Raise the Titanic - The Making of the Movie Vol. 2 (hardback)
Raise the Titanic - The Making of the Movie Vol. 2
by Jonathan Smith
520 pages
8.5 x 11 in.
ISBN 9781629339795
“That’s right sir. We can’t get divers down to the Titanic. Which leaves us with only one choice. We don’t go to the mountain. The mountain comes to us.”
Dirk Pitt (Richard Jordan)
It was claimed to be the “Big One” for the 1980s; a film adventure to rival the James Bond franchise and the movie that would make Great Britain’s entertainment mogul Lord Lew Grade a threat to the Hollywood film studios. Titanic historian Jonathan Smith chronicles the ups and downs of the production of Raise the Titanic; the $35m big-screen adaptation of Clive Cussler’s 1976 bestselling novel.
Raise the Titanic: The Making of the Movie delves deep into the interesting and often puzzling production woes that went on to haunt Grade and his acclaimed film and television companies of ITC and Marble Arch Productions. With the use of rare and previously unpublished original production material, author Jonathan Smith takes the reader on an adventure that has been 40 years in the making, guiding you behind the scenes of the cult movie to reveal how they achieved the unthinkable and raised the unsinkable.
Raise the Titanic: The Making of the Movie Vol. 2 includes in depth chapters that look into the many filming locations around the world; go behind the camera as nature tries to put a stop to filming; see how they turned the Titanic model into a long lost wreck; go into the recording studio as John Barry and Nic Raine create musical masterpieces; discover how film experts and marine biologists perceived Titanic to have looked during filming; take a dive in the Malta film tanks to see how they filmed the models underwater; be present at the World Premiere and special screenings of the movie; learn about the many deleted scenes; read about the artists behind the publicity artworks and posters; be at the boardroom table at the film offices as box office takings slump; be part of a 40 year journey to see what became of the movie models; see the first phase of “Project Titanic”, the exciting challenge as the Titanic model remains undergo preservation; and, of course, this making of book would not be complete without the most important chapter as the raising of the ship is revealed in great detail for the very first time.
Lavishly illustrated with over 1700 images over both volumes, Raise the Titanic: The Making of the Movie is a must-have book for any Titanic and shipping enthusiasts, film fans of classic and cult cinema and those who have interests in movie miniatures and special effects.
This is Volume Two of Two
“I wondered how you could possibly fill over 1000 pages on such a long-ago and nearly forgotten project, but now I know – you have made the book literally encyclopedic in scope, seemingly including almost every scrap of information, memorabilia and paperwork relating to the film, not to mention countless rare photographs I have never seen. It is a joy to view these images after all these years and quite a catharsis since my involvement ended before the 55-foot model was entirely completed.
You are clearly the world's expert on the production. Your knowledge and passion comes through, obviously very much a life's work, your grand opus. I doubt that there has ever been such a detailed, in-depth report on any film project, ever. The writing is good and engaging, fascinating to read – for anyone who is interested in the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the making of Raise the Titanic.”
- Ken Marschall (Titanic artist & historian)