Not Drowning But Waving [Titanic II Week]

The iconic departure scene in Titanic I was flipped in post-production so that the ship would appear to betravelling in the right direction. As a result, the number of left-handed people seen waving from the deck is disproportionately high - I don't know about you but that completely ruined Titanic I for me. Talk about jumping the shark!

A more commonly discussed Titanic I story is the fourth funnel - a structure added to the ship's design for aesthetic reasons. The Titanic had three engines, three propellors and three functioning funnels. It has been suggested that the film should not have shown anything emerging from the fourth funnel.

However there is genuine confusion about this amongst Titanicologists - according to some sources the fourth funnel was used for deckchair storage, but others point out that steam and smoke from the ship's galleys would have escaped through this route. In addition, many of the original White Star Line posters seem to show four plumes, while this movie clip, seen in the first third of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On video, seems to show only three.

To confuse matters even further, here's a photo from the front page of the New York Times - what exactly would you say was going on here? So I think we should cut Mr. Cameron a little slack on this one.

Meanwhile, if the trailer is anything to go by, the Asylum seems to have neatly sidestepped this controversy in Titanic II by not having any steam at all. I'll report back on this in my review of the film.

You can read more about Titanic I bloopers, genuine or otherwise, here at the IMDb. However there is one omission - I can't find any mention of those highly improbable scenes where people are clearly seen dancing without moving their arms.