Granted it would seem that much of Shattered City is fictional, it is only BASED on fact as most films are. Nonetheless this is a great triumph for Canadian History to introduce everyone to a devastating event that still is one of the largest of it's kind in World History. Even still the film is only in small part about the actual explosion that rocked Halifax by a French ship carrying an unprecedented amount of munitions. The rest of the film is a story about a family dealing with the harsh realities of World War 1 and a Captain returned if only briefly to them with horrible memories of the deaths of his fallen friends.Vincent Walsh leads the cast as this Captain. He's young and a great presence on screen, without a doubt one of the great Canadian Actors I've ever seen. He is intense and emotional as Charlie Collins and a stand out performance. I have to say that with the exception of a few minor performances the rest of the cast are very much supportive to Walsh. Their roles are small and there are a lot of characters in the film...too many to have any major stand out performances. They all do well...some worth mentioning are the younger members of the cast...Clare Stone, and Max Morrow, as well as Tamara Hope, and Lynne Griffin as the mother of the Collin's family. Everyone plays a role and they do it quite well. Nobody drags down the story which eventually builds up to the horrifying explosion which is done in a brilliant and terrifying fashion. Director and Canadian Bruce Pittman does exactly what is needed to give the film the Canadian Uniqueness and importance while still making it mainstream and watchable for anyone.The Film captures the essence of the time, and war, and the people that founded this country. They also show a time when Canadians pulled together to help each other and save lives. The film is very long, an epic length for sure and although sometimes it drags a little I believe the importance of the film and the quality of it outweighs it's slightly overdone length. It now sits on my table in the same group as Anne Of Green Gables which is a high order in my books. For those who are complaining about it's fictional content just remember that 99% of American made films about history are wrought with added dramatics and to finally have a Canadian Epic of this caliber at all is enough to accept the dramatic content. The only other critical point I can make is that the sub story about the German spies preparing to bomb the fleet never is dealt with or much mentioned after the explosion, I think it was perhaps avoidable and could have edited out but nonetheless every Canadian should see this film and history buffs will love it!! 7/10

Shattered City, despite being historically accurate of the period's social objectives and changes, as it conveys evidence of women's rights movements, labor disputes, conscription, and civilian attitude towards War and war measures, fails to express the true significance of the explosion to Haligonians and the Royal Canadian Navy. The production aired nationally to provide Canadians with insight into the history of their nation with the story of the greatest tragedy to occur on Canadian soil. However, the wide-ranging significance of this event in Canadian history is not portrayed at all as no information is given about the fate of Halifax or the navy residing in its harbor. However, these disguised details are quite often the beginning of a long chain of repercussions and influence in the rules of causality that shape the history of events to come. For instance, in sociologist Samuel Henry Prince's thesis "Catastrophe and Social Change" a manuscript on the systematic study of disaster and relief, he says "The Halifax hit by the explosion was unattractive, poorly serviced and outmoded." He wrote "Tourists had returned year after year and found her unaltered. 'Dear, dirty old Halifax' they had called her," even though, Halifax, as a strategically important harbor city, was experiencing a time of great prosperity when the explosion extinguished Nova Scotia's capital. The devastation brought forth the opportunity to change this concept of the city, a significant outcome the movie does not touch on. On 01/22/1917 the Canadian federal government implicated the Halifax Relief Commission to distribute the twenty-one million dollars in donations to rebuild Halifax and provide pensions to those disabled by the detonation . These funds situated a number of architects into the mess in turn changing the complete outlook on Halifax. "architect George Ross insisted the new residences be fireproof, have indoor toilets, and not be monotonous in appearance. He also wanted to avoid quick replacement housing that would turn into slums." "Never rebuilt there were three piers, a railway station, a sugar refinery and other nineteenth century industrial facilities. The devastation sped up plans to develop piers in the city's south end, and gave early life to a planned south-end rail station." CBC's presentation of Shattered City unfortunately only depicts the immediate pains of the explosion including the intricacies in the loss of life and does not truthfully detail the most important part of a disaster; recovery. It is in recovery, that some of the greatest personal tragedies and extreme transformations that make this event so momentous play themselves out. Another short-coming, is our personal relationship with the Collins family in that it gives us the only intimate insight to the lives touched by the disaster. There were many families that experienced greater devastation than the Collins family by far. For example, fourteen year old Barbara Orr was the only survivor in her nuclear family of her family of five other brothers and sisters. There are a number of stories similar to this one, all of which depict a more horrific experience than the ones delivered in Shattered City. Although CBC's presentation accurately discusses casualties and costs, it consistently refers to the fictional Collins family for reference to the grief of Halifax civilians. With this been said, Mari Leckie's interpretation does not make evident the carnage that many experienced during and after the explosion. For instance, Shattered City does not convey the wrath of the tidal wave which swept many out into the harbor. In fact, it depicts Trixie Collins; a young woman standing on the harbor, unscathed after the eruption had ended. Also, the film does not communicate the extent of injuries sustained by Haligonians, including decapitation, dismemberment, ghastly disfigurement, impalement's, and bodily severance. Nor does it discuss the removal of important institutions such as the Royal Naval College of Canada as it was moved to Kingston after its destruction, and the removal of the Fleet Wireless School for the same reason. David Bercuson explains to us the key markers of a good interpretation of history, one of which is the cumulative weight of rational analysis. This factor challenges the narrative's ability to explicate information based on all of its circumstances, not just at face value. Evidently, Shattered City does not do this. The Royal Canadian Navy, residing in the port is another community hardly touched on in the film. In fact, during the film's reenactment of the scene, there are no ships within the harbor besides the Belgian Imo and the French Mont Blanc. When in actuality the Belgian relief ship Imo moved into the right hand channel to pass two ships traveling at the proper speed. This placed the Imo in direct path of the Mont Blanc. The damage sustained by the many ships in the harbor prevented timely departures and cost a number of lives.The CBC presentation gives the impression that the state of Massachusetts provided great assistance to the city of Halifax, which is true. However it makes no connotation to the many other governments involved in the donations of funds that would very much help to rebuild the Richmond community and surrounding areas. Money poured in from as far away as China and New Zealand. The Canadian government gave $18 million, the British government almost $5 million, but most Haligonians remember the generosity of the state of Massachusetts, which donated $750,000 in money and goods and gave unstintingly in volunteer assistance through the Massachusetts-Halifax Relief Committee. All in all, the depiction of the Halifax explosion is ultimately an example of bad history.Nevertheless, it is not the fault of bad scholarship rather the product of commercialization. If this presentation were to be shown on The History channel, perhaps the director would have discussed its consequences for the city, navy, and society in greater depth. Shattered City is a movie geared towards entertaining a Canadian audience, because of this it lacks evidence of this moment's significance in any events to come thereafter that owe their occurrence in full, or in part to the Halifax explosion of 1917.

(This may contain spoilers.)'Shattered City' focuses on the fictional Collins family at the time of the Halifax Explosion, mainly the celebrated son, Patrick, who has just returned from the war. Before he can return to the front, the explosion occurs; and he must help his family survive.The acting and the effects were fantastic, along with the other minute production details, which is very characteristic of the CBC's productions. Yet, in parts, it tends to to drag a little; and we aren't given a sufficient back story for some of the characters. As well, it probably would've done better as a three-hour-long made-for-TV movie instead of a two-part miniseries. I'd also take into account the fact that this is the first movie centred around this important part of Canadian history; and, eventually, there may be more about it.Not too bad (I give this an 8); but it could've been improved upon.

This story was good, but it could have been done better, in an actual mini-series instead of a 4 hour movie. The characters were one dimensional, I really didn't feel like I knew them well enough to feel for them.I felt like each story of each character's life was half told. We're left to draw our own conclusions at the end of the movie. Less than 3 weeks after the blast we see the Collins family setting up Christmas tree, on Christmas Day. They are smiling and happy. It's like the disaster had never happened, and their father was still alive. I found this so hard to believe. Life does have to gone on, but after experiencing something that cataclysmic, would your heart been into Christmas? Did the trial really happen that rapidly? Was everything all well so soon after the explosion? It would have been best to show the Collins family a year later. I would have liked to see what we knew would happen anyway, Charlie falling in love with Dr. Paxton, Court all better, Trixie with her baby. The ending sort of spoiled the entire movie. The filming of the explosion itself could not have been done any better. It was very detailed, and very realistic. My grandma who lived through WWII had trouble watching the scene, because it was such a realistic explosion, right down to the books being blown to bits.