Rating: Summary: Spectacular Effects, Ok Storyline Review: The most expensive telling of the Titanic ever made. Director James Cameron spares no expense in the effects to bring the story to life. Like most Titanic movies, this one too is set around a love story (featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet). The effects are spectacular, the story is only good, and for this it loses a star. Too much time is spent telling the fictitious love story that several important facts are omitted from the script. More then likely they ended up on the editing room floor. Otherwise, a spectacular movie with incredible attention to technical details. Also features Kathy Bates ("Fried Green Tomatoes", "Misery"). The soundtrack is okay, but we suggest the second release "Back to Titanic", a much better collection of music.
Rating: Summary: Eh. enough schmultz Review: .... i have to say that anyone giving this movie 5 stars isBLIND to the fact that this movie is just like every hollywoodmovie. a lot of time and effort was put in this, but what about feeling? NONE. it's just eye candy for the guys, and a cheesy, unrealistic love story for the Leo girls to drool and cry over. how can anyone expect to get a film with feeling and real emotion from the guy that directed the Terminator? come on! the acting was ok, but cheesy and over done, and in some cases not done enough. sure i felt tears in my eyes, but that's just because i'm still vulnerable to Hollywood's false emotion. END
Rating: Summary: Grandiose schmaltz skillfully presented Review: This is much better than word of mouth led me to believe. Of course the script is corny and full of simplistic sentiment and it panders shamelessly to mid-brow sensitivities, and there's no question that the main intent is to jerk mass tears (but we could have guessed that from the subject). Still the cinematography is wonderful, Kate Winslet is captivating, and the plot clever. This is an old time Hollywood movie made not only to seduce the audience, but the Academy as well. And it succeeds. Billy Zane is perfectly one-dimensional and completely familiar as the conceited and selfish, immoral heir to a Gilded Age fortune. Kate Winslet as his intended is a ravishing beauty with oomph and a mind of her own. Leonardo DiCaprio as the wily and clever sketch artist who seduces her while twice saving her life comes across curiously as part Huck Finn and part John Boy. His romantic bravado in the freezing water, saying he was so lucky to have won the steamship ticket because it allowed him to meet her, was enough to embarrass even the most hardened Harlequin novelist. Most of the action before the bow scene was almost painful because just about every line was written so that a ten-year-old could understand what he was supposed to feel about whom. Evil, decadent rich people. Good, clever, hard working poor people. (They even party better.) Cliché followed cliché. But the romantic bow scene was artfully staged, and after that Kate came to life. It was strange to see her in the early scenes. She seemed almost a bad actress, as though the mediocrity of the direction had reduced her. But her part was so big and she had so much to do that her natural talent overcame the early junior high school text and the later schmaltz. Since the audience knows the ending, Director James Cameron knew he had a fine opportunity for dramatic irony, but his touch was a bit heavy handed, e.g., as they're boarding, a guy says, "We're the luckiest sons of bitches in the world." And since the audience knows eighty-five years of history unknown to the Titanic passengers, we get these further heavy bits of irony: On Picasso: "He won't amount to a thing. Trust me." And, "Freud, who is he? Is he a passenger?" My sensitivities were most offended, however, when Cameron has the savage crew smugly celebrate their good fortune before the safe they have hauled up is actually opened. That was the tip off for everybody in the audience to wisely know there would be little of value in the safe. Duh. In real life those guys don't celebrate until the gold is in the hand. Cameron's style is to flatter the audience, make them think they're smart, the usual pandering of a mediocre talent. Cameron even tries his hand at some cheap symbolism, i.e., mommie tells Rose that she must marry this suffocating and insufferable man because they need the money (as she vigorously tightens Rose's confining corset). All right. Why did the Academy vote this best picture? Simply because it was a popular lavish production squarely in the Hollywood tradition, employing a whole bunch of movie folk, and it was a financial success, just what the industry craves. I should add that everything technical in the film was excellent, and Cameron's dramatic direction was a lot better than his dialogue. Also, because of the exquisite detail, watching the big ship sink was a whole lot of fun.
Rating: Summary: HIT THE BOAT, JACK ! Review: Due to peculiar circumstances, two little children and a genetic hate for the movie of the century syndrome, I haven't seen director James Cameron's TITANIC while it was theatrically released. I haven't seen it on VHS tape either. BUT I finally saw it on DVD. And I must admit I haven't had the slightest desire to stop the DVD player during more than 3 hours. TITANIC is a very entertaining movie with two or three scenes worthy to stay in Movie History. The search for survivors amidst hundreds of frozen corpses is a visual knock-out. What I liked the most in this movie is the way James Cameron has described the Atlantic Ocean. Royal, without a single wave, cold as an indifferent killer. Nature vs Culture : the eternal fight. Good actors and good music. That's all. A DVD which is not the movie of the century.
Rating: Summary: fantastic! Review: this movie is a masterpiece.extremely great acting,cast and titanic ship that took three years and a few months to make,just for this movie
Rating: Summary: DiCaprio Ruined It! Review: This film could have had much potential as a true masterpiece, however it was instead absorbed into sugary teeny bopper culture with the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio as the main character. This is supposed to be the best selling movie ever, but that is merely because ditzy little twelve year old girls went to see it 12 times each. It is good to see once, and only once. Rent it, don't buy it.
Rating: Summary: You have got to be kidding me! Review: Ugh! This was a recommendation for me! How? This was by far the worst movie I have ever seen. I wanted to give it it no stars but this program would not let me. I could not wait for the boat to sink. It trivialized the true event by turning it into a trite and unbelievable love story.
Rating: Summary: Winner of the 1998 Best Ship Award Review: I wish the Oscars had a category for "Best Ship". Then, Titanic could have justifiably cleaned up on all the technical awards and the "Best Ship" award. But barring the existence of such a category, it justifiably netted Best Picture. I was first drawn to see "Titanic" for two reasons. First and foremost, I have been a Titanic nut since childhood and was thrilled by what I had heard about this film. Second, I saw one of the teasers in which Billy Zane was chasing Leonardo De Caprio and Kate Winslet through a water filled room on this sinking ship and shooting at them. The premise of being chased and running for one's life on board one of the greatest maritime disasters of all times struck me as highly original. The story was a bit shallow and in some cases poorly executed. For example, when Kate Winslet described the Titanic as a sort of gilded cage, I simply did not believe her. Even if she hated her oppressive marital engagement, I doubt she would have had such a view of the ship. Despite the mediocre plot, the actors did perform well. Leo and Kate were charming, and Billy Zane--a very underrated actor--was marvelous. The most impressive performance, however, was that of the ship. The reproduction and special effects were simply astounding. Usually I don't give a damn about such things, but in this case I was truly impressed. Days later, I poured over Titanic books and photos and could identify specific photos based on how precisely the film had reproduced them. The ship was also splendid in her live performance before the cameras of the Russian submersible. She was a haunting and beautiful sight in her watery grave. Although I dismissed the plot as being rather meaningless, I was surprised to find that many people in Mainland China loved it. I went to China in 1998 and was frequently asked about two things: Bill Clinton, and "Titanic". When I told one woman that the plot had not impressed me that much, she replied that I had to understand how incredible it was to an audience in mainland China that two lovers could defy their social class in order to be together. I guess the post-structuarlist theorists are right: no matter what a creator's intention, individuals reinterpret (and essentially recreate) a work of art from their own unique perspectives.
Rating: Summary: Not the best Best Picture Movie Review: The special effects are unforgettable. The movie itself is not forgettable. But I don't think it should have been a Best Picture movie. This movie was definetely overrated at the time of release. However, the movie is enjoyable and somewhat likeable. Nothing more than that, though.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant! Review: This movie is absolutely fabulous (although I saw it on MoreMax). The scenery was shockingly realistic, the roles were acted to perfection, and the romance between the fictional Jack and Rose seemed like a real tragic love story aboard the "Titanic." Worth paying the thirty dollars to get the VCR version. Rated PG-13 for nudity, strong language, and disaster-related violence.
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