Secrets of the Titanic (1986)
**** (out of 4)
Marvelous 51-minute documentary tells the story of the Titanic, the legendary ship that hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912 and sank hours later killing 1517 people. Over seventy years later Dr. Robert Ballard set out on a mission to try and locate the final resting place of the ship and he finally achieved his dream on the early hours of September 1, 1985. This documentary takes us to the ship for the very first time and it also shows some new evidence on the various theories that had happened. Since this documentary first aired there have been many other voyages down to the Titanic and God knows many of them used higher technology, which resulted in more clarity and better pictures. With that said, there's still something so haunting about seeing this original voyage and especially the scene where the crew first come across the ship. It's quite haunting seeing these pictures and it's especially amazing that they were able to find it in the first place. The documentary not only tells the story of the Titanic but it also talks about the mission to try and locate it. Another fascinating thing are all the incredible shots of the ship and various bits of wreckage that are on the ocean floor. If you have seen more recent documentaries you know that everything is slowly falling apart so these images here are some of the best that you are ever going to see. Martin Sheen does a remarkable job with his narration as well. SECRETS OF THE TITANIC is certainly a historic documentary and it's also one of the most powerful out there.