Titanic II (film)

This article is about the 2010 disaster film. For the Clive Palmer project, see Titanic II. For other resurrection projects, see Replica Titanic. For other uses, see Titanic (disambiguation).
Titanic II
Directed by Shane Van Dyke
Produced by David Michael Latt
David Rimawi
Paul Bales
Tim Ubels
Written by Shane Van Dyke
Starring Bruce Davison
Brooke Burns
Shane Van Dyke
Marie Westbrook
Cinematography Alexander Yellen
Edited by Mark Atkins
Distributed by The Asylum
Release dates
  • August 7, 2010 (2010-08-07) (Australia)
  • August 9, 2010 (2010-08-09) (UK)
  • August 24, 2010 (2010-08-24) (US)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $500,000

Titanic II (also entitled Titanic 2) is a 2010 low-budget disaster film written, directed by, and starring Shane Van Dyke and distributed by The Asylum.[1][2] The film is not a sequel to the 1997 film by James Cameron, although movie website Dread Central has suggested the film may be a mockbuster of it.[3] It was released direct-to-TV in Australia on August 7, 2010. It premiered on Syfy on Sky in the UK and Ireland on August 9. It was released on August 24 in the United States. The film is set on a fictional replica Titanic that sets off exactly 100 years after the original ship's maiden voyage to perform the reverse route, but global warming and the forces of nature cause history to repeat itself on the same night, only on a more disastrous and deadly scale.

Plot

In the Arctic waters near the Helheim Glacier in Greenland, a person is surfing on waves created by falling chunks of ice that fall off the glacier and into the ocean caused by the effects of global warming. However, a very large chunk of ice falls into the water, creating an especially large wave. The surfer tries to escape from the wave, but it is far too fast for him, and in a matter of seconds, it catches up to him then drowns and kills him instantly.

On April 10, 2012, 100 years after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, a new, similar-looking luxury cruise liner named the SS Titanic II is christened. She embarks on her maiden voyage using the same route the Titanic took 100 years before in reverse direction (from New York City, New York, US to Southampton, England, United Kingdom). During the Atlantic crossing, back up near the Glacier, an even larger chunk of ice collapses into the water, creating a tsunami that sends an iceberg crashing into the ship, while the passengers are celebrating in the dining saloon. The entire starboard side of the ship and the starboard lifeboat ramps are crushed; immense pressure is placed on the ship's turbines. As people struggle to escape the rising waters and run for the submarine-shaped lifeboats on the port side, the turbines eventually explode, killing many people, including ship captain Will Howard; the explosion also causes an immense fire on the Titanic II, which is sinking by its bow while also listing at a shallow angle to its starboard side.

Soon, another more powerful tsunami hits the ship's starboard side, flipping it upside-down and drowning most of the passengers still on board. All the lifeboats are destroyed by various pieces of iceberg, killing everyone inside them. Having chosen to stay aboard the ship instead of going to the lifeboats, ship owner Hayden Walsh and nurses Amy Maine and Kelly Wade survive to this point. (This was against the orders of Amy's father, United States Coast Guard Captain James Maine.) Kelly is later killed when a very heavy door crushes her. With most of the ship flooded, Titanic II finally sinks.

The ship's diving facility only has one oxygen tank and scuba suit, which Hayden gives to Amy. Before sacrificing his life for her, Hayden kisses Amy and with his last words tells her to resuscitate him should he drown before they are rescued. Captain Maine arrives to rescue Amy and Hayden, but Hayden has drowned by then. Amy attempts to save Hayden's life in the rescue raft, but she fails. She and an unknown number of injured passengers whom Hayden ordered his helicopter to take (earlier in the film) are the only known survivors of the disaster.

Cast

Production

For the film, RMS Queen Mary was used as a stand-in for SS Titanic II during the departure scenes and some of its interiors. The ship had previously been used as stand-ins for the fictional ship SS Poseidon in The Poseidon Adventure and the original RMS Titanic in the 1979 television miniseries S.O.S. Titanic.

Reception

The film has received a mixed response from some film critics. On the website TheCriticalCritics.com the film was reviewed as being "a mixed bag" since "it’s better than one might expect, but not as good as one might hope." Though panned generally as "pretty lackluster" as well as "riddled with disaster movie clichés", the performances of some cast members were highlighted for praise, particularly Bruce Davison as a veteran U.S. Coast Guard captain. The movie as a whole was given a rating of "Don't Bother".[4]

Dread Central said in a review "Take away the novelty of the 'Titanic II' name, and you’re left with a rather trite Poseidon Adventure-ish disaster flick made on the cheap. It’s not good enough to be engrossing, nor is it made to be intentionally bad, and even as silly as the scenario is, none of it is ever quite silly enough to provide unintentional fun. Action and suspense are constantly hampered by the low budget and the special effects answer the question, 'What would James Cameron’s Titanic have been like if most of the digital effects looked like animation from a Wii cut scene?'"[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Cannes: The Asylum Makes Steady Profit on ... 'Titanic II'". TheWrap.
  2. ↑ Titanic 2 Sets Sail, The Asylum, May 2010.
  3. ↑ Are You F#@king Kidding Me?!?, Dread Central
  4. ↑ Cal Knox. "Movie Review: Titanic II (2010)". The Critical Movie Critics.
  5. ↑ "Titanic II (2010)". Dread Central.
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