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Titanic at the Museum of Nature and Science

Contributed by: Stan Dyer on 12/27/2007

There is something special about that ship, the RMS Titanic, which sank over 95 years ago on April 15, 1912. The ship, built in Belfast, Ireland, set sail for America at noon on April 10, 1912 on its maiden voyage and sailed off into history and folklore as well.

The ship first stopped in Cherbourg, France, to pick up additional passengers, including Margaret Brown (the Unsinkable Molly Brown), the Astors and the Wideners. From there, the ship next went to Queensland, Ireland, for additional passengers, and then headed for the open sea. Friday, April 12, 1912 at 1:30 p.m. was the last time the Titanic and most people aboard would ever see dry land.

By now, most people know about the claims made that this new, great ship was "practically" unsinkable and how the bulkheads which were supposed to ensure these claims actually were the secondary cause of the ship's demise. The primary cause of the ship's failure was that iceberg it struck at 11:40 p.m. Sunday night, April 14, 1912. If only there had been enough life boats on board, and if only they had been employed to full advantage.

On board the Titanic when she struck ice were 338 first-class passengers, 279 second-class passengers, 712 third-class passengers and a crew of 908. Only 706 were rescued by the Carpathia when that ship came to the rescue, and later recovery missions would find only 330 bodies. The rest went on to Davy Jones' Locker and eternity. Yet, like a modern Flying Dutchman, the Titanic and its fated passengers continue to sail.

There is such a fascination with the tragedy that it takes very little hype and a very little offering to attract hoards of curious onlookers. It is almost like that wreck on the side of the road that every driver has to slow to take a look at. If a museum had only a scant few artifacts to display, the hype of the story alone would be enough to attract a large crowd. So it is. There is not much to see at the Titanic exhibit, but there are still the crowds and there is still that aura that continues to surround the event. People just want to get close enough to the history to see if they can touch some of the mystique. One of those is actor Bill Paxton.

In a companion IMAX event titled Ghosts of the Abyss, film crews chronicle the adventure of the actor as he goes down to the site of the wreck aboard a Russian recovery vessel. As with most Titanic attractions, there is a lot more hype than product. I always expect to see more of the ship and less of the people in the show, and I am almost always disappointed.

In this feature, the editing crew does a nice job of imposing images of the ship before it sank over images of the sunken Titanic so that viewers can get an idea of what it was like those 95 years ago before the tragedy. In ghost-like fashion, the movie shows where significant people were sitting or standing when significant events occurred. In that respect, the movie lives up to its name. Personally, I believe anything in IMAX is going to be more spectacular than what we are all more accustomed to. I wish the movie spent more time exploring the vessel and the actual history and less time with the antics of Bill Paxton and the crew.

Overall, the Titanic exhibit and the IMAX feature Ghosts of the Abyss rate a "B." For some younger visitors and those who have miraculously escaped Titanic folklore up to this point, it might rate higher. For the rest of us who have seen every Titanic production since 1985, including the movie with Leonardo and Kate, it is just more of the same. Nonetheless, as I said before, people will continue to be fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic and will flock to see artifacts as simple as a man's old hat. It would be just a hat under normal circumstances, but it is special because it is a Titanic hat. The same is true of the ship it came from. Few sunken ships have excited the public in recent years as the RMS Titanic has. The Titanic is and always will be greatest legend since ships starting sinking below the waves.

If you want to see the exhibit or the IMAX feature, you need to hurry. The exhibit ends Jan. 6. Prices are $20 for adults, $14 for juniors (ages 3-18) and students, and $15 for seniors. Adults add $5 to the ticket price to include a trip to IMAX and everyone else add $4 for the same. If you just want to see the IMAX Ghost of the Abyss, the price is $8 for adults and $6 for all others. Museum members pay significantly less. The IMAX show runs through Jan. 17.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Stan Dyer

Arvada , CO

Stan Dyer has posted 916 stories and 113 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Stan Dyer 's average story rating is 4.35.
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