EXPEDITION: BISMARCK (2002/James Cameron)

James Cameron's 92-minute film Expedition: Bismarck is incredible.

It shows what is possible in cinema and world ocean exploration. Cameron and his team go to the sunken wreck of the German Battleship Bismarck.
They film the Leviathan. They weave an amazing story with modern footage and stock film footage of the real Bismarck when she was in Hitler's Navy, the most fearsome and powerful battleship ever to be built at the time. (Japan's YAMATO would eclipse the Bismarck in size, and arguably, in Legend).

I am personally fascinated with the story of the Bismarck, and to see the survivors in the flesh was emotional viewing. Yes, they served Hitler's Nazi Government, but they were men who did their duty, without question, for their Nation, and they survived hell. You can hate them, despise them, yes, they sunk the HOOD, yes, they committed crimes on the seas. But that is war. All bets usually are off in full-scale war. You must close-with and destroy the enemy at all times. Here James Cameron shows his humanity. He takes these survivors out to the exact spot where their comrades died, where the Bismarck sank. They throw a wreath to the sea from the deck, and it is powerful, very emotional. The men break down as they remember what happened at this spot in the Atlantic. James Cameron has great respect for these men, these German sailors, and it is only right to Honor them and their sacrifice when you are going to be running your camera and sub over a watery war grave, one that has extremely emotional and cultural and historical resonance.

The entire British navy was after the Bismarck. Winston Churchill made it quite clear to everyone what had to be done. The Bismarck had to be sunk. Nothing was more important.The Bismarck sunk the Hood with one fucking salvo. Churchill didn't know how many ships he could lose at the hands of the Bismarck. If it can sink the Pride of the British Fleet with one salvo, then Christ, it can sink the whole lot!
Long story short, the Brits sink the Bismarck after attacking relentlessly, after losing rudder power. The Bismarck was dead in the water. Nowhere to go. The ship was scuttled. I'm convinced. And I'm convinced because Hitler didn't even bat an eye at losing her. He didn't even care about it. Never gave a second thought. He never did care much about winning the sea war, especially when he gave a U-Boat Captain the Iron Cross for sinking many British ships and asked him how he thought the war was going on the seas. He replied: Stop building tanks. Build more U-Boats. We have them on the ropes with our U-Boats. Hitler scoffed: You don't know what you're talking about!
He didn't take that advice. So if he won't build more U-Boats, then why would he think of building another giant battleship like the Bismarck? He wouldn't. He didn't care about the war on the sea. These are my thoughts here, not Cameron's, by the way. I'm not sure what he really thinks of Hitler. He probably hates his guts. That's my best guess.

The underwater footage of the wreck is fascinating, otherworldly. And even though I saw this on only a 36-inch screen, you got a nice sense of the SIZE of that fucker. It was a Massive battleship. You see the massive trench left in it's wake as it slid down a mountain ridge on the ocean bottom. It slid like, a mile and half or something before it rested upright where it is now. CGI mock-ups show us how the ship sank and ended up where it is now. Bismarck was as big as the Titanic. Only Wider. With 15-inch guns. Insane armaments. State-of-the-Art for it's day.
Cameron's submersible is expertly piloted, they planned everything down to a T, and the results are glorious. Before he enters the sub, on the surface, he intones how they always have safety first, and that even though they always check everything over and over, it could be one ten-dollar thing that causes a disaster. It's brave to do what he's doing. What if that submersible got trapped inside (or outside) the shipwreck? What if some freaky thing happens where the ship shifts and it topples onto your sub, pinning you there like a sardine in a can? I would worry about that kind of thing. Deep-sea underwater exploration is not for sissies. James Cameron has balls of steel. I love the man. You can hate him, I know people really hated his "King of the World" Oscar speech, that it showed his Ego, but I don't begrudge him that. He's done some really cool things that you and I will never do. Will you go to the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck in a submarine? Um, No. Will you go to the deepest part of the Ocean in a submarine? By yourself? Um, No. Will you have Stanley Kubrick phone you and say "Jim, Bring over a print of your movie. I want to watch it with you in my home, discuss it in depth" Um, No. He did. The Man Rocks.
And he's Canadian, Eh.