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MythBusters Answers Titanic’s Biggest Question: Could Jack and Rose Both Have Survived on That Board?

Oct. 10, 2012 1:06pm

It’s something every teenage girl at the end of the 1990s seeing Titanic for the fifth time was thinking: Leo DiCaprio so could have fit on that wooden board instead of freezing in the water and dying. Now the popular show MythBusters has finally taken the time to weigh in on the topic with its expert reenactment skills.

In James Cameron’s 1997, 11-Academy Award winning film, the female lead Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) is left at the end floating on a wooden board in the freezing Atlantic after the White Star Line ship had floundered. Her lover in the film, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is in the water and ultimately freezes to death. At the time, die hard Leo fans felt both Rose and Jack could have fit on the debris and survived.

MythBusters Finds Titanics Rose And Jack Both Could Fit on Board and Survived

Jack and Rose in the final scenes of Titanic, the 1997 film. (Image via GeekOSystem)

The Discovery Channel show has officially tested this theory to see if Jack could have floated alongside Rose who was rescued little more than an hour later. Mythbuster’s Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage — two grown men — in the episode “Titanic Survival Results” try to get on a similarly sized piece of wood in the San Francisco Bay for their test.

“When we first got on, it felt anything but stable. Just like the movie and the small scale test we did,” Mythbusters said. “It felt like we would tip at any moment.”

MythBusters Finds Titanics Rose And Jack Both Could Fit on Board and Survived

Mythbusters tests out whether two people could have floated on the board while awaiting rescue. (Image: MythBusters screenshot)

Naturally, the duo had an idea to “spread the buoyancy around.” They took off the life vest Rose would have been wearing and strapped it underneath the wood. This kept them as a pair out of the water for the most part.

Watch the clip:

“However noble Jack’s intentions might have been, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor,” Hyneman said. “With all we’ve learned, I think Jack’s death was needless.”

Mythbusters then goes on to inform Cameron, who was a guest on the show, of their findings. When informed that the couple both could have survived on the board — had they thought to strap the life jacket under it to add more support and propped their bodies up out of the water  – Cameron says “I think you guys are missing the point here.” That point being that the script says Jack dies.

Cameron does acknowledge that maybe movie makers should have made the board a little smaller to ensure the plausibility of Jack’s required death.

Mythbusters wasn’t the first to take on this more-than-decade old question though. Earlier this year, a couple jokingly posted an image on Imgur showing all the different configurations of how Jack and Rose could have both fit on the board.

MythBusters Finds Titanics Rose And Jack Both Could Fit on Board and Survived

(Image: Imgur via Huffington Post)

Although less of an actual test compared to Mythbusters, the image makes its point too.

But, as Cameron said during his appearance on MythBusters, it was in the script and no matter what “the dude’s going down.”

This story has been updated to correct a typo. 

(H/T: GeekOSystem)

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Comments (44)

  • SquareHead
    Posted on October 11, 2012 at 9:52pm

    Myth busters lost all credebillity when they tried to disprove the moon hoax using a construction light as the sun. Only that they kept it 30 feet away from their model, instead of 5 miles to keep it to scale.

    I supposed on silly trivial silly things like this, they have no reason to lie.

    Report this comment

    SquareHead  
  • Cruelnunusual
    Posted on October 11, 2012 at 6:41am

    Did those two fruits test the 69 position? They probably went with the doggy style.

    Report this comment

    Cruelnunusual  
  • steelpanther
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 7:25pm

    I remember when I was in high school my mother making me go watch this with her and my father. Seeing an annoying pretty boy jerk bite it was the only thing that made the film worthwhile to watch, do not take this away from me. Course giving them a hard time because they made me go to a movie with a naked woman in it to also helped make it worthwhile.

    Well directed movie, but it tried too much to be art then entertaining. It was too long, and as a 16ish year old boy, boring as all h e double hockey sticks.

    Report this comment

    steelpanther  
  • StargateSG1fan
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 6:54pm

    To bad Mythbusters didn’t test their theory in “Sub Zero” arctic conditions in the middle of the night. Not to mention the fact of “Hypothermia!” Besides “The Princess Bride” is a far greater movie than “The Titanic” hopefully “The Princess Bride” will be released back into movie theaters too!!! (As Original Version).

    Report this comment

    StargateSG1fan  
    • KangarooJack
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 7:16pm

      As you wish.

      Report this comment

      KangarooJack  
    • Ilikepeople
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:04pm

      I don’t watch Mythbusters, for exactly the reason you stated. In many ways they are misleading like as you pointed out the water temperatures, and they didn’t get the physical emotional beat-down the pair received either. Mythbusters didn’t just watch a ship they were on go down with hundreds of people on board either.

      Report this comment

      Ilikepeople  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:30pm

      @STARGATESG1FAN
      The Princess Bride is a Great movie, I’ve seen it many times. I DO hope they don’t try to re-make it and ruin it.

      Report this comment

      Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • Cosmos102
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:05pm

      Inconceivable!

      Report this comment

      Cosmos102  
    • Jaycen
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:50pm

      @KangarooJack

      I think what you meant to say was, “Aaas yoooou wiiiiiish!”

      Report this comment

      Jaycen  
    • Jaycen
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:51pm

      @Cosmos102

      You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

      Report this comment

      Jaycen  
    • Jaycen
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:51pm

      A battle of wits? To the death? I accept!

      Report this comment

      Jaycen  
    • trurl
      Posted on October 11, 2012 at 1:51am

      They did test the hypothermia angle as well and found that Jack could not have survived long enough to be rescued but Rose, on the board and mostly out of the water, could have…barely.

      Report this comment

      trurl  
  • SilaSez
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 4:30pm

    Had Rose, as Jack asked her to do, stayed in the lifeboat, he would have had the board all to himself, neither one needed to die had SHE followed HIS simple request, stay in the frickin’ row boat, but no, SHE couldn’t let a MAN tell HER what to do, so in large part, SHE killed HIM…..lol

    Report this comment

    SilaSez  
  • Balpit
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:45pm

    That photo where “Jack” and “Rose” are playing cards…why does Strip Poker come to mind?

    Report this comment

    Balpit  
  • huey6367
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:37pm

    This is worthy of discussion how? That is why MythBusters is tackling that.

    Report this comment

    huey6367  
  • eCharleen
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:13pm

    No joke. I thought this the first time I saw her hog the entire thing! Thanks for getting to the bottom of it.

    Report this comment

    eCharleen  
  • EXPERT ON MY OPINION
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:11pm

    I had always wondered why the all of other people (possibly in the hundreds) in the water desperately fighting to survive just ignored Jack & Rose & the prime piece of real estate that they had laid claim to, Finders Keepers I guess

    Report this comment

    EXPERT ON MY OPINION  
  • 762x51
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:07pm

    Jack only survives if he has the same 21st century dry suits as the Mythbusters. Both people on the board would have died from hypothermia in minutes. In the north Atlantic you have about 5 minutes before death because of the water temperature, if you are wet you are dead only the time varies based on the amount of immersion, not the final outcome.

    Report this comment

    762x51  
  • Anadara
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:48pm

    Fantasizing about an alternate ending to a movie? My alternate ending is where BHO is on the Titanic and all the life boats are gone.

    Report this comment

    Anadara  
  • Failbhe
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:41pm

    Who cares about the board? They spent 45minutes of the movie swimming around in the frigid water that had flooded the ship. They both would have died 5 minutes into all that drama.

    Report this comment

    Failbhe  
  • Eastinfection
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:28pm

    So he wouldn’t have to edit the footage for “Full Screen TVs”, Cameron used a special camera that is now pretty standard and as a result:

    The “Full Screen” version had slightly more nudity than the “Wide Screen” version.

    Report this comment

    Eastinfection  
  • Slowman101
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:16pm

    Jack knew what was coming. He knew that Rose would be a high maintenance woman and that he would endure years of backbreaking labor to support her lifestyle so he chose to bite the bullet and go down.

    Report this comment

    Slowman101  
  • midnightvelvet
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:13pm

    I’m sorry…when I dream of men, Leonardo DiCaprio isn’t even in the running. Can that guy even grow a beard yet? I actually preferred the “bad” guy. He was cuter. I’d let him on my floating, carved door any day. I actually snickered when Leo sank. I’m a bad person, I guess.

    Report this comment

    midnightvelvet  
    • Lord_Frostwind
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:22pm

      I’ll give that dude props, he was smart enough to take control of that overturned lifeboat and kept people from swamping them. About is far from being noble as it comes, but he was still alive and saved a lot more people than Rose and Jack.

      Report this comment

      Lord_Frostwind  
  • RedSpotinaBlueState
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:09pm

    I thought about that every time I watched that movie. if they had climbed on at the same time from opposite sides of the board, they could have both climbed on and balanced. But yes, if Jack was going down regardless, they SHOULD have made the board smaller to make it plausible

    Report this comment

    RedSpotinaBlueState  
  • atechgeek
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:45pm

    Jack was smart and could see the future nagging. He chose wisely.

    Report this comment

    atechgeek  
  • banjarmon
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:40pm

    NO…cold water …hypothermia = DEATH!!

    Report this comment

    banjarmon  
  • coyote1hell
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:38pm

    Really..?..who cares..?…

    Report this comment

    coyote1hell  
    • ryesta7971
      Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:21pm

      yeah…who cares about knowledge!! Let’s all get back to listening to politicans lying to you

      Report this comment

      ryesta7971  
  • tweetybird
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:32pm

    Um…..this was a movie. Why is this even a question? Besides, if Jack had lived all the girls wouldn’t have been all googly eyes for him.

    I agree with TSUNAMI_22.

    Report this comment

    tweetybird  
  • IrritableGimp
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:32pm

    Err, it was a movie…does it really matter?

    Report this comment

    IrritableGimp  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:30pm

    Interesting.

    Report this comment

    Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • TSUNAMI_22
    Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:10pm

    MythBusters Answers Titanic’s Biggest Question: Could Jack and Rose Both Have Survived on That Board?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFZrzg62Zj0

    Report this comment

    TSUNAMI_22  

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