Voyage of the Damned

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Cast: Faye Dunaway, Max Von Sydow, Oskar Werner, Malcolm McDowell, Orson Welles, James Mason
Genre: Drama/War 1976
Running time: 155 mins. 
Rating:★★½

This was not your standard passenger list. Some were concentration camp victims; others were well-to-do travelers. Most left everything behind to try and escape the Nazi terror. But none suspected the shocking course their voyage would take. As days became weeks, the passengers would unite in a heroic flight for freedom.

Though based on a true story and starts with a bone-chilling piano score and hauntingly beautiful Art Nouveau architecture, the film quality is only TV worthy. Perhaps it adds to the terror that lies ahead, but one is unsure in the beginning. But it is assured that it is indeed more of a BBC film or intended for theatre than the silver screen as the film continues. No one can deny that the performances were spectacular and the well-written script, guiding the illustration of how the war struggles took a great toll on everyone, on board, personally. This however, does create much tension on the passengers interaction with one another. One must ask why anyone would consciously allow passengers from opposite sides of the war on one ship? Propaganda, yes, but the film hardly holds my attention, so I don't really care.