Titanic II (film)
Titanic II (also titled Titanic 2) is a 2010 live-action/animated action comedy film written, directed by and starring Shane Van Dyke and distributed by The Asylum.[1][2] Despite the title, it is not a sequel to the 1997 film, but is a mockbuster of it. It was released direct-to-TV in Australia on 7 August 2010. It premiered on Syfy, on Sky in the UK and Ireland on 9 August. It was released on 25 August in the United States. The film is set on a fictional replica Titanic that sets off exactly 100 years after the original ship's maiden voyage to perform the reverse route, but global warming and the forces of nature cause history to repeat itself on the same night, only on a more disastrous and deadly scale.
| Titanic II | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Shane Van Dyke |
| Produced by | David Michael Latt |
| Written by | Shane Van Dyke |
| Starring | Bruce Davison Brooke Burns Shane Van Dyke Marie Westbrook |
| Cinematography | Alexander Yellen |
| Edited by | Mark Atkins |
| Distributed by | The Asylum |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
In the Arctic waters near the Helheim Glacier in Greenland, a person is surfing on waves created by falling chunks of ice that fall off the glacier and into the ocean caused by the effects of global warming. However, a very large chunk of ice falls into the water, creating an especially large wave. The surfer tries to escape from the wave, but it is far too fast for him, and in a matter of seconds, it catches up to him then drowns and kills him. United States Coast Guard Captain James Maine, is sent to investigate in Greenland. While he is there with Dr. Kim Patterson (Brooke Burns), a huge chunk of ice falls into the ocean.
On 10 April 2012, 100 years after the launch of the RMS Titanic, a new, similar-looking luxury cruise liner, the RMS Titanic II, is christened. She embarks on her maiden voyage using the same route the Titanic took 100 years before in reverse direction (from New York City, New York, US to Southampton, England, United Kingdom). The ship's captain Will Howard (D.C. Douglas) is in command. The ship's designer, Hayden Walsh (Shane Van Dyke) and the ship's nurses Amy Maine (Marie Westbrook) and Kelly Wade (Mechelle Glavan) are onboard. During the Atlantic crossing, the crew are alerted of the tsunami by James Maine. Maine warns that any ice in the area will be moved with the tsunami. In a rush to get back to shore, one of the engines is damaged, right before the wave, and a large iceberg, ram into the ship, injuring many passengers. The entire starboard side of the ship and the starboard lifeboat ramps are crushed. Hayden and Amy return below decks and find Kelly badly injured. The three escape and move towards the upper decks. Meanwhile back up north, a much larger tsunami is created by yet another glacier. During the evacuation, immense pressure is placed on the ship's turbines. The turbines eventually explode, killing many people, including ship Captain Howard. The explosion also causes an immense fire on the Titanic II, which is sinking by its bow while also listing at a shallow angle to its starboard side.
Amy gets a call from her father who warns her of the second wave, and to stay out of the lifeboats, as they will be washed away by the wave. Maine orders the three to move to the ship's onboard diving facility. Kelly is later killed when a very heavy door crushes her. Hayden and Amy make it to the diving facility when they hear somebody trapped. They try to help him, but he dies behind a jammed door. When Hayden and Amy go inside the diving facility, the second wave hits the ship, turning it upside down, and destroying the lifeboats.
The ship's diving facility only has one oxygen tank and scuba suit, which Hayden gives to Amy. Before sacrificing his life for her, Hayden kisses Amy and with his last words tells her to resuscitate him should he drown before they are rescued. Captain Maine arrives to rescue Amy and Hayden by swimming inside the ship as it sinks. His helicopter runs out of fuel and crashes as Patterson gets in a life raft. With the ship flooded, "Titanic II" finally sinks. After James rescues them, Amy attempts to resuscitate Hayden but it's too late. Amy, and an unknown number of injured passengers whom Hayden ordered his helicopter to take (earlier in the film) are the only known survivors of the disaster.
Cast
- Shane Van Dyke as Hayden Walsh, the ship's owner
- Marie Westbrook as Amy Maine, one of the ship's nurses and Hayden's love interest
- Bruce Davison as Captain James Maine, Amy's father and helicopter commander of the U.S. Coast Guard
- Michelle Glavan as Kelly Wade, another of the ship's nurses and Amy's colleague and friend
- D. C. Douglas as Captain Will Howard, the ship's captain
- Brooke Burns as Dr. Kim Patterson
- Josh Roman as Elliot Snipes
- Carey Van Dyke as First Officer Elmer Coolidge
- Dylan Vox as Second Officer Dwayne Stevens
- Wittly Jourdan as Elijia Stacks
- Kendra Waldman as Madeline Kay
Production
For the film, RMS Queen Mary docked as a hotel ship and tourist attraction in Long Beach, California was used as a stand-in for RMS Titanic II during the departure scenes and some of its interiors. The ship had previously been used as stand-ins for the fictional similarly fated ocean liner SS Poseidon in The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and the original RMS Titanic in the 1979 television miniseries S.O.S. Titanic.
Reception
The film has received a negative response from most film critics. On the website TheCriticalCritics.com the film was reviewed as being "a mixed bag" since "it’s better than one might expect, but not as good as one might hope." Though panned generally as "pretty lackluster" as well as "riddled with disaster movie clichés", the performances of some cast members were highlighted for praise, particularly Bruce Davison as a veteran U.S. Coast Guard captain. The movie as a whole was given a rating of "Don't Bother".[3]
Dread Central said in a review "Take away the novelty of the 'Titanic II' name, and you’re left with a rather trite Poseidon Adventure-ish disaster flick made on the cheap. It’s not good enough to be engrossing, nor is it made to be intentionally bad, and even as silly as the scenario is, none of it is ever quite silly enough to provide unintentional fun. Action and suspense are constantly hampered by the low budget and the special effects answer the question, "What would James Cameron's Titanic have been like if most of the digital effects looked like animation from a Wii cut scene?".[4]
References
- "Cannes: The Asylum Makes Steady Profit on ... 'Titanic II'". TheWrap.
- Titanic 2 Sets Sail, The Asylum, May 2010.
- Cal Knox. "Movie Review: Titanic II (2010)". The Critical Movie Critics.
- "Titanic RMS (2010)". Dread Central.
