carroll will be familiar to classic film fans. Some scenes have lots of extras (particularly a dancing scene) and others have very few. There's none of the opulence of future films , and certainly the special effects will seem poor. However, there are certain moments where they do the best that they can with what they had, particularly a scene of what happens in the boiler room when the iceberg first hits, 22 minutes into the film. A genuine curiosity that movie history students must see, but other than them and select others, it's understandable that most movie buffs will either pass on or wish they had.