MovieChat Forums > Titanic (2012) Discussion > What could've been...

What could've been...

posted 12 years ago by taylorl92
7 replies | jump to latest

The show has received mixed reviews from the critics, and reactions from people on the posts have ranged from positive to negative to the middle. Now I respect everyone's opinions, and I thought the show was good and bad on some parts, but right now, I would like to know what could have been done to make the show better?

Exclude the fact that the producers could have added another episodes or extended the episodes they showed. Also, exclude the historical inaccuracies, the loss of character development, and other criticisms that have been said in other posts.

I would like to know what, in the time that was shown on television, the show could do to bring a bigger audience. Should there have been more or less characters? A bigger set? Different use of the visual effects? etc.

Also, not related to above, if the show as it was got nominated at this year's Emmy Awards, what would it be nominated for?

[–] JordanCarrington 12 years ago

The problem is the time length of 45 minutes per episode. If each episode was 90-120 minutes, it could have been able to space out the stories and develop the characters.

I think the miniseries would have succeeded if they did the following:

Note: Episode 1-4 will only focus on the characters from the individual class. Episode 2 and 3 will only have scenes in First Class when our characters attend the Church Service and when Annie and Paolo are in the dining room. Episode 4 will only have two scenes in Second Class when Annie enters the Batley's cabin.

Episode One - First Class (90 - 120 minutes)
I would have only focused on the Manton family and interweave their story with the passengers of First Class. I would have ended the cliff-hanger with Lord Manton discovering that the ship will sink.

Episode Two - Second Class (90 - 120 minutes)
I would have only focused on the Batley's and interweave their story with the passengers of Second Class. I would have ended the cliff-hanger with John Batley seeing the iceberg slide past the ship.

Episode Three - Third Class (90 - 120 minutes)
I would have only focused on the Maloney's, Peter Lubov and interweave their story with the passengers of Third Class. I also would have changed the Mary Maloney and Peter Lubov story. I would have ended the cliff-hanger with the Maloney's still trapped below decks.

Episode Four - Crew (90 - 120 minutes)
I would have only focused on Mable Watson, Kenneth Barnes, Mario and Paolo Sandrini, Annie Desmond and interweave their stories with the other members of the Officers and Crew. I would have ended the cliff-hanger with Mario seeing the water pouring through the hull in the boiler room.

Episode Five - The Sinking (90 - 120 minutes)
I would have opened up the final episode with several scenes (prior to the iceberg) from previous episodes leading up to the collision. We'd finally see the full impact with the iceberg above and below decks. We'd see more action above and below decks as all of their stories are combined. We'd see more of the evacuation, those in the lifeboats and of the ship itself. Have a few scenes on the Californian and the Carpathia. We'd see Muriel's violent verbal attack on Lady Manton and learn that Louisa knew all along about her husband's secret.

I personally find no fault with the dialogue and the script itself, it's just the time length which doesn't give enough space for character development. I still think it's a great miniseries on its own, but it's missing that certain oomph to make it an epic miniseries. I don't think there should have been less characters because it actually gives us an insight of the characters personal perspectives from their different social levels aboard the ship. It would have been better if they built the first half of the Boat Deck much more accurately. The special effects were great for a television miniseries on a $20 million budget, but it could have been cheaper to use a model and fix it up with CGI. If they were nominated for an Emmy Award, it should be nominated for the iceberg sequence and the final plunge.

[–] taylorl92 12 years ago

So it would be nominated just for the visuals? Nothing else?

[–] JordanCarrington 12 years ago

Well, I thought Toby Jones and Maria Doyle Kennedy did an amazing job as John and Muriel Batley. I personally enjoyed the script and the dialogue with the characters. Unfortunately, Titanic wasn't a huge success with the international audience like Downton Abbey was.

How about you? What could've been done? What are your answers to the question you asked?

[–] KatharineFanatic 12 years ago

Frankly?

Tie it in better with Downton Abbey.

Fellowes had a wonderful chance here to take an original, highly successful series and tell us the other half of the story. He should have made the Crawley heirs the main characters, and told it in linear fashion as every other series has done -- you get on the ship, events play out, it sinks, people die.

The back-and-forth storytelling killed this miniseries, and it had too many characters for the audience to get to know or care about any of them. Use relative unknowns -- my guess is the biggest chunk of cash went to pay the actors, who weren't very good anyway. Everything about the ship felt small -- Titanic was the most luxurious ship in the world. Make us believe that!

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www.charitysplace.com

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] billymac72 11 years ago

I'm a big Titanic buff and finally got around to starting it last night. Made it through an episode and a half. Don't care much for it so far.

The script is obsessed with seeing everything through the prism of race, gender and class. Yes, the story of the Titanic reflected the culture of the times, which of course reflected race/gender/class structures and societal status of each.

The characters here, however, are written as practically obsessed with the topic (through an oddly, very self-aware modern filter); the topic is central in virtually every scene I've watched thus far. The ship is portrayed as a hot bed for cultural issues, with passengers literally seething in judgment of one another.

In one scene, Benjamin Guggenheim is shown saying to his waiter (?), "Julio, you know I'm not a Democrat, but at times like these, you are welcome to sit."

I think this speaks volumes about the perspective the writers were coming from. The notion that a presumably Republican man would allow a minority "servant" to actually have a seat is portrayed as an act of audacious kindness only attributable, under normal circumstances, to a Democrat. In actuality, Democrats, in 1912, were the party of segregation, Jim Crow and the KKK. Even the progressive Woodrow Wilson - who was elected that year - was a firm segregationist. The scene is absurd, unless viewed through a modern liberal, revisionist lens.

[–] shushkka 11 years ago

Even in 1996 miniseries there was the Grand Staircase. I was sure I would like this miniseries but after watching it I realise how wrong I was.
Besides, where are the brilliant stars in the sky during the night of the sinking?! Not a single star in the night sky was shown in this "chef d'oevre".
I also don't remember the boat deck being so wide on the real Titanic.