Titanic

Rating:
Summary: The most triumphant romance film of all time
Review: Titanic

Score: 98/100

It's a commonly asked question around the world these days, "How many times have you seen Titanic?" Well, it just so happens that I would rank up there with the people who have seen it over 10 times, as I have seen it 13 times. It's an instant classic of a movie that ranks up along the movie it's pays dedication to, A Night to Remember. In fact, it's better.

Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) is a treasure hunter looking for a famous diamond among the debris of the Titanic. He finds a sketch in a safebox in which a young woman is wearing the diamond on a necklace. After showing the drawing on a TV program, Rose Dawson (Gloria Stuart), an old lady comes forward claiming to be the woman in the drawing. She is brought to the explorer's vessel to help them determine the location of the diamond, but instead she tells everyone the "real" story of Titanic's sinking. She was a 17 year-old rich girl (played by Kate Winslet) sailing to the USA to get married with Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). Her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) was forcing her to get married so she felt trapped inside her own world. During the trip she tries to commit suicide and she is saved by Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a third-class passenger who travels around making pencil drawings. They get to know each other better until eventually they fall in love which causes trouble for Hockley and Ruth who try unsuccessfully to keep them from seeing each other. Amidst all this confusion the Titanic hits an iceberg and starts to sink...

There is no question about it, Titanic is a landmark. It not only won 11 Academy Awards, but it left a space in my and other critics heart's which is not often fulfilled. It is hard for me to go to sleep at night without thinking about the disaster of the R.M.S Titanic, and I have the crew of this movie to thank for that. The film's technical department is remarkable, they actually built a "new" Titanic to make this movie, and it was well worth it. The sound and effects are truly breathtaking, while the editing and cinematography are beautiful and add a spark to the film. James Cameron's direction effort is brilliant, he may be a show-off about this movie now, but why shouldn't he? It's a masterpiece and it deserves to be praised highly by it's director and everyone else in the world.

Add to that a sizzling romance between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, some amazing set decoration, a heartpounding and heartbreaking score & an end sequence that is truly unforgettable and you have what is the closest the world will ever get to the best romance film of all time.

Rating:
Summary: James Cameron may be King of the World...
Review: ...but he's also King of the World's Most Overrated Movie (actually, I'd tie this with that atrocious sci-fi videogame for pseudo-intellectuals, "The Matrix"). With "Titanic," Mr. Big-Budget Blockbuster himself attempts (and I really stress the "attempts") to fashion a rags-meets-riches romance set aboard that tragically doomed vessel, with results as icy as the Arctic. By watching this movie, you can easily tell it's from the man who brought us FX-heavy offerings like "Aliens" and "Terminator 2," and the reason those movies succeeded is because the characterizations were up to snuff with the eye candy. With "Titanic," Cameron (who wrote some...or all? of the script) nurses along a chemistry-free romance between Tiger Beat pinup Leonardo DiCaprio (who would've been wise to redeem himself by playing Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho," but what do I care), and the abominably Victorian Kate Winslet (who fared slightly better in this year's "Quills," but not by much); where audiences and critics saw a romance for all generations to cherish, blah blah blah, I saw two woefully beautiful people choked by a script that gave them the usual "rich-girl-falls-for-poor-boy" cliches, all while CGI special effects and expensive set design ran them over like cockroaches. Maybe I'm in the minority because I'm not a little girl or a lonely housewife, but I can STILL feel my bottom shifting uncomfortably in my seat as I watched this movie 3 years ago.

Rating:
Summary: Good...But WAAAAAY Overated!
Review: This film is an equally divided story between the Titanic and the Romance between the main charecters. I'm sick of hearing people say this movie was 'original'...The Titanic was real and sunk(obviously) and the love story has been SO overdone that it hurts me! There are only 6 ways to tell a love story and the formula here is one of the most popular and overdone. If you ever saw 'Tarzan', heck, or even 'George of the Jungle' then you seen the love story in Titanic. Girl from right side of tracks in discontent, meets boy from wrong side of tracks, girl's rich, storng and handsome boyfriend gets jealous, boy does 'fish outta water' when he....yada yada yada...blah blah blah. Predictable.

Another thing i don't understand was Leo's charecter. Why do people love him so much? is it only cause Leo was playing it?...The charecter had NO faults whatsoever...I'm sorry, but even the best 'good guys' in the best stories have faults. thats what make them so good and believable. Leo's charecters was obviously *just* a charecter. there was no sense of realism about him.

Just because this is the all time best money making movie doesn't mean much. The *only* reason this is number 1 box office money maker is cuz most of the female audience went and saw it again, and again and again...I bet we all know someone, or at least know someone who knows someone who has seen this in the theatre anywhere from 5-15 times. I know of three girls. And yes, one of them saw it in the theatre 15 times. I swear there must be something subliminal here that called them all back.......isn't that illegal now?

The real good thing about this movie is the story of the Titanic itself. Now we all know it sinks, but the story is *how* it gets there. This film does a good job of making you feel you are a passenger of Titanic and are really there when the stuff hits the fan(or the ice berg) You may even weep for all the ill fated people. I did...that shot of the old couple spooning and as sure as tears are rushing down their cheeks, the cold ocean water is rushin under their bed....that shot gets me every time.

The authenticity of the sets to what the Real Titanic was and had was remarkable. Definately a A+ for effort for Cameron there.

Overall, yes, this is a good movie, don't be scared away from the predictable love story...to me, this movie is truly about Titanic...of course it is, even the title says so :-)

Rating:
Summary: A film to remember.
Review: The Titanic is a symbol of fascination for millions of people, its tragic story weaving a web of enchantment in our minds. Many films have tried to capture the events of the great ship's demise, but none of them can compare to James Cameron's "Titanic," an epic of grand proportions. The sweeping grandeur and large scale used for the film bring the Titanic to breathtaking life, and Cameron's attention to meticulous detail makes this recreation superior to all others. His insertion of a fictional love story does not bog the movie down, but gives it an emotional terminal with which the audience can connect.

The opening sequences begin the story of one man's dive down to the great hulking wreck of the Titanic, sitting in total darkness, its metal giving way to strands of rust and decay. Some of the footage used for this section is reality-based, which gives the film a more authentic as well as emotional feel to it. Here we are, watching the Titanic as it is today on the big screen, something the people who lived during the time of its sinking never even dreamed of. This is one of the many contributions to the scale factor of the movie, and seeing it in its decrepit yet intact form on the ocean floor is guaranteed to provide a chill or two.

This man combing the wreck is Brock Lovett, who is hunting down a diamond rumored to have gone down with the ship in 1912. His expedition brings back a small safe from one of the many staterooms aboard the ship, but when they pry it open, the only thing they find it piles of decayed money and a single portfolio with a drawing in it. The drawing is of a woman, naked on a divan, wearing that same diamond he is hunting. Now as luck would have it, his interview with a news crew provides a glimpse of that rare work of art, drawing the attention of Rose Calvert, who immediately calls Lovett and heads out to the ship's location.

This is the point at which the tragedy of the ship's maiden voyage begins, as Rose begins to recount her experiences from the time of departure to being picked up by the Carpathia in the morning hours of April 15th. She boards the ship with an overly selfish mother and a dashing yet arrogant husband, both of whom wish she would conduct herself in a more civilized manner. From the introduction of this relationship, we immediately get the feeling that Rose feels weighed down by her situation, wanting nothing more than to break free and be the person she wants to be, without all the wealth and fancy accommodations of high class society.

She finds an outlet, of course, in Jack Dawson, with whom she develops a friendship as the ship makes its first voyage across the ocean. Their chance meeting takes place at the stern of the ship, where she is about to throw herself into the sea, only to be talked out of it by Dawson. From that point on, they spend much time together, giving Cameron a chance to build their bonds while surrounding them with all the glorious detail and spectacle that is the mighty ship. Decks, rooms, dining areas and saloons are all faithfully recreated here with a style and flair that clearly looks back to the Gilded Age, where nothing was considered too fancy or over-the-top if it looked expensive enough. Cameron's attention to detail keeps us from haggling over historical accuracy and allows us to follow the human story he embodies in Jack and Rose.

Rose continues to see Jack, but feels threatened when Cal voices his commanding opposition to her escapades onboard. Her mother also gives her a stern lecture, ripping into her with past events that have left them in a situation they cannot break free of. At least her mother can't, but Rose does not care; he knows what she feels for Jack, and in the last hours before the ship's collision with an iceberg, they do everything together. Jack draws Rose's portrait, the same one from the beginning of the movie, they make love in the backseat of a car in the storage deck, and cause all sorts of little mayhems all aboard ship. This sets up the second half of the movie in such a way that we wish it would never happen. We have come to love and care for these characters as much as they do for each other, so that when things begin to get harried, all we want is to see them survive.

This aspect of the movie is worked quite nicely; the love relationship between Jack and Rose needs no more time to be further developed because we already believe in their love for one another, and it is this relationship that connects us with the real story behind the Titanic's sinking, and that is the human drama. People actually died on this ship; it sometimes is a forgotten piece of information, but Cameron, along with his cast of thousands, is able to evoke emotion and feeling for these people as the final moments come to a close.

As the ship sinks, the movie settles into certain questions: What would you do in those situations? Who's going to survive? Will Cal try to win Rose over again, or will his arrogance and pride get the better of him? And how will it all end? The answers unfold, pretty much one right after another, allowing us to pay more attention to the technical details of the sinking as well as those involved in key scenes. Cameron places his fictional characters into places that lead to historical shots, from the lowering of certain lifeboats to the actions of the passengers. We are also witness to the somewhat hostile treatment of the third class below decks, who are not allowed up onto the top deck to evacuate the ship until first class has finish loading, adding to the emotional buildup while keeping the story moving and authentic.

This movie gives us unique perspectives of the grand ship, before, during and after its intense demise. The use of computerized effects in addition to scale models and life-size sets all contribute to making the audience wonder what is computer and what is reality. But what's even better is that the effects are so good that we barely spend any time pondering that question, and watching them will leave you awestruck and breathless. Everything is perfectly placed, seamless and true to life, and vividly recreates every nuance of the Titanic's life with austerity and grandeur. I felt that the special effects, while being plentiful, did not weigh the story down; they tell the story.

The cast for this movie is superb, with our star-crossed lovers Jack and Rose being played by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. This is probably the only movie I'll ever be able to sit through that has him in its cast, but he does quite well, and he and Winslet have an intense chemistry that is believable and never questioned. Yes, it's possible Cameron cast him for the sake of bringing in a larger audience, but he is able to play the part, so there's no reason to complain. Winslet is the most complex character, experiencing emotions from both sides, and her decisions and thought processes are conveyed beautifully by the actress. Billy Zane is the pompous Cal Hockley, and Zane practically resurrects the social attitudes and circles of aristocracy through his performance, embodying manipulation and evil while also possessing a minute amount of fear when things call for desperate measures. Rounding out the cast are veteran actress Gloria Stuart, playing Old Rose with wit and emotion, Bill Paxton in the role of Lovett, Bernard Hill, Francis Fisher, Jonathan Hyde and Victor Garber, among others, and all of whom bring added life and angles to the storytelling.

"Titanic" is universal in that it offers something for everyone: visuals for the FX aficionados, a romantic love story for those with soft spots, and a historical accuracy unparalleled by any other film. This film brings Titanic back to life, puts you on those decks with our characters, and then pulls them out from under you as its story's intensity heightens. The success of this film is as colossal as its subject matter, which makes it one of the best motion pictures of 1997 as well as of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Titanic
Review: I went to see James Cameron's "Titanic" just because I thought it would be an interesting movie. Leonardo DiCaprio was in it and I wanted to see him. But I came out of that movie theater not caring if Leo was in it or the special effects or how long it was...my heart was breaking at how those poor people suffered. 1,517 men, women and children died frozen to death. I know James Cameron turned this movie into a sappy love story...but he still got the message across. Because of his movie I have done tons of research on the Titanic. I have read the official Senate transcripts, read newspapers, seen documentaries, and been to the Titanic museum in Florida...I feel for all those people who perished unnecessarily. I pray that their souls rest in peace. So many things went wrong on that fateful trip that it seems inevitable that such a disaster wouldn't occur. But as for the movie...it was great. Mr. Cameron did a wonderful job in getting me to see and feel for this tragedy. If it weren't for him and his movie I wouldn't have known or even cared about what happened on April 14, 1912. In school they don't show you what happened they just tell you the ship went down and give you dates and figures. Kudos to James Cameron for his wonderful movie!

Rating:
Summary: THIS FILM IS ALRIGHT
Review: I ONLY WENT TO THIS FILM BECAUSE IM INTO ANYTHING ABOUT THE TITANIC,[I HAVE 5 BOOKS,AND A BOARD GAME,ALSO THE HEART OF THE OCEAN NECKLACE]

I DONT CARE MUCH FOR WINSLET OR DICAPRIO,BUT THE SHIP ITSELF WAS NEAT,ONE DUMB SCENE IS WHEN OLD ROSE DUMPS THE NECKLACE INTO THE WATER!

ONE OF THE BEST LINES IN THIS FILM IS:THERES WOMEN AND CHILDREN DOWN HERE!

Rating:
Summary: Trememdous entertainment... historically inadequate
Review: Notice how I didn't say inaccurate. I am certainly willing to concede alot to Mr. Cameron for his dramatic license. However, having viewed 'Titanic: Death of a Dream' which I believe was done by A&E I have to take issue with the fact that some very glaring deficiencies were nowhere to be found in this somewhat fanciful drama. Although I certainly feel that the shipboard events were sufficiently dramatized if not necessarily perfectly. I personally would have liked for the film to have emphasized to a greater extent the fact that the majority of the third class passengers couldn't read or speak english and the effect that had in the evacuation. Or the fact that the radio men were too busy sending personal messages of wealthy passengers even after they had initially been advised of the situation. The list goes on and on.

And despite my better judgement and initial expectations I have returned to the film over and over again with great enjoyment. And on the positive side I learned something that other films be they documentaries or dramas never really emphasized, the fact that the majority of passengers who were left in the water froze to death. Even though that's perfectly logical I just had never thought about that.

Nonetheless the film is epic and Mr. Cameron has created a marvelous film. Grandiose in its spectacle and true to the spirit of the overall event.

And I just have to mention that Celine Dion's My Heart Goes On is for the first time in many years, in my opinion, a song and a performance truly worthy of the academy award. Powerful and heartfelt.

All criticism aside it is a film truly worthy of the Best Picture designation.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhere In Time with a boat!
Review: Well, James Cameron surely viewed the movie Somewhere In Time to help him for the storylines!! But Somewhere In Time with low budget in 1980, is a more better TRUE LOVE and ROMANCE story than this movie and also to me a better movie. In Somewhere In Time, the love between Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour (What a beautiful women in this movie!!!!!) is credible and the story focus on their love. Surely, the Titanic story would help any average scipt to be a success. To me, Kate Winslet is beautilful and delivered good acting but it is not her best performance.

Plus:

Somewhere In Time refers to 1912 too!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Abyssmal Film and the Great Escape
Review: There's a lot that can be said about Titanic. From a cold, objective viewpoint, it is not the best made film of all time. James Cameron's blue lightbulb returns with a vengeance, lighting up every night-shoot as it did throughout Aliens, The Abyss and Terminator 2. The acting is not the greatest ever, Leonardo Di Caprio emulating a Hollywood pretty boy and not the great character actor that I firmly believe he is. The music is syrupy and over-emotional. The script falls flat in far too many places to make a coherent whole. The computer graphics are just that: computer graphics. The cross-barrier love story is passé. The incredible historical accuracy is blown by a poorly-timed middle-finger 'birdy' gesture (not invented until years after the Titanic sailed). Cameron's stubby fingers that draw a gratuitously nude Kate Winslet are clearly not Di Caprio's. The final hour and a half's over dependence on special effects divorces you from the love story, so the ending does not move you. And, worst of all, it spawned an annoyingly gushy song. From a cold, objective viewpoint, Titanic is appalling.

From a warm, subjective viewpoint, Titanic is great. It is one of those few films that completely sucks you into its world and smothers you in every nuance of the story. In hindsight, you can slag it off all you want, but whilst you're watching it you forget you're watching a film, and you forget you're you. Your own life be damned, you care about Jack and Rose as if they are parts of yourself. It's as if you're wearing blinkers; you're so absorbed, you're on the Titanic and sailing onwards towards a fateful rendezvous with destiny. You want to be Jack Dawson, and you fall in love with Rose just as he does (unless you're a girl, in which case I'm assuming it's the other way around). It sounds cheesy, but there are so many people I know who claim that Titanic changed their life, and I'm one of them. Jack Dawson's 'make each moment count' philosophy meant that I followed my dreams rather than doing a stuffy university degree course (English Lit and Psychology). It works as a painkiller too - any time you want to escape your own life, just watch Titanic, and for three hours nothing matters to you more than the poignant intrigues of two characters onboard the tragically-fated liner. There is no tangible reason as to why this film is so absorbing, given the objective viewpoint, but there is something there that prevents it ever getting boring and keeps drawing you back into its soporific world. Titanic is truly a monumental moment in film history, and a treasured classic you'll keep returning too.

Obviously, it depends on your viewpoint as to whether you'll like this film. I heard plenty of people saying it was an hour and a half too long, that the opening half of the film is nothing more than a chick flick and could have been ditched in favour of the last half. To those people I'd say: try and switch off your objectivity. If you open yourself to this movie, turn off all the lights, unplug the phone and watch it with a genuine sensitivity, it cannot fail to seduce you and charm itself into your favour. Unlike other films, it has that ability to convince you it's entirely real. It's an escapist's dream. So not only do you get a video, you get a whole other world. That can't be half-bad, now, can it?

Rating:
Summary: Bad, Bad, Bad, and more bad
Review: What can I say.... I am female, late thirties, and found this movie to be one of the more banal attempts at story telling that I have seen in a long time. One dimensional acting, predictable story line(and I am not talking about the sinking of the Titanic), and idiotic dialog make for an almost laughable project. An excellent example of a public relations machine convincing the general public that they were watching a "work of art". In truth, the only redemable items about this movie are the cinematography and costume design. But pleaseeeee, don't waste your time.