Britannic

Firstly the facts:R.M.S.Britannic was the third of the "Olympic" class of liners to be launched by White Star from Harland & Woolf's shipyard in Belfast after the original "Olympic" (1910) and "Titanic" (1911).She was launched in 1914 but due to the outbreak of the First World War in Britain in August of that year, was requisitioned by the Admiralty and soon converted into a hospital ship with her distinct white hull and huge red cross on her sides.On her 6th outward voyage to the island of Mudros (Greece) she was either torpedoed or mined in the Kea channel in November 1916.The actual cause is still something of a mystery and I presume this doubt partly inspired the "plot".Lessons had been learnt from the earlier loss of "Titanic" (1912), notably the cellular double bottom, higher watertight bulkheads together with distinctive and exaggerated davits from each of which several lifeboats could quickly be launched. Mercifully there was minimal loss of life since it only had the White Star crew and medical staff onboard who were going to tend the casualites arising from Winston Churchill's ill advised Gallipoli campaign (1915) which he ordered when acting as First Lord of the Admiralty.Had this tragedy occurred after embarkation of the troops, the disaster could have become monumental.As one perceptive critic has observed below, one Violet Jessop had the dubious distinction in serving as steward/nurse on all the three aforementioned sister ships but was not mentioned in the film.

It seems almost "de rigeur" in all these type of marine disaster films to have a fictional slushy love story wrapped up in a few facts.We had Robert Wagner and Audrey Dalton in "Titanic"(1953) Leonardo de Caprio and Kate Winslet in "Titanic" (1997) to name but two.I have read Robert Ballard's account of his expedition to the wreck which is still in remarkable condition lying on her starboard side when compared to what is left of "Titanic".I also have another video which explores the second explosion (the first being caused either from a German mine or torpedo) and whether this was caused by igniting coal dust or cold water causing the exposed boilers to explode.The most fascinatng part of the film was what appeared to be authentic newsreel footage of the launching of "Britannic" as I had never seen this before.As regards the film itself, it can only be judged on entertainment value alone.Present are the usual Hollywood stereotypes of "Irish Freedom Fighters" given free reign in a wildly imaginative plot adequatly dealt with by my fellow reviewers below.

Violet Jessop fractured her scull in the water as the ship ploughed on while her rising propellers still turned and I assume this gave rise to the suicidal scene where the German agent commits virtual suicide while sitting in his life boat as it advances towards them without making an effort to avoid them.This was at odds with his desperate escape earlier.On enertainment value alone I rated it 5/10.

I wouldn't say this movie was tacked together to take advantage of the Cameron Titanic's fame and box office success. Honest! First off it's made for t.v. and contrary to how the film tells the story of Britannic, there are some pretty good CGI effects. So being on t.v. there is no box office to appeal to. I just wish the Fox Family channel who produced this would have pertained more to what really happened on Britannic. Perhaps that's what documentaries are for as in the Discovery Channel's excellent docu on the Britannic's story and filming of her wreck. But if you go into this movie with prior knowledge of the real Britannic, you can enjoy this movie for what it is. Like I said there are CGi effects in this that could rival the Cameron Titanic. The story concerns a female undercover agent recruited by the British in 1916 to fish out a German Spy on the ship. I won't say what happens except that she gets him in more ways than one. The film makers spend much time recreating and touring different sections of the Britannic as they tell their story. What the ship looked like in the engine room or on the bridge or the lifeboat area etc. So those are pluses in the movie. John Rhys-Davies as the Captain is improbable here(he doesn't look anything like the Britannic's real Captain Bartlett). But I like Rhys-Davies as he is very portly and looks 'Captainly' ... is that a word. Don't take this story about the Britannic 'too' seriously. It's not what happened except that the ship sinks. But enjoy it for the 2 hours it gives you. Better yet go to the web or to a library to find much more bonafide info on this somewhat forgotten tragedy.

30 or so people died when the H.M.H.S Britannic sank, 55 minutes after striking a mine, and this is how we respect them?

I am shocked at the fact that the film makers had the nerve to use the name Britannic in this steaming pile of a movie.

Don't even bother seeing this movie for yourself, the real story is far more dramatic. For instance, Violet Jessop, who was a nurse on the Britannic, was also on the Titanic 4 years earlier, and she was onboard the Titanic's other sister ship, the R.M.S. Olympic, when she collided with the British cruiser, the H.M.S. Hawke, in 1911. This poor women was on all three Olympic-Class liners (as they were called) when they experienced tragedies, and she isn't even mentioned. However, I believe that the main character in the movie is loosely based on her.

At the end of this Fox Family Channel original movie, you find out that Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, actually sank in 51 minutes -- twice as fast as Titanic.

Unfortunately, the movie sails for two hours and the plot begins taking on water long before the ship does. It becomes tiresome and plodding at times and, although a few scenes are compelling, the film fails to generate the excitement that one would expect from a "based on fact" sea tale.

The good news is that only 30 people lost their lives when the real Britannic went down. Far more died of boredom while watching this slow-moving flick.

While this is one of the better sort of 'made for TV movies', it did contain one mistake that made me cringe. During a conversation between the German Spy and an Irish accomplice, the accomplice states that many of the Irish seamen aboard will be glad to take part in the seizure of the ship because ' they've had family killed by the Black and Tans'. This is supposed to be 1916. The Black and Tans weren't founded until 1920. Its just a pity that that small element wasn't properly checked out first.