I saw this awhile ago on VHS (yes VHS!) and I think one of the most horrifyingly sad scenes was of the baby with a life jacket left behind as the Titanic was being flooded to oblivion. I sometimes wonder what happened to the actor who played the baby.

This film starts off with an introduction of certain key individuals who experienced the sinking of the RMS Titanic like "J. Bruce Ismay" (Ian Holm),"John Jacob Astor" (David Janssen),"Captain Edward J. Smith" (Harry Andrews),"Molly Brown" (Cloris Leachman) and the designer of the ship "Thomas Andrews" (Geoffrey Whitehead). Along with these people the film also includes fictional characters to add to the drama involved. From that point, the film then follows the passenger liner from its port in Southampton, England to Queenstown, Ireland and from there into the North Atlantic where disaster awaits. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that initially there were two versions of this film released with a long version lasting over two hours and a shorter one lasting 109 minutes. Having not seen the longer version I cannot comment on it but I found the shorter version to be a solid film none-the-less with decent performances all around. Admittedly, I would have preferred a film devoid of the fictional characters and more devoted to actual historical people and events--but even so this movie wasn't too bad overall. It did, however, have one major flaw related to the music played by the band at the end which the survivors recount as being either "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "Autumn" rather than the lively blues or jazz ensemble depicted here. But other than that I thought it was a pretty good film by and large and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I remember having seen this 1979 movie "S.O.S. Titanic" back some time in my childhood, but I could not remember the entire movie. And thus when I was presented with a chance to sit down to revisit the movie from writer James Costigan and director William Hale, of course I did so, especially since I've always had a life-long interest in the story of the Titanic.

And now let me just be one to say that the 1997 major blockbuster "Titanic" movie from James Cameron felt like a blatant rip-off of this 1979 movie. There were so many things that were in this movie that was in the Cameron movie as well, except that Cameron had a bigger budget and more exposure. But wow, talk about being a copy and paste job of this movie.

I was amazed how well this 1979 movie held up even now, 42 years after it was initially released. Sure, the effects were showing signs of aging, naturally, and some scenes were just bad to look at. But the spirit was there and the will to achieve it and present it in a believable manner. And taking into consideration that the movie is from 1979, then the effects were actually pretty darned good.

Something that was really impressive in this 1979 movie was the cast ensemble. Wow, Just wow. They had the likes of Ian Holm, Helen Mirren, Cloris Leachman, David Warner, Nick Brimble, Susan Saint James and Philip Stone on the cast list, just to chisel out the most recognizable of performers. And that was really a star ensemble. Lots of good performances.

I will say that the characters in the movie and portrayed in the storyline were wholesome and had lots of weight to them. It felt like it were people that you knew yourself and had been friends with for a long time. Very nicely done of writer James Costigan.

Now, the storyline in "S.O.S. Titanic" should not be new and strange to you, unless you've been living under a rock somewhere. But whilst it was something you already knew, writer James Costigan actually managed to make it a movie that had many layers to it, and you followed people from 3rd class, 2nd class, 1st class as well as the ship's staff, and you got to care about people from every layer and get to know them. So great accomplishment on the writing. And, unlike the 1997, this was not a sappy love story wrapped around the worst maritime tragedy in naval history.

I am rating the 1979 "S.O.S. Titanic" a well-deserved eight out of ten star. This movie was well-worth sitting down to watch again, even after 42 years of its release date.