A TV movie to start with - but a 'British' TV movie from EMI in 1979, when offices still had typing pools and the Walkman was in development. Being British doesn't necessarily make it better than the Cameron film, but for a TV movie budget you get most of the A and B list of recent Hollywood Brits, familiar faces from TV giving it the full stiff upper, excellent costume and sets and an earnest attention to factual accuracy - the only serious mistake is to show the date as April 12th. How did they manage that? Expect static, horizontal camera angles, obvious matte paintings and rear projection, somewhat uninspired though atmospheric music, and note how Ian Holm's and David Warner's, ETC acting didn't change over the rest of their careers.
What may surprise you is the tension, and the effective depiction of people in a dreadful situation that will keep you watching, even if there is little more emotional involvement than in a drama-documentary or an episode of 'Kojak'.
That's what this is - a big-budget TV docudrama. And a really good one. Just not a cinema-filler. Punching above its weight on a Seven.
What may surprise you is the tension, and the effective depiction of people in a dreadful situation that will keep you watching, even if there is little more emotional involvement than in a drama-documentary or an episode of 'Kojak'.
That's what this is - a big-budget TV docudrama. And a really good one. Just not a cinema-filler. Punching above its weight on a Seven.