Drain the Titanic (2015) User Reviews

fascinating documentary but it could easily have been better

[kentrasmussen · 7/10 · 31 January 2017]

This fascinating documentary uses painstakingly detailed digital 3-D reconstructions of the Titanic's wreckage made from thousands of underwater photographs. The program's chief interest is that it provides clear views of entire sections of the ship that are impossible to see of the real ship because of the darkness of the water more than two miles below the ocean's surface. The digital images look very much like what one would expect the actual wreckage to look if the surrounding ocean could be drained away.

It's all very impressive, but the documentary's presentation has some irritating features. After explaining how the digital images were made, virtual cameras move past wreckage so rapidly it is difficult to take in details. The images would be far more interesting if the cameras were to linger over parts of the ship longer. For example, instead of showing the same rapid panning shots of the ship's bow repeatedly, it would have been better to use some of that time for much slower close-ups. It is also disappointing that the documentary provides almost no close-ups of the surrounding debris fields. What are all those large objects scattered around the ship's hull sections? Despite these reservations, the documentary is fascinating and well worth watching. Perhaps a future documentary will use the digital images to give us better views of the wreckage.

Good visuals in an adequate documentary...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 5 February 2021]

I must admit that the concept here in this 2015 documentary was definitely interesting. And given my interest and fascination with the Titanic, of course I sat down to watch this documentary, though it wasn't before 2021 that I had the chance to do so.

Visually then I will say that "Drain the Titanic" was impressive. It was really astounding to see the CGI rendering of the majestic ship on the sea floor, and seeing the water removed and the wreckage shown in that detail. However, what really impressed me was the crystal clear underwater footage of the wreck.

This documentary was interesting to watch, albeit a bit repetitive of the usage of CGI rendering. But it was definitely a good watch, and there were some interesting bits of facts being showcased. And the theory of the ship breaking apart deep underwater is really interesting and does make sense in terms of the spread of debris.

While "Drain the Titanic" was not the most phenomenal of documentaries that I have seen, it definitely is worth a watch, especially if you are interested in what has happened to the wreck laying on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

My rating of "Drain the Titanic" settles on a six out of ten stars.

Explanation for debris field size

[andyfournier · 7 May 2021]

There was a theory put forth in the documentary that Titanic broke in two below the surface and the proof offered was the debris field would have been wider had she split in half on the surface. It was stated no other explanation could be found as to the small area of the debris field.

It is well known the ocean was placid and smooth as glass the night she sunk. That's one of the reasons the iceberg was not spotted sooner as there were no waves breaking against it. The crew had never seen the North Atlantic so calm.

This could explain the small debris field. The ship could have split on the surface and the water, being so calm, allowed the wreckage to sink without the effects a turbulent ocean would have caused.

Thus the debris sank together and less scattered than expected.

I really liked it

[llamanademama · 10/10 · 30 January 2020]

I really liked it. They didn't actually drain the sea. I don't remember much but it was just cool. I watched it for school. I liked seeing under the ocean. It looked really real. And the computer graphics were cool, too. --Cameron, age 8

Like a commercial for itself

[dbdvm · 3/10 · 2 March 2020]

There is some fascinating information in this documentary, but in about 45 minutes of documentary, there are only maybe 10-15 minutes of actual content. The information is heavily punctuated by repeated panning over the model of the wreck and the animation of "draining the sea floor", which of course, doesn't really happen. The narrator breaks from his narrative every few minutes to remind us how amazing it is that we are seeing the Titanic like never before. This is hyped up with dramatic music and sweeping views of the digital model . It extremely repetitive and left me waiting anxiously for more through the entire length of the film, but "more" was never delivered. So much filler, so little true content.

Not bad but some very debatable conclusions

[wentbrown · 3/10 · 18 April 2021]

The conclusion they made about when the Titanic broke up is tenuous at best. They use the 'relatively' small size of the debris field to theorize that it broke up after going underwater. That doesn't add up. If it had then the stern might have been in better condition and I don't think they would have the great sliding feature in the mud near the stern. Also ocean currents are unpredictable so you can't say for sure whether they would have carried the artifacts far away.

Could have been a 10 minute doco

[onlynay · 4/10 · 10 March 2022]

I love most things on the Titanic. This is a cool doco, but stretched out to 45 minutes by repeating the same "now, as never seen before, the ocean drained away" and lots of slow dramatic statements like "and on that deadly night, when disaster struck, an iceberg, it tore a hole" like, it's really not new info. Very repetitive, lots of seen before footage, with a few cool views of CGI ship with the water drained. Kinda background TV while you're playing on your phone :/

Poorly scripted and repeatetive

[rajeshdrkp · 1/10 · 24 January 2021]

Appreciate the team that has worked on the mission. Kudos to them.

A great story which is told in a most boring way possible.

The script is so repeatetive, I would be a millionaire by the end of the movie if I had gotten a dollar every time the narrator said "drained on the ocean floor", "never seen before", drain the water" Arghh.. Gave me headache.

Terrible.

[spfalk-753-649077 · 3/10 · 12 February 2019]

So much time is devoted to whether the ship broke apart at the surface or further down, and the show teases you it might be answered or given info to suggest a possible break up, but then all you get is some mysterious model about debris fields that never really is explained, video of stoic men looking at computers, some fancy graphics and no answer or data to back up an answer or model of the sinking. Then a blurb about what it might look like in the future and some stuff about preservation. Waste of time.

Waste of Time

[innabarchuk · 2/10 · 4 January 2020]

This documentary is basically the same few clips played over and over as they constantly tell you they drained the Titanic. Probably only about 10 minutes of useful content.

Not worth my time.

[oceansun-45475 · 3/10 · 3 July 2020]

I truly appreciate the hard work by whom made this possible.

However, the only thing that excites me and perhaps the only thing that holds the whole documentary up, is that the super cool model that scientists were able to create.

Other than that, the whole documentary keeps repeating clips that has already been seen previously in the same documentary, or is just showing some random clips to fill up the talking time towards the end.

And the soundtracks. Gosh I wish there was no soundtracks and that might make the documentary more enjoyable. That's all I want to say.

May be of value as a tutorial on audio-visual hype

[Flickerater · 3/10 · 13 October 2022]

As others here note, the repetition and faux "drama" blunts the pleasure and value of seeing this, even to someone interested in the topic.

Instead of a calm and sane review of what was accomplished, and time to look over the new model, we get an incessantly ominous junk-music soundtrack, constantly tense narration, and camera work that cuts away from every remark as if to mark it as profound or revelatory.

Pretty soon, I too cut away.

Who's minding the store at National Geographic? Who sets the goals, the story-line, and the style guidelines?

Who thinks that "if some drama is good, then more is better, and too much is just enough"?

Really, really bad

[nellysundin · 2/10 · 30 October 2019]

No new informarion at all if you have ever heard about Titanic before. The repetition of the "draining of the sea" footage is really annoying.. I was very suprised that National Geographic was a part of this.

Boring, they just want to pan over the drained field multiple times

[mtxchevy · 4/10 · 1 March 2020]

They are way better titanic docs out there, Boring.

Disappointing and misleading

[kalenalani · 1/10 · 1 June 2023]

I can only agree with most of the reviews here on the poor quality of this feature which seems to mostly wish to keep reminding one of how wonderful their virtual reality production is by showing it over and over again, while not giving much time to actual new insights.

The work done by the scientists is certainly amazing and painstaking, yet I dare to question the validity of what was presented here as new insights. I wrote a dissertation on Titanic for my archaeology degree in 2000 and the evidence for the many small punctures responsible for the sinking had been documented already in 1997 (Ley & Wetterholm 1997, for example). Similarly the rusticles and their bacterial nature were known and documented then as well.

As for the new theories of the breaking up - well, there may be some evidence for it, but as another reviewer mentioned, this could still also have happened differently. Not discussed in this feature are for example the eyewitness accounts which DO speak of a breakup close to the surface, ie most famously perhaps that of Jack B. Thayer.

So things are not as clear cut as is made out here, and while the documentation of the site certainly is fascinating and important for the record, this feature documentary seems to be more concerned with glorifying new technology (whose wonderful results could potentially be wiped out much much faster than the wreck down on the ocean floor) and a sensationalist score (which is highly annoying) than with the work of real scientific inquiry. Sorry, no big points on my score.

Disappointed tbh.

[perpjejensen · 3/10 · 13 June 2021]

Interesting for about 4 min, then you just want to turn it of asap.

The speaker clearly did this for the money, he alone made sure any viewer would simply hate it, in a matter of minutes.

Dont waste your time.

Not worth it.

[sandrazjensen · 2/10 · 26 January 2021]

Fascinating that they managed to expose the ship, but my world was this repetitive. Had me really frustrated before I was halfway through it.