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[To set this review up into a proper mood, I shall have to do a brief retelling and overview of the Titanic voyage. This is not off-topic at all: In fact, most of what I say is covered in the video documentary in question. Don't worry, for I'm getting somewhere. Enjoy the review!]

Titanic

It is a name that has become synonymous with human futility (The name, coincidently, of a novel published a few years earlier, and which has eerie parallels to real events). Titanic was representative of everything that was good about human ability and engineering. It was to be the ultimate triumph over nature: The “Unsinkable Ship” (Although White Star line never officially called her that, the nickname was spread in the press). On her maiden voyage, she was forever to engrave her place in the annual of legends: She struck an iceberg and sank in the morning of April 15, 1912, with over 1500 people perishing, due to a lack of lifeboats aboard the ship.

Titanic is seen by many as akin to the classic Greek tragedies. Indeed, that is probably the most comparable analogy that one could come up with. Upon studying the incident, though, one will find that this could have very easily been avoided. Since the sinking, historians have been asking various what ifs: What if the ship had enough lifeboats? What if Captain Smith and the wireless operators had obeyed various iceberg warnings? What if the ship had not tried to steer away from the ice (Ramming the berg head on would have only flooded one or two compartments)? And what if other ships had gotten there in time to rescue passengers (The Californian was only about ten or twenty miles away, with it’s radio equipment shut off)? All of that is mere speculation, however.

One thing is for certain, though: The sinking of the Titanic brought an end to what Mark Twain called "The Gilded Age". Before the Titanic's voyage, the focus was on larger, faster and higher. Man believed that it could do anything: Conquering the land with cars and trains, conquering the air with airplanes and conquering the sea with an unsinkable ship. People showed off more and were more proud and boisterous of themselves then at any time before. This disaster, however, was a reality check. People were never again as confident in technology and began focusing more on safety than on achieving ultimate speed, size and luxury (In more recent years, however, we have begun to return to a “gilded age” of sorts, with our obsessions on technology- especially computers-, beauty and wealth. It may, unfortunately, take another Titanic-esque event to knock us back down to reality, and it will probably be on a much larger and more disastrous scale).

The mystique of the Titanic remained in the public mind through a slew of books and motion pictures: People seemed drawn toward not just the tragedy and terror of her sole voyage, but also to the many human stories that could be found (Couples dying together on the ship, the band playing tunes to relax the passengers onboard). Titanic herself, though, refused to surrender herself to the world. That is until September 1, 1985, when a joint French-American expedition, co-lead by Woods Hole Oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, found the remains of the ship and photographed it. The following year, Ballard returned to the site to do a more thorough investigation of the wreck, which is the main focus of National Geographic’s Secrets of the Titanic.

Using Wood Hole’s research submersible Alvin (Which has explored undersea ridges and located a lost Hydrogen Bomb), Ballard dove to theTitanic wreck to do a thorough mapping and survey of the site for archeological and posterity purposes. The technology used to explore Titanic in 1986 was considered state of the art then, and it indeed was. In particular are the views from the tiny robotic vehicle Jason, Jr., carried by Alvin, which dives into the Grand Staircase and explores other, tighter areas of the wreck. However, the last twenty years have seen a quantum leap in underwater photography; beyond even what Ballard could dream of (And his dreams were pretty big). Thus, the images of Titanic shown in this video may seem a little quaint in comparison to what current expeditions can mount: They are not as well lit and provide sometimes just barely visible images of the wreck. Still, there are some very affecting images of the ship shown, such as the shot of the bow first appearing out of the darkness of the depths, a light fixture still dangling near the grand staircase, or the anchors still clinching to the ship.

Contrary to original assumptions, Ballard was not at all interested in salvaging artifacts from the wreck site: He saw such acts as akin to grave robbery, and there was little archeological value in his opinion in doing such things (He did attempt to open a safe at the ocean bottom using Alvin’s robotic arm: It wouldn’t budge, though, so he let it be). The video concludes with basically a plea from Ballard, saying that the wreck is finally at peace- the only fitting monument to this disaster- and should remain as such. It was Ballard’s hope that the world would show rationale and respect and treat theTitanic like the gravesite that it is. It was not to be, unfortunately, for as public fascination grew, so did return voyages by others; not all of them with good intentions. A French expedition in 1987 salvaged artifacts from the debris field and, worse, destroyed the crow’s nest in an attempt to get the phone attached inside it. Subsequent salvage expeditions were launched in the 1990’s. Thousands of items have been raised and placed on exhibit at museums. The people who do this claim that it is to protect these items from decaying, but this is very much unnecessary. It is very much like going to a graveyard, prying open the coffins and stealing the clothing and other possessions of the dead. We already know about the time period and about life back then. Raising artifacts won't help archeologically and they won't add to the context. If anything, every artifact recovered takes away from the context.

Fortunately, not all expeditions have been harmful: A Russian expedition in 1991, for instance, shot high-resolution and intensity footage of the wreck which was later used in the IMAX documentary Titanica. And James Cameron shot footage in 1995 for his own epic movie, which included the deepest dive down the grand staircase yet done (He found woodwork in remarkably good condition and avoided causing any permanent damage to the wreck site). Another French expedition in 1996, which attempted to “raise the Titanic” (Actually just a huge slab of the hull) also did a sonar investigation of the bow that revealed the damage from the iceberg, which turned out to be- like Ballard had predicted- a series of popped and damaged rivets, rather then a huge gash.

Though its hopes for and its record of the wreck site have become somewhat dated over time, Secrets of the Titanic, twenty years after it was made, still remains incredible and awe-inspiring. It is certainly one of the top National Geographic specials produced not just about oceanography, but by the organization in general.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS