Titanic
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Movie Reviews of Titanic
Movie Review: "Come Josephine, on my Flying Machine..."
Summary: 5 Stars
That is a fabulous line from what could have been a famous flop.
This thing had trainwreck written all over it. I remember the years when it was going through development trouble and then, production hell - with escalated costs and studio distrust. I love it when movies do this. Because sometimes you get "Waterworld." And other times you get "Titanic." I'll take "Titanic."
Let's get this out of the way...
It's the made-up story of a real-life story about a huge ocean liner that sank when it was said that it never would. People, so unlearned by time and advancement, thought that this thing was the "bee's knees." In truth, it was a perfectly capable ship that couldn't do what it needed to do when you needed it. It wasn't designed to make a turn well and and that's why people died.
In all movies, fictional or non, there are things that we just must put in there that isn't real. Since this film was based on a tragedy from a long time ago, most of the truthfulness is hearsay and cannot make a full film. So...
The fiction part is two-part. ONE, a group of water Indiana Joneses want to find a lost diamond last known to be held by a great king. It was somehow passed down to a rich guy on the Titanic and the lead Indy Jones wants it. So, they stay in the water, always trying to find it as they explore the beaten ship. The SECOND part is the main story in flashback about a princess who falls in love with a pauper. And that is about all I will say about the main story, as this way, it may just be more tantalizing to the few who have not seen it. Somewhere along the line IN PRESENT DAY, the princess, who is still alive, finds out about the expedition and wants to help. All 100+ years of her.
There are some implausible things about the film, but I won't go into them, as I don't care. It is that much of a marvelous experience! From the real, present-day footage of the wreckage to the old woman's first seeing of her old picture. The computer graphics are phenomenal, all the way down to how cgi Mr. Murdock walks from a distance, ship and all - to when we see him in full, real, view on deck. Seamless. Mr. Cameron pulled out all the stops. And the endearing characters were as great as the antagonists. Jack and Rose were awesome in line with Hockley and Mrs. DeWitt-Bucater. This thing is not the best film ever, but it did do most everything right. Two scenes stand out in my mind as being incredibly romantic:
A) When we first see the Titanic in all its splendor, docked and ready to go. Many characters that we forget about later are shown for a second or two and that is director Cameron brilliance. We are at least given an idea of these ill-fated bit players.
B) When Rose strips down for Jack and he does an expert sketch of her - it was a complete mesh of sight and sound and Cameron had to have been patting himself on the back. Awe-inspiring.
When it is all said and done, and somehow in the middle of the ocean, this liner filled with aristocrats who load their lower levels with rat-filled quarters, manages to to find the only iceberg within a huge-mile radius. That's when we remember what film we are watching. In fact, for Layman's, there is always an anticipation as to when the doo doo will hit the fan. Like I said, this thing was not built to make good turns. And its maker knew this, as you will see how he deals with his fate. Very depressing.
The very end is climactic and seems like it never ends because once the water starts to seep in, we are introduced to it in REAL TIME. Yes, an entire hour of Cameron writing and direction fills us with just the right amount of suspense until it is all said and done. I was marvelled by it when I first saw it and I still love it till no end.
And, if you notice, a great deal of folklore is included in the movie as Cameron insisted on making history as perfect as possible.
Amazing film.
p.s. - I looked this travesty of human error up on GOOGLE and I was astounded to find out that a great many of the actors portraying real people were close to exact duplicates. The CAPTAIN, played by the Rohan king in LORD OF THE RINGS, was pretty dead-on. Also, Mr. Andrews is EXACT. This kick-ass film even has a script that, with not the best dialogue, has great plot twists and reasons to remember stuff that had happened an hour earlier.
No matter what anyone says, Mr. Andrews is a real humanitarian. A wannabe hero who ends up being very disappointed in himself. And that is a shame. When Superman has the best intentions and still cannot save the world...
Movie Review: Who doesn't love this movie?
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't get enough of the whole Titanic thing. I have 4 DVDs (soon to be 5, with a DVD on the Britannic too!), 3 videos, about 12 books, the script signed by James Cameron... I'm a scary lady! I just can't get enough of it! And I'm even sad enough to have an animated DVD of the Titanic, made for kids. Hey, it's fun!What is most depressing about this DVD is the severe lack of extras. You get a pretty average trailer, and that's it! James Cameron is normally well known for his great extras on DVD (the first two Terminators come to mind). There have been rumours about a special edition coming out hopefully in time for Christmas (someone I know has to keep reassuring me that it will come out!) So I'm hoping and praying for that, as the extras are pretty lousy, for a James Cameron DVD.
I absolutely adore this movie. It still gets me every time I watch it, and although I've never actually cried, I do get a bit teary, but I have to watch, cos everytime I watch it, I've normally got all my makeup on! The whole relationship between Jack & Rose (a relationship which has been copied in many other movies about the Titanic) is so sweet, although they may seem in love, Rose only says it to Jack once and that's when they're both in the water. He never responds - which makes him seem like a bit of a jerk to be honest. But that's the only low point that Jack's character has. Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio are perfect as Jack & Rose, although they could have been any of these actors/actresses: Matthew McConaughey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Biehn (as Cal Hockley, which could have been cool), Christian Bale and Macaulay Culkin. Kate has to appear completely naked in front of Leo (very embarrassing), but she flashed him when they first met to break the ice! When Jack draws Kate, it's actually James Cameron's hands. In post-production, Cameron, who is left-handed, mirror-imaged the sketching shots so the artist would be appear to be right-handed, like Leonardo DiCaprio.
James Cameron got the idea for his own Titanic movie after watching A Night To Remember (a pretty average Titanic movie if you ask me, I mainly don't like it, cos it's in black & white!), and spent 5 years researching Titanic. There are many similarities between A Night To Remember & Titanic. A number of scenes are arranged and in some cases scripted almost identical. This is particularly true of these scenes: Thomas Andrews telling Capt. Smith the sinking is "a mathematical certainty"; the Titanic's band preparing to depart at the end, only to turn around and regroup as Hartley begins playing 'Nearer My God to Thee' by himself (though a different version of the song is used in the 1958 film); a shot of Ismay in a lifeboat as the Titanic sinks behind him; Thomas Andrews looking at a painting as Titanic prepares to sink; and Andrews encountering a man by the Grand Staircase and telling him the ship is doomed (in Cameron's film, he tells Rose).
A very creepy fact: there actually IS a J. Dawson (Joseph), who was on the Titanic and died. Cameron only discovered this after the script was finished that there had been a real "J. Dawson" who died aboard the Titanic. This "J. Dawson" was trimmer Joseph Dawson, who had been born September 1888 in Dublin, Ireland. His body was salvaged and buried at Fairview Lawn cemetery in Nova Scotia with many other Titanic victims. Today, his grave stone (#227) is the most widely visited in the cemetery, all thanks to the movie!
Something else which is quite disappointing about this movie is that the Californian,which had stopped for the night due to the ice hazard and was within sight of the Titanic throughout the sinking, is not featured at all. (Californian's ice warning had been received and sent to the bridge but was not placed in the chartroom.) Many other Titanic movies, most notably the TV version, starring Catherine Zeta Jones & Peter Gallagher, rely heavily on the Californian scenes when the Titanic is sinking.
Gloria Stuart also stars, as the 'Old Rose'. Really, she's only 86, but she had to be aged to 101, which can't have been a pleasant experience - what a scary thought!
This is a terrific movie. Most people love it, although you get the occasional review, especially on here, saying that it's not good. But it's the whole romance about it, and the whole history of it. I am now eagerly awaiting the special edition, otherwise I'll be having words with James Cameron personally! Even a commentary!
Movie Review: Who doesn't love this movie?
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't get enough of the whole Titanic thing. I have 4 DVDs (soon to be 5, with a DVD on the Britannic too!), 3 videos, about 12 books, the script signed by James Cameron... I'm a scary lady! I just can't get enough of it! And I'm even sad enough to have an animated DVD of the Titanic, made for kids. Hey, it's fun!What is most depressing about this DVD is the severe lack of extras. You get a pretty average trailer, and that's it! James Cameron is normally well known for his great extras on DVD (the first two Terminators come to mind). There have been rumours about a special edition coming out hopefully in time for Christmas (someone I know has to keep reassuring me that it will come out!) So I'm hoping and praying for that, as the extras are pretty lousy, for a James Cameron DVD.
I absolutely adore this movie. It still gets me every time I watch it, and although I've never actually cried, I do get a bit teary, but I have to watch, cos everytime I watch it, I've normally got all my makeup on! The whole relationship between Jack & Rose (a relationship which has been copied in many other movies about the Titanic) is so sweet, although they may seem in love, Rose only says it to Jack once and that's when they're both in the water. He never responds - which makes him seem like a bit of a jerk to be honest. But that's the only low point that Jack's character has. Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio are perfect as Jack & Rose, although they could have been any of these actors/actresses: Matthew McConaughey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Biehn (as Cal Hockley, which could have been cool), Christian Bale and Macaulay Culkin. Kate has to appear completely naked in front of Leo (very embarrassing), but she flashed him when they first met to break the ice! When Jack draws Kate, it's actually James Cameron's hands. In post-production, Cameron, who is left-handed, mirror-imaged the sketching shots so the artist would be appear to be right-handed, like Leonardo DiCaprio.
James Cameron got the idea for his own Titanic movie after watching A Night To Remember (a pretty average Titanic movie if you ask me, I mainly don't like it, cos it's in black & white!), and spent 5 years researching Titanic. There are many similarities between A Night To Remember & Titanic. A number of scenes are arranged and in some cases scripted almost identical. This is particularly true of these scenes: Thomas Andrews telling Capt. Smith the sinking is "a mathematical certainty"; the Titanic's band preparing to depart at the end, only to turn around and regroup as Hartley begins playing 'Nearer My God to Thee' by himself (though a different version of the song is used in the 1958 film); a shot of Ismay in a lifeboat as the Titanic sinks behind him; Thomas Andrews looking at a painting as Titanic prepares to sink; and Andrews encountering a man by the Grand Staircase and telling him the ship is doomed (in Cameron's film, he tells Rose).
A very creepy fact: there actually IS a J. Dawson (Joseph), who was on the Titanic and died. Cameron only discovered this after the script was finished that there had been a real "J. Dawson" who died aboard the Titanic. This "J. Dawson" was trimmer Joseph Dawson, who had been born September 1888 in Dublin, Ireland. His body was salvaged and buried at Fairview Lawn cemetery in Nova Scotia with many other Titanic victims. Today, his grave stone (#227) is the most widely visited in the cemetery, all thanks to the movie!
Something else which is quite disappointing about this movie is that the Californian,which had stopped for the night due to the ice hazard and was within sight of the Titanic throughout the sinking, is not featured at all. (Californian's ice warning had been received and sent to the bridge but was not placed in the chartroom.) Many other Titanic movies, most notably the TV version, starring Catherine Zeta Jones & Peter Gallagher, rely heavily on the Californian scenes when the Titanic is sinking.
Gloria Stuart also stars, as the 'Old Rose'. Really, she's only 86, but she had to be aged to 101, which can't have been a pleasant experience - what a scary thought!
This is a terrific movie. Most people love it, although you get the occasional review, especially on here, saying that it's not good. But it's the whole romance about it, and the whole history of it. I am now eagerly awaiting the special edition, otherwise I'll be having words with James Cameron personally! Even a commentary!
Movie Review: One of the Greatest Films of All Time!
Summary: 5 Stars
The 1997 Blockbuster Titanic went on to gross roughly 600 million in the U.S. and a totoal of 1.8 billion including worldwide. No film has ever rivaled the sheer greatness to this epic that also won 11 Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture. That is tied for the most all time with the 1959 film Ben Hur and 2003's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
As for the film, I personally feel it is one of the most enticing, emotional, and thrilling pictures of all time. The story immediatly begins with a "treasure hunt" down to the real Titanic, to which James Cameron actually filmed there and ended spending more time with the ship than the actual passengers. They find no diamond but a picture drawn the night the ship sank. a 101 year old Rose sees the picture and heads to the vessel to talk with the capitan. She ends up re-living the entire experince on Titanic form the day the ship sailed to the night it sank. The story of the real ship mixed with the modern day telling is very effective in the way in which it gives the viewer something to follow rather than just the sinking.
I saw the film twice in theaters and over 20 times at home and still never get sick of seeing the film. The DVD was released in 1999 and to my surprise came out in a letterbox format with only a trailer as the bonus feature. I have to admit I was very dis pleased with the way the DVD was handled.Titanic is a movie that took 3 years in the process and thre are no special features? The truth is , that is what makes Titanic such a great film. It breks genres from a mystery, to a drama, to a love story, and finally to a thrilling race for survival.
I've heard many comments that come up in conversation and on numerous web sites including this, that Titanic was a poor script. Most people who say this have never even attempted much less wrote a script. They simply don't understand how hard it is to write. I will be the first to admit that Cameron is not the best writer in Hollywood,but he is surely better than half. When first hearing of this film being released I was sort of surprised Cameron was going to write/direct/produce with previous film like "The Terminator", "Aliens", "The Abyss", and "T2". He simply pulled it off with flying colors and the true spectacle that is Titanic is that it is a collaberative process. It simply has the best visual effects ever in an epic. The shots of the ship sailing into the sunset, and when it's sinking/ snapping in half are pure technological achievments. The sets off the coast of Baja and the tank that sat in for the drowning people are all amazing.
The film was originally budgeted at 135 million dollars but went over 200 million. Paramount had to bring the extra 65 million because Fox could simply not afford it. It's amazing the movie ever got released. It went from July 1997 to December 19, 1997. The post-production went too long. To end the film on a high note the movies, sound, costumes, editing, effects, and the best musical score of all time make Titanic a movie for the ages. It will forever carry on as one of the best movies of all time.
FANS OF TITANIC. SPECIAL COLLECTORS EDITION DVD TO BE RELEASED IN OCTOBER 2005!
Cameron made the press conference quite some time ago in March. There will be two editions: A 2-Disc version with a new digital transfer of the film in anamorphic widescreen and a branching feature, this means an icon will pop up in the movie whenever a deleted scene will pop up and you can view it from there, but Cameron considers the theatrical release to be his Director's Cut. There will be 58 minutes of unseen footage, and all will be brought up to date. The deleted scens can also be viewed seperatly on the DVD. The scenes will be polished. There will also be commentary by Cameron and possibly Leo and Kate.
THE OTHER EDITION WILL BE A 4-DISC SET.
The first 2 discs wil be the same as the other edition but there will be 2-discs of bonus material. There won't just be a making of featurette but tons of them to deal with ALL aspects of the process from when the idea was first pitched to it's crazy success. There is going to be a Titanic load of Bonus features on EVERYTHING, with the making of to interviwe and everything. I get excited thinking about how Titanic is finally getting the treatment it deserves.
Hope I made my point clear and that you enjoyed my review. TITANIC IS AMAZING!
Movie Review: THAT SCRIPT - I - the significance of rain
Summary: 5 Stars
To be honest, this is more critique than review, so if you're thinking of buying the DVD having yet to see the movie, I suggest you skip this and go straight to the next review or the ADD to BASKET button, which if you do you won't regret. But let's face it, just about everyone's seen this movie and if you have but are still considering purchasing the DVD as a gift or to have as a permanent copy, then you may safely read on because there's no intention here to put you off. On the contrary, I wish to extol the movie's virtues having had what could best be described as a Saul to Damascus conversion regarding a movie curmudgeons such as my x-self seemed to just love to hate.
A great spectacle hampered by a poor script. That appears to be the general feeling about Titanic, and one I used to harbor myself, but nothing could be wider off the truth, now, in my opinion. This script is as highly polished as the floor Cal Hockley slid upon as he chased Rose and Jack through the sinking ship. Those who rate the script poorly are, for one thing, likely confusing script with dialogue and for another, finding fault where there is so little. They're also forgetting, else not aware to begin with, that the characters' spoken lines are the lesser part of the script. They should realise that every picture, sound, mood, every jaw-dropping scene, every moment of joy, love, terror, every smile, frown, wince, lip-waver, and expression of fear on the characters' faces, has been written into the script. Then there's the characterisations, plot, pace, action, backdrops and coincidences, which are all carefully managed, weighted and envisaged by the scriptwriter. And they must all mesh with each other as they must with the dialogue. So this is in defense of a great script and that part of it subject to the most undue criticism, the perfectly formed love story.
When Rose deWitt Bukater sailed under the statue of liberty into New York harbor at the end of her voyage, it was lashing with rain. And significantly, though you'd be forgiven for missing this, Rose wasn't seeking shelter from the rain. Does anyone think the rain wasn't part of the script or that rain wasn't necessary to the story? It seems a trivial detail but to the scriptwriter the rain in the scene is everything. I'd go further and say the movie doesn't work without it. Rain cleanses. It reflects a change of mood. In terms of script dynamics alone, the rain marks the passing of time, and not just the sailing time of the rescue ship, Carpathia, from the disaster zone to New York, but also the eighty-four years separating the stories of young and old Rose. Rain is never just rain. It always has a function in a script. It's a dramatic device specifically chosen and precisely timed by the writer. Whether historically it rained or not as Carpathia docked is neither here nor there and matters not to the teller of this story. Here, more than anything, the rain symbolises a new beginning and the end to young Rose's story with the statue of liberty itself offering its own significance. The rain's also our cue to let Rose go, but without its cleansing, almost baptising effect, she cannot begin to make a new life for herself. Rose has to move on and we have to let her, as though we are steering the script with our expectations. Without the rain, Rose cannot become old Rose.
The script is near flawless, even given the almost cartoonish characterisations of Billy Zane's Cal Hockley and sidekick, David Warner's Lovejoy. But when I ask myself how such a man as Hockley, the spoiled, handsome and eligible heir to a major fortune would react to the provocation of his beautiful young fiancée falling for the charms of some scruffy kid, I expect the answer would be pretty angrily. The dastardly villain might seem a cheap device, but for me it works exceptionally well in Titanic. Watch how long the character tries to maintain his composure and win Rose around - but his shallowness, cowardice and jealousy can't help but surface like scum in the end as he effectively sinks himself in Rose's esteem. Simplistically drawn he might be, but Hockley falls just the right side of believable and with that equal propensity for charm and flying off the handle makes all the right moves for a classic villain...
(more at UK...)