Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Alex da Silva It's a story of the Titanic and it is clear that it influenced the director of the most famous version that goes on for 3 days. What scores points for me with this film is the focus on the wealthy owner of White Star – Sir Bruce Ismay (Ernst Fritz Fürbringer) – and his role in the tragedy. It's known as a German propaganda piece, but this isn't where the propaganda is. There is almost certainly an element of greed and stupidity as Ismay strives for glory. That's a fact, especially born out by the saving pennies on health and safety by not providing enough lifeboats. You also have to question why the Captain increased speed through the iceberg infested waters when every other ship would have slowed down. It's probably (definitely) pressure from Ismay. The propaganda comes from the First Officer Hans Nielson (Petersen) and his voice of reason throughout proceedings. He is the only German aboard the ship and the only man you can trust to know what the right thing to do is. This is despite him never actually doing anything about it as he is only obeying orders. He should have ignored orders but then that is not the message the Nazis would have wanted to put across! And the Titanic wouldn't have sunk with Nielsen at the helm.The Titanic is always a good story so the film is entertaining. I think this version is interesting and had some good scenes – the lowering of a lifeboat from the passenger point-of-view – as well as telling a complete story as it includes the inquest at the end. Of course, this is where we see the injustice from the point of view of the First Officer and it is an injustice. The final caption blaming capitalism for the sinking is, I'm afraid, true in this case. Greed and profit were paramount. As well as the lookout probably needing binoculars/glasses (standard issue on all ships at the time for anyone in the crow's nest), which incidentally, were not provided by Ismay and his great plan. Yet more cost –cutting!

Uriah43 Although there have been several movies produced depicting the fate of the RMS Titanic this particular picture is unique because it was made in Nazi Germany during World War II. This fact cannot be overlooked because the film itself suffers from a heavy amount of propaganda which permeates just about every scene. Most noticeable is the effort to falsely attribute the sinking of this great ship to the unmitigated greed and avarice of the owner of the White Star Line, "Bruce Ismay" (played by Ernst Fritz Furbringer). While it is possible that he pressured "Captain Edward J. Smith" (Otto Wernicke) to steam ahead at full speed in spite of iceberg warnings, the actual truth concerning the degree of coercion will probably never be known. Unfortunately, the plot not only suggests that greed on his part was a factor but also accuses the British Empire of the same dastardly complicity. And the manner in which this was done struck me as being somewhat dark and sinister. But then the fact that Joseph Goebbels had a personal role in the movie's production might have something to do with that. In any case, apart from the propaganda angle this movie actually wasn't too bad and I recommend it for those who enjoy films from this time or pertaining to this particular incident. Slightly above average.

l_rawjalaurence Banned by the Allies for its pro-Nazi perspective, but since readily available, this TITANIC retells the story with one or two significant alterations to the known historical facts. There are some significant deviations. Here, the English first officer - seized with some malady - is replaced by a German seaman named Petersen (Hans Nielsen), a paragon of experience and rectitude. Bruce Ismay (Ernst Fritz Furbringer), whose social life was justifiably ruined because of his escaping the sinking behemoth, is portrayed as a money-obsessed capitalist only interested in saving himself. The vessel's master, Captain Smith (Otto Wernicke), has to accept Ismay's views, but tries his best to control a rapidly deteriorating situation. Director Herbert Selpin portrays a class- conscious world in which social distinctions are so pronounced that it exacerbates the disaster; the upper classes care not one whit for those in steerage class - all they want to do is to save themselves. The owners of the White Star Line deliberately compromise on safety in the hope of breaking the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The propagandist elements of the film are to portray British society as being self-interested, greedy and not concerned for its citizens - as suggested in a comment at the end. This is not particularly radical; many books written from a British and/or an American perspective have said the same. This version of the Titanic is the full version, in which Petersen has the chance to criticize the White Star bosses in court, during the inquiry following the disaster. The film itself is sumptuously mounted, with a surprisingly high budget given the constraints under which it was made. The sequences where the ship sinks are extremely dramatic: Selpin intercuts between reaction shots of the horrified passengers and the ship rapidly sinking under the ocean. As a historical document, TITANIC is unique; in artistic terms, it is much better than many more well-known retellings of the tale (for example RAISE THE TITANIC (1980)).

MartinHafer Why the Nazis chose to spend a lot of money to make a film about the Titanic during the middle of WWII I'll never know. You can see that the real story of the ship is twisted into a propaganda piece that both extols German decency and decries the evils of a Capitalist society. It does this by creating some Germans and making them all nice folks--particularly the First Officer that tries very hard to do what is right even though Captain Smith and the nefarious forces of Capitalistic greed are risking the lives of everyone aboard! In the National Socialist Germany, the importance of individual profit and gain was publicly forbidden and America and Britain were seen as dominated by selfish self-interest. So the "nice Germans" are always mindful of the ultimate good and the rich Americans and Brits are the worse stereotypes of Capitalism. And so time and again, the First Officer is good and dutiful and tries his best to protect the ship and passengers while industrialists/speculators Ismay and Astor do everything purely for self-interest. All this was meant to convince Germans of the rightness of their political system, though the ugly truth was that many rich German industrialists became immensely wealthy thanks to German re-armament.Despite the obvious propaganda in the film, the movie itself was surprisingly well-made. While the shot of the Titanic (using a model) was incredibly sloppily done (with VERY fuzzy camera-work to try to hide that it was a model), the rest of the film looks pretty opulent and the acting was very convincing considering it was made in 1943-- as things were turning VERY bad for the Germans. Sadly, although the film is watchable and VERY interesting, it was not shown in Germany and was only recently discovered--it deserved a wider audience despite its shortcomings.