Videos Reflect Unsinkable Fascination With Titanic

James Cameron’s lavish epic “Titanic,” which sets sail Friday in theaters, is the latest in a long line of documentaries, feature films and TV movies recounting the 1912 maiden voyage of the “unsinkable” luxury liner, which had a fateful encounter with an iceberg in the North Atlantic.

If you become swept away in Titanic-mania after seeing the movie, you may want to check out some of these other “Titanic” projects available on video:

“Titanic” (A&E;, $60) is one of the best documentaries ever produced on the destruction of the ship. The four-volume set offers a comprehensive look at the construction and christening of the largest ship ever built; the warnings of impending disaster on the voyage; the struggle for survival on that fateful night; the aftermath of who survived and who didn’t and why; and the discovery of the Titanic’s wreckage. Terrific archival footage and interviews make this a must-have for any Titanic fanatic. To order call (800) 423-1212.

Home Vision is offering two documentaries ($20 each) on the luxury liner. “A Question of Murder” chronicles the investigation of journalist Peter Williams and his team as they perused letters, inquiry records, ship blueprints and interviews with survivors to learn that many of the 1,500-plus passengers who perished might have been saved that night.

“The Nightmare and the Dream” follows the discovery of the wreckage in the North Atlantic by undersea geologist Dr. Robert Ballard.

UAV’s tabloid-titled “Terror on the Titanic” ($10) boasts lost film footage, computer graphics and archival photographs.

The tragedy gets the glossy Hollywood treatment in the entertaining 1953 melodrama “Titanic” (Fox, $20). Charles Brackett, Richard Breen and Walter Reisch won an Oscar for their screenplay of this engrossing tale starring Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, a very young Robert Wagner, the always wonderful Thelma Ritter and Brian Aherne. Corny, but immensely entertaining.

The most renowned Titanic movie is 1958’s “A Night to Remember” (Paramount, $15), based on Walter Lord’s acclaimed account. Kenneth More, David McCallum, Honor Blackman and George Rose star in this well-crafted and acted British semi-documentary. Adapted by Eric Ambler and directed by Roy Ward Baker. Golden Globe winner for best foreign film.

One of the most famous survivors of the Titanic was none other than the colorful, feisty Denver oil tycoon Molly Brown. Her rescue from the ship is depicted in the sparkling 1964 musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (MGM, $20). Debbie Reynolds received her one and only best actress nomination for her energetic performance as Molly.

James Costigan penned “S.O.S. Titanic” (Nostalgia, $30), an absorbing 1979 ABC-TV movie that recounts the voyage in flashback. David Janssen, Cloris Leachman (as Molly Brown), Susan St. James, Ian Holm, Harry Andrews and Helen Mirren star in the docudrama. An interesting bit of trivia: David Warner, who plays Billy Zane’s evil henchman in Cameron’s “Titanic,” stars in “S.O.S. Titanic” as Laurence Beesley, a British science teacher.

The 1980 thriller “Raise the Titanic” (Fox) sinks like a stone. This disastrous disaster movie is based on Clive Cussler’s bestseller about the intrigue surrounding the raising of the ship. Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer and Alec Guinness star in this expensive dog.

Just slightly better is CBS’ 1996 four-hour melodrama “Titanic” (Evergreen). The ship’s sinking, however, takes a back seat to the boring, petty lives and loves of the passengers. Peter Gallagher, George C. Scott, Tim Curry and Marilu Henner (as Molly Brown) star in this snoozy disappointment.