The RMS Titanic sunk into the depths of the Atlantic in the early hours of April 15th 1912, and it remains one of the most famous non-natural disasters in all of recorded history.
1,500 people lost their lives, and Hollywood has always been a little bit in love with its story. So to recognise itss anniversary, here are some of the most popular (and perhaps some of the better, lesser known) times that the Titanic has been represented in the entertainment industry.
Saved From The Titanic (1912)
Co-written and starring one of the survivors of the disaster, and released just twenty-nine days after the sinking took place, the movie has since been almost entirely lost due to a fire at the studio where the prints were kept. Just a small portion was saved, and eventually uploaded online.
Titanic (1943)
A further six Titanic-based movies were released, but this was the first one to incorporate the real life event with fictionalised plot-lines. The production was personally overseen by Joseph Goebbels, who incorporated a German First Officer on the ship as the hero, and the British as villains.
The film was shot on the German cruise liner SS Cap Arcona, which went on to be used as prison ship and was accidentally sunk by the Royal Air Force during WWII, resulting in over three times as many deaths as the Titanic.
A Night To Remember (1958)
Still considered the most accurate retelling of the tragedy, this was the Titanic movie before James Cameron and Celine Dion came along in the late '90s. Oddly, the director went on to get stuck in a career directing low-tier horror movies, such as the rather brilliantly titled (but badly received) The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires.
Bob Dylan - "Desolation Row" (1961)
The closing track from his album Highway 61 Revisted, Dylan sings "praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn", and mentions that the poets Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot are pictured as "fighting in the captain's tower".
Dylan would return to the topic for his 2012 album Tempest, with the title track going on for 45 verses across 14 minutes, taking a lot of inspiration from the 1997 movie.
Raise The Titanic! (1980)
Scientists are trying to find a rare mineral that can be used in lasers to shoot nuclear weapons out of the sky. However, the mineral has been pretty much entirely mined, but it's discovered that there are large quantities of it in existence... on the Titanic! So guess what they do?
To date, it's still one of the biggest box office disasters of all time, making back less than 20% of it's budget in cinemas.
Titanic (1997)
It won all of the Oscars and made all of the money, and you've all already seen it. But maybe you haven't seen this alternate ending to the movie, which completely changes the tone of the whole film, resulting in large bearded men shouting at an old, frail women.
Futurama - "A Flight To Remember" (1999) / "The Mutants Are Revolting" (2010)
The comedy animation show tackled the sinking ship twice. The first time with a spaceship named Titanic that sinks into a black-hole (but not before Bender falls in love, and snatches a priceless jewel), and again for a "land-ship" that sinks on April 15th 2912 when it hits a trash can.
Britney Spears - "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000)
The plot of this first single from Brit's second album appears to be that she's a red-catsuit wearing Martian, who dances provocatively enough to get an astronaut to fall in love with her. But he's also a deep-sea diver, and got the 'Heart Of The Ocean' for Alien Britney, who didn't really want it in the first place. Music video plots are weird.
Doctor Who - "The Voyage Of The Damned" (2007)
Another spaceship version of the famous ship, which crashes into the Doctor's TARDIS, and it's up to David Tennant's version of the time and space-travelling hero to save the day, including none other than Kylie Minogue as a waitress on board.
Downton Abbey - "Episode One" (2010)
This is kinda how the whole thing kicks off, with the heir to the Crawley's family dying on board the Titanic. You probably forgot all of that thoughy because of how awesome Maggie Smith was, and because of all the bodice ripping.
Titanic II (2010)
A "bigger, faster" ship that sets sail on the same route, on the same date as the original. Yes, a very well thought through idea. But global warming causes a giant tidal wave to send a large iceberg straight into the new and improved ship.
"It looks like history is repeating itself", says one of the 'characters', while managing to keep a straight face. Give that man an Oscar! Also, the tagline is "100 years later, lightning strikes twice", implying lightning had something to do with it the first time around, which is just too funny to properly articulate.
