Titanic: Blood & Steel

In addition to a spate of television documentaries, 2012—the centenary year of the sinking of the RMS Titanic—saw the Criterion release of A Night to Remember (VL-5/12); the theatrical reissue of James Cameron's blockbuster 1997 Oscar-winner (VL-9/98) in 3D; and two new British miniseries, one a four-part retelling of the ship's doomed voyage, broadcast on ABC (VL-7/12), and the other this 12-part behemoth shown on Encore. Actually a prequel, Titanic: Blood & Steel concentrates on the building of the vessel in Belfast rather than on its (brief) career at sea. But like all of the romanticized treatments of the tragedy, it focuses on class prejudice (here between the rich owners and the poor working families), exacerbated by religious differences, early efforts at unionization, and—if you can believe it—business disputes over the quality of steel being used in the construction. Unfortunately, it's hard to become emotionally invested in the soap-operatic travails of Mark Muir (Kevin Zegers), a supposedly brilliant metallurgist who must hide his Catholicism from his Protestant employers while trying to juggle his interest in two young women—one wealthy, the other lower-class—with his devotion to his job. The rest of the top-billed cast—Derek Jacobi, Neve Campbell, and Chris Noth—are only sparingly seen. Although visually appealing, this turgid series begins to take on water quickly, and it's a long slog to a finale laden with foreboding. Extras include a “making-of” featurette and a segment on the visual effects. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)