Talk about sabotaging a bestseller! This Cold War Era thriller about a massive effort to raise the legendary Titanic was a complete botch. If you haven't read Clive Cussler's imaginative, but right-wing thriller about a gigantic defense shield that will protect America, then you might enjoy this soggy saga. Long, boring, with few action interludes of any cinematic significance, "Raise the Titanic" is a complete waste of time. Richard Jordan isn't a very charismatic Dirk Pitt and the word is that the failure of this mega-budget movie sank Cussler's Dirk Pitt franchise until "Sahara" came along to revive it. They are raising the Titanic because it may have hidden in its waterly bowels the secret element to make a defense shield feasible. The ending truly sucks. It appears as if the liberals got their hands on this movie. We don't get the defense shield in the movie because that would make us villainous! The two decent moments in this dreary adventure are the opening scenes set to John Barry's unforgettable theme music that recounts the construction and voyage of the Titanic. Later, Alec Guiness gets to put the old flag on the cruise ship after it is raised. Avoid this debacle!