I first saw the movie as an adolescent. It made a deep impression on me. I've seen it four or five times since, and it continues to move and dazzle me.This is a very efficient movie : it sets out to tell the story of the sinking of the Titanic and it does so, with all the purposeful surety of an arrow shot by a master archer. The linear clarity of the script, combined with the tautness of the plot, allows many other other smaller stories to blossom and grow. These stories are brought to vivid life by a multitude of deeply felt and deeply moving performances.The movie does not shy away from showing panic, suffering and death. None of this feels cheap or exploitative - on the contrary. The viewer meets a large number of people (both passengers and crew) : all of them, from the first to the last, are treated as full-blown individuals, worthy of interest, respect and pity. Indeed, even the thieves who snatch handfuls of pearls are worthy of our pity : for surely it must be a living hell, to be so devoid of self-respect and compassion that a disaster is seen as nothing more than a welcome opportunity for larceny ? The makers of "A night" hold up a mirror to the viewer and ask him two hugely relevant questions : "How would you act if you knew that you were in grave danger ?" and "How would you act if you knew that you were about to die ?" Most importantly, the movie refuses facile answers along the lines of "I would sacrifice myself for my little daughter and then die a smiling hero, no question about it !" Instead, the viewer is invited, nay forced, to look into his innermost heart, in order to explore the many secrets and uncertainties which lie there.Any movie capable of such prowess is a masterpiece for the ages.

Let me just say that I loved James Cameron's "Titanic," which took a huge historic disaster and turned it into a compelling film that went beyond the sensational. Yes, it was a populist film (who can argue with its record-setting box office?), but a damn good one. That being said, I enjoyed "A Night to Remember" immensely. It doesn't have the lover's story contrived for the Cameron film as its anchor, but I was still captivated by the ticking bomb of the "unsinkable" ship approaching its demise, with some rising to a heroic level and others resigning themselves to fate, or simply refusing to admit reality. And I was blown away by the special effects, expecting them to be primitive in an old-school kind of way. Yes, there were models, but their impact was every bit (if not more) of that of the Cameron film. This was truly a remarkable accomplishment.

Coming out in 1958, 46 years after the sinking of the real Titanic, and 39 years before James Cameron's Titanic broke box office records, A Night to Remember depicts the doomed maiden voyage of the famous ship. Titanic (1997) was mistakenly hailed by ignorant moviegoers as the best movie ever (including me, as I was young), but A Night to Remember had already done the same story, better. The director is Roy Ward Baker, who even when later doing lesbian vampire horror proved himself to be a competent filmmaker.Over two hours (no needless padding), the film seems to start slow for me, and kind of like a reverse Titanic, rises as it goes on. We see complacency gradually turn to panic, and feel real sympathy for the characters of the film. Although a fictionalized history, there isn't really a main character, more of an ensemble. Lightoller gets a fair amount of attention at the beginning, and at the end, where he expresses a message of the movie- how can we be so sure of ourselves? Actually, I think this movie kind of exaggerated people's belief that the Titanic was unsinkable (White Star Line didn't really make that claim). But I feel this film captures the tragedy of the accident. The one advantage Cameron's movie has over it- a naked Kate Winslet.

So I have seen my fare share of Titanic films that I didn't like. I wasn't too fussed on the James Cameron Titanic and there are 2 others that I have seen which are just downright insulting (one of which is on the Bottom 100). I decided to give this a watch because it was considered one of the best Titanic movies. Is it deserving of such a reputation? Well I haven't seen that many Titanic adaptations myself but I did enjoy this.First of all, unlike most reviews. Here I will not say the plot. Why? Because I'm sure everyone would know it. Because from what I've heard this keeps true to all the historical facts at the time. With that being said there are a few problems with this movie.My biggest problem with this movie is the attitude of the passengers. I know they thought it was unsinkable but that's as far as it goes with their attitude. They think it's unsinkable while it's sinking. If there was just a few complaints about waking them at a late hour in the night then I might understand it a little bit more but this? Even though they do panic later some of what happens earlier is almost laughable.Although to be fair, while that is going on I do like some of the scenes. The scenes with the sailors and people working in the Titanic when they're being told it was going to sink and there weren't enough lifeboats. Those scenes are actually pretty sad to watch. As are some of the final sinking scenes such as a boy getting lost and not being able to find his parents.So, is this worth watching? In my eyes it certainly is. This movie is actually very well made in most respects. If you want to watch it then I would recommend it.