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A Night to Remember - Criterion Collection

A Night to Remember - Criterion Collection

List Price: $39.95
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No Words Can Describe...
Review: Even after James Cameron released his version of Titanic, it still didn't match up to A Night To Remember.One of the best things about this movie is it catches the PANIC and MOODS of the passengers a lot better than JC's movie. Don't be at all put off by the age of this film, even by our standards today this is still an historically accurate film.

The Black and White print of the film also adds to the film's enjoyment.I still get shivers when the lights go out on board ship with the stern rising up out of the water.I must admit I was a little disappointed with this film's transfer as well.I don't feel it lived up to its value.

As for this DVD, the behind-the-scenes featurette is interesting but the audio commentary seemed ordinary. For Two Titanic historians, I would have thought we would have been given some better background to what was real/true and what was fake/untrue in the movie. I would have also liked an updated commentary in relation to JC's Titanic since it borrowed heavily from this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Much better then Cameron's Film
Review: There is no boring love story here, no music by Celine Dion which lightens the mood, and no over budget effects work. A Night To Remember tells the story of the sinking of the Titanic as it happened. A tragic event which claimed the lives of over a thosand passengers and showed how it could have been prevented if more lifeboats had been placed aboard ship. The story here is closer to the real life history of the disaster. Kennith Mure leads a fine cast of actors as they all struggle to stay alive as the ship heads for a watery grave. I think in many ways this film tries to tell the historical story of the Titanic and is more respectful to the memmories of the people who lost their lives when the ship met it's doom.Cameron's movie by comparsion, turned it into some kind of romantic type adventure, and that is not what the Titanic is about. It's a tragic story and it should be treated as such.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent for it's time.
Review: Wonderful production for it's time, but I must dispute the first two listed reviews that call it "more accurate" and "the best and most faithful version". These reviews make you expect more than you get. Cameron was absolute in his quest for accuracy with Titanic and his production made me feel the drama, while I only watched the drama in "Night". With that said, I rate this 5 stars and recommend it highly for every Titanic buff's video archive.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Titanic movie yet.
Review: Cameron's film has its moments, but in truth I only liked it for the chance it gave me to see a great old ocean liner brought to life again on screen. In "A Night To Remember", the effects are not nearly so impressive, but the story is far better. It's very much in the style of a docudrama, but its a docudrama about one of the most fascinating and enduring stories in all of history. I don't quite know why Cameron felt it necessary to tell a soap opera melodrama about two fictional lovers and use one of the most dramatic stories in all human history as nothing more than a backdrop. "A Night To Remember", based on Walter Lord's outstanding book of the same name, tells the story of the disaster itself. Kenneth More plays a heroic Second Officer Lightoller, and the film actually makes him out to look a little better than he did in reality - he lowered several of the lifeboats less than half loaded, and permitted no men at all to get in, even when the boats were ready to lower and no more women were nearby to board. Still, this bit of dramatic license doesn't hurt the film.

The account of Titanic's loss has something in it to appeal to everybody. For the lovers of a great story it has incredible drama and suspense. For lovers of nostalgia it is far the best documented voyage of any ship from the golden age of the great ocean liners. For those interested in tragic irony there is the story of a great ship, regarded as unsinkable going down after ominous warnings were ignored. For those interested in stories with a moral, there is the cautionary tale of placing blind faith in any work of human hands, or thinking that the things of men are impervious to the forces of nature. For students of human nature, Titanic was a microcosm of society, with the full range of human strength and weakness on display, from acts of inspiring heroism to those of despicable cowardice. For those interested in social history, there is the huge gulf between the first class passengers with their vast wealth, and those in steerage with little more than the clothes they stood up in.

Few stories have proven so enduring and so fascinating as that of the Titanic. This movie remains the best, and most faithful film version of it to this day.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Puts Cameron's Big Deal to Shame
Review: James Cameron's over-hyped special effects spectacle can't hold a candle to this taut, gripping, underplayed production.

Comparing what the directors do with their leads gives one an idea of their priorities. A Night to Remember's Roy Ward Baker, in juxtaposing the unflappable lead player Kenneth More with the overwhelming event, has the effect of making what we know to be inevitable that much more wrenching. On the other hand, Cameron takes Leo DeCaprio, who does a great job with what he's given, and wastes him on a cliché starcrossed-lovers subplot.

The stark black and white photography of A Night to Remember - a North Atlantic night filled with icebergs IS black and white - makes the Technicolor of Titanic seem like a waste of emulsion. And, believe it or not, there are some special effects in A Night to Remember that give Titanic a run for its mega-bucks.

A Night to Remember lets the inherent drama of the Titanic catastrophe deliver the impact, demonstrating that "They don't make them like they used to" is more than just nostalgia.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the most moving and comprehensive Titanic movies
Review: I've been obsessed with the Titanic since Robert Ballard found the wreck when I was only five years old. Both this film and James Cameron's Titanic are chock full of historical facts and fictions. That said, I have to say that I do enjoy A Night to Remember a bit more. I think the technical accuracies were helped by having an actual crewmember as a technical advisor. The interiors were almost spot on, with just a few minor variations. It's also nice that most, if not all, of the main characters were actual crew members and passengers. I thought it was eerie how the ship in the movie groaned and popped as she settled into the water, much like the actual Titanic. And I might be the only one who noticed, but it seems like all movies since this one have a shot of a cart in the First Class Dining Saloon rolling down the tilting floor. I also liked that the ship's orchestra played the tune Horbury to the words of Nearer, My God to Thee, my favorite setting of the hymn. The featurette was such a wonderful behind-the-scenes additon, something James Cameron might think of including on his DVD someday. All in all, A Night To Remember is a moving and touching addition to any Titanic fan's collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent for it's time.
Review: Wonderful production for it's time, but I must dispute the first two listed reviews that call it "more accurate" and "the best and most faithful version". These reviews make you expect more than you get. Cameron was absolute in his quest for accuracy with Titanic and his production made me feel the drama, while I only watched the drama in "Night". With that said, I rate this 5 stars and recommend it highly for every Titanic buff's video archive.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Most historically accurate film about the Titanic disaster !
Review: This is a review for the Criterion Collection release of the film.
Now you might not think of it as accurate with this film not showing the Titanic split in two before sinking, but it still is far more accurate than any film to date Feb 2004.

This film is based ot the book of the same name by Walter Lord. Unlike every other film about the Titanic which have seen. This one is based almost solely on acutal events characters and interviews with people involved in the disaster.

An interesting nt it that the band plays the British music to the hymn "Nearer my god to thee" instead of the American version which has been played in two other Titanic films which have seen.

Many of the actors were virtaully unknown at the time of release and one Actress in the film, Honor Blackman later became famous in the 007 film Goldfinger.

The supplementary features are also very good and the Audio commentary give reference to James Cameron's film. This was a film that was quite impressive for it's time and remains popular to this day.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful Movie
Review: This is a great movie. If you like anything about Titanic you will love this movie. It is # 1

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A TITANIC FILM (AND NO CELINE DION IN SIGHT!)
Review: A titanic film, first released in 1958, that still makes a powerful impact. This telling of the sinking of the Titanic, based on Walter lord's classic book oft he same name, is still the best of the lot. No special effects, no annoying close-ups, no relentless warbling about hearts going on and on and on and . . .. Criterion deserves kudos for reissuing the film in
DVD, in a digital transfer so pristine and a sound so clear it is almost frightening. Added bonus: "The Making of 'A Night to Remember," a 60-minutre documentary with fascinating, rare behind-the-scenes footage. Full steam ahead!


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