Rating: Summary: Good, but not great Review: This was a great movie to see in the theater -- I saw it twice in 1997 and after the first viewing, researched the reality of the Titanic disaster and was much more moved the second time I watched the movie. To think of over 1,500 people perishing -- and you can pull up passenger manifests online and see that entire families died together -- it was devastating. However, this is an unfortunate movie that simply doesn't stand up to repeated viewings (apparently unless you were a 14-year old girl watching it for obvious reasons). After watching the DVD a couple of times, it hit me that the script was REALLY quite bad. If I had a quarter for every time Rose whines, "Jack, Jack, Jack" I could reimburse myself for the purchase price of the DVD. I tried to find some redeeming qualities in the script, but I couldn't. It's just not very good. The fictional story set against the historical reality is great, but the lame screenplay writing just doesn't do it justice. If the script was reworked into dialogue that wasn't so COMPLETELY filled with processed cheese, this could be a truly great movie. The fact that it received an avalanche of Oscar nominations and won quite a few of them is a testament to the cultural phenomenon of the movie, not the quality of it. Certainly, lesser films have walked away with Best Picture (how "A Beautiful Mind" beat out "Fellowship of the Ring" in 2001 is still beyond me), but whether or not "Titanic" truly deserved Best Picture is one of those things that can be argued either way. For the first viewing, I'd give this between four and five stars. For repeated viewings, it drops considerably.
Rating: Summary: "This is bad." Review: Powerful evidence that good actors can sell even the most ridiculous of scripts to audiences world-wide. Reading the reviews here, I've come to the judgement that those who hated *Titanic* are awfully hard on Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (the female reviewers even griping about Ms. Winslet's hair-color). This criticism is misdirected. If you think these two are bad actors, consider the possibility of such no-talents as Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt in the roles of Jack and Rose. The movie would never have been released, doubtless. Heck, the actors -- and I include Billy Zane as the villainous, millionaire fiancee and his manservant, a hilariously dour David Warner -- made this film a success . . . at the box-office, at least. AESTHETIC successes end up drowned and lost forever by what is perhaps the most poorly-written dialogue for a major Hollywood movie in all history. Director-writer James Cameron is to blame. His first mistake is to assume that one of the most famous and metaphoric disasters of the 20th Century, the sinking of the HMS Titanic on its maiden voyage, somehow needed a PERSONAL touch, in the form of a pair of adolescent star-crossed lovers of the Romeo & Juliet mould. As if there wasn't enough "human interest" in this story already! His ongoing mistake, in terms of the screenplay, is to allow his sheltered, nerdy view of romance in particular and women in general (Cameron's a sci-fi geek, remember) to run grossly rampant. Example? ROSE: "You have a gift, Jack. You really see people." JACK: "I see YOU." -- Or -- "You're no picnic, Rose . . . [but] you're the most amazing, astounding girl -- WOMAN . . ." Aw shucks -- on it goes in much the same manner. It recalls any 10th-grade boy imagining a conversation with the most popular cheerleader in school. Once the ship starts sinking, the dialogue eventually consists of little more than "This way, Rose!" "Jack, Jack!" "Come on!" etc. It's an improvement, I guess. (My favorite bit is when DiCaprio is forced to say "This is bad!" after the Titanic collides with the fateful iceberg.) Again, I feel I must stress that I don't blame Mr. DiCaprio and Ms. Winslet for Cameron's deficiencies as a writer. Everyone hates DiCaprio, but he's undeniably charming here, and it's easy to see how he won the trembling hearts of teenage girls the world over. Also, Winslet works very hard to seem credible (perhaps TOO hard), and she's certainly easy on the eyes (regardless of hair-color). They convince us that they're mightily infatuated with each other. However, their acting talents only serve to bring to garish relief the horrible writing. The THIRD mistake Cameron makes is framing the love-story / shipwreck with a modern-day treasure hunt, in which a 100-year-old Rose is brought back to the site of the shipwreck in order to shed light on a legendary gigantic diamond that supposedly went down with the ship. This plot-strand adds a good half-hour or more to a movie that's already too long. It's illogical too: Old Rose recounts to the modern-day treasure hunters events which she couldn't have been privy to. Finally: the special effects for *Titanic* were groundbreaking, and the ship itself is a marvel to look at; but so what? It's sunk by the script long before it hits the iceberg.
Rating: Summary: Remarkable attention to detail Review: I've been a Titanic buff for many years. Leaving the love story in this movie aside, I found this film to be a fantastic portrayal of the details of the ship itself. This first time saw this film, I found myself not paying any attention to the storyline itself. I was so impressed by the attention to detail that James Cameron gave. The Grand Staircase, the shipboard gymnasium, even casting actors who resembled the people they represented. I hear that even the carpets that were made for the sets were made by the same company that made the carpets of the original Titanic. It would have been so much easier (and cheaper!) for Cameron to skip these details. I thank him for his vision of trying to bring the real Titanic to the screen for future generations to see and appreciate....and of course to mourn.
Rating: Summary: Titanic Review: In my opinion, this is one of the best movies every made. First of all, it is very close in terms of the historical facts. The actual footage shown is simply amazing, and shows Jim Cameron's dedication to his craft. People say that they don't want to watch a film whose outcome is well known. (The sinking.) But Cameron has taken a tragic situation, and shown it to us, so we can learn, and grieve. The characters are wonderful, and the acting extraordinary. Of course, there is no proof the actual characters existed, but they certainly could have, or something similar, and it was a brilliant showcase to the other real stories on the ship. The actual technical details are a masterpiece. No one could have cared more about this film than Cameron. Five stars.
Rating: Summary: Perhaps the most overrated film of all time!!! Review: As was the case with the new version of Pearl Harbor, Titanic does NOTHING to honor those who actually did die abord the great vessel. This film won best picture but I can guarantee you it was mostly due to the graphics that were, at the time, way beyond anything we'd seen before. Leo is depressing. That's right, he's flat out depressing. I felt bad for him and the overacting job he does in this snooze fest. To think that Babwa Walwa's(also known as Barbara Walters) considered Leo one of "Hollywood's most powerful men!" HA. The only thing powerful about Leo's perfomance in this film was his triumphant ability to make me fall asleep. I tell you the truth, most of my incoherant, sleeping pill induced dreams possess more imagination than Titanic. You want plot? Okay, in case you skipped Fourth Grade History or missed out on Common Knowledge 101, we have a big ship. It sinks, a bunch of people fall off like ping pong balls, and most of them die. Of course, we get to see a love triangle in the meantime and eventually witness poor Leo sacrificing everything - including his common sense - in order to save the one he loves. End of film. Sound nice? Well it is, if you like Chick Flicks and Leo. The only thing I liked about the fabricated portions of this film was the end where Leo meets the cold, harsh Atlantic Ocean and....well, I don't want to spoil it for you. Buyer beware: this film is a complete and total chick flick. It spends over 80% of itself focusing on the love triangle and please note: it's perhaps the most nightmarish love triangle ever, excluding the one in Pearl Harbor of course. If that's not enough, you will hear Celine Deon(spelling) sing the song that made her what she is today! Oh, the humanity!! I did give this film two stars because the ending is quite fascinating, especially the scene where the captain sees the water about to crash through his window. Nice effect! Here's to peace, love, and small rafts that only hold one person after a ship sinks! :-)
Rating: Summary: I enjoyed the real-life scenes of the sunken Titanic Review: I went into TITANIC expecting a film geared toward young girls. Therefore, I was not too disappointed. I didn't expect great acting or even suspenseful finalies (we all know what happens in the end anyway). I watched TITANIC to see the massive reproduction of the legendary ship; Cameron's reproduction is 90% to scale of the original. And I am fascinated by the Titanic in its final resting place. Therefore, I enjoyed the opening scenes of the researchers at the bottom of the Atlantic looking through Titanic's remains (my personal opinion is that the wreckage should have been left intact). However, TITANIC disappointed me for reasons I had expected: I didn't like the juxtaposition of fictional characters (Jack and Rose) with real-life survivors of the tragedy (Molly Brown, for example), and I didn't like that many characters were so polarized that they seemed like cartoon characters (such as Rose's evil fiance). But TITANIC would not have worked as a movie without these elements, these elements that annoyed me. And that's why I have to take into account that I am not TITANIC's target audience. The repeated viewings by many teenage girls proves that TITANIC succeeded at its objective.
Rating: Summary: One of the best movies ever made. Review: There's not much to say about this movie except that it was absolutely brilliant!! This is one of the best movies ever made. The story of the Titanic always differs from what source you look at. It was great to finally have all the pieces brought together in a movie. All of the characters were well portrayed and the design of the ship was stunning. This is one movie to add to your collection.
Rating: Summary: At least the ship sinks in the end! Review: Why this movie was such a blockbuster I have no idea. The script is tepid, the direction is OK at best and the performances merely adequate. But hey! It's got that neato ship that strikes an iceberg and sinks! I'm telling you, the last hour of the film makes up for the two hours of preceding boredom. If you hate all the characters in "Titanic" remember that almost everyone dies in the end--and you'll feel better.
Rating: Summary: A Masterpiece Review: Not a lot of movies appeal to me. However, this one makes the cut. It is excellent, a masterpiece. There's action, tons of drama, love, and historical details overflowing this movie making it so wonderful. I would deffinetly recommend it to anyone.
Rating: Summary: Titanic-a true disaster Review: A childish romance-plot is set around the real life sinking of the Titanic.
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