Student Analysis

My analysis of Longitude will mainly touch on the actual technology of the H line of maritime chronometers. The innovation is depicted accurately in the movie, with Harrison going over his work for many, many years with rigorous weeks or even months of testing. It serves its purpose on the sea and lines up with the sources I used for this project. The innovator John Harrison was appropriately recognized and honored for his work. This was mainly in the second plot of the storyline with Rupert Gould, who was dedicated to restoring Harrison's H1. Harrison was discredited in the film not by the director but by the committee, which thought his H4 "wasn't good enough according to their own tests" because one of the members wanted to win the cash prize for himself and thought he could outdo Harrison. I don't really believe there were any real social implications. The implications of the maritime chronometers were economical, with the British Navy buying loads of them. Along with the economic implications, it's no coincidence that the British Navy dominated the seas before other countries, thanks to their maritime chronometers. 

Even if the two stories go slowly and have a lot of information, it is very well done, so I was interested the entire time. It is incredible what John Harrison went through while developing his clock so that sailors could use it to help them navigate even when they were at sea for an extended period of time. It seems the monetary reward he was pursuing from the stupid award committee gave him a worse time than the Nobel committee and his fellow scientists ever would have. The Jeremy Irons character was on a similar quest in the other plot thread, which took place many years later; as a consequence, his marriage struggled even more. Because it appeared that the harm to his private life was largely self-inflicted and that he may not have made a good spouse even in the best of circumstances, I found his plot to be a little less compelling. Although I doubt I'll ever feel the desire to see Longitude again, it was worth watching. The ratings from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes are fair for the film, in my opinion, although IMDb has more user ratings than Rotten Tomatoes for this particular movie. I just wish there was more content about this movie, whether it be on YouTube or users on forums talking about it. It's not too old of a film compared to some assigned for this project, being made in 2000.