en ▁and ▁cred ibility ▁is ▁stra ined ▁here , ▁real istic ▁technical ▁effects ▁make ▁the ▁str icken ▁ship ▁and ▁the ▁efforts ▁of ▁its ▁surv iv ors ▁to ▁escape ▁a ▁fairly ▁spell binding ▁advent ure ." ▁Vari ety ▁called ▁the ▁film ▁" a ▁highly ▁imag in ative ▁and ▁l ust ily - produ ced ▁m eller " ▁with ▁" some ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁exc iting ▁sequences ▁seen ▁in ▁years ." ▁Gene ▁S isk el ▁gave ▁the ▁film ▁three ▁stars ▁out ▁of ▁four ▁and ▁wrote ▁that ▁" the ▁film ' s ▁technical ▁excell ence — special ▁effects , ▁production ▁design , ▁and ▁the ▁stars ▁doing ▁their ▁own ▁st un ts — holds ▁one ' s ▁interest ." ▁Charles ▁Cham pl in ▁of ▁the ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁Times ▁wrote ▁that ▁" the ▁special ▁effects — the ▁genu in ely ▁remarkable ▁production ▁values ▁and ▁technical ▁w izard ries — s we ep ▁everything ▁else ▁aside . ▁Are ▁the ▁characters ▁as ▁ga ud y ▁and ▁thin ▁as ▁c ere al ▁boxes ? ▁Is ▁the ▁dialog ▁b anal ▁and ▁shr ill ? ▁Is ▁the ▁moral izing ▁heavy - hand ed ▁and ▁rel ent less ? ▁Is ▁the ▁h ok um ▁a ▁bit ▁thick ▁even ▁in ▁the ▁context ▁of ▁a ▁show mans hip ▁special ? ▁Well , ▁yes . ▁But ▁who ▁car es ?" ▁Gary ▁Arnold ▁of ▁The ▁Washington ▁Post ▁wrote ▁that ▁the ▁film ▁was ▁" str ict ly ▁formula ▁h ok um , ▁but ▁reason ably ▁diver ting ▁if ▁one ▁doesn ' t ▁ask ▁for ▁more ▁than ▁the ▁film m