On April 15, 1912, one of the biggest disasters occurred that left thousands dead. I’m of course talking about the Titanic which was one of the largest ships ever crafted by man at the time. It was made to carry wealthy people and immigrants to America and was considered unsinkable but it sadly sank after hitting an iceberg along its route. The popularity of the famous disaster would only increase by a cinematic blockbuster in 1997 James Cameron directed Titanic, which was based on the events of the tragedy while also telling a separate love story about two people who fall in love aboard the ship but are separated by their social class. Can the story still stand on its own today after decades of remaining?
84 years after the Titanic sank, an old woman named Rose is shocked to see some of her old artifacts being resurrected by scientists including a drawing of a younger version of Rose. she along with her daughter are brought along to a ship so rose to explain to the scientists about the story of her experience on the Titanic. In 1912, a young Rose (Kate Winslet) is brought on to the titanic with her wealthy family but she is not amused knowing that she’ll be forced into marrying someone she doesn’t love afterward. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his friend Fabrizio De Rossi win titanic tickets through a lucky hand in poker and hop aboard the ship just in the nick of time. The ship is full of luxury and accommodations for almost every passanger aboard the ship. While drawing people on the ship, Jack comes across Rose trying to commit suicide by jumping off the ship. Jack convinces her otherwise and the two of them start to hit it off with each other much to her finance and family’s dismay. Their romance may have to wait though as one night the ship hits an iceberg and starts to sink putting many people’s lives at risk.
The story is obviously based on the actual sinking of the Titanic in 1912 but it also features a blooming romance between two fictional people. The great thing about this movie is that it’s great at balancing the fictional story with the almost accurate real-life events that happened aboard the Titanic. The romance could be argued to be too Lovey-Duby for some people but in my opinion, Jack and Rose’s relationship is great as both of them come from different social classes with often bounce off each other when they try to get to know each other. It could be argued that the scenes with the accurate events of people aboard the Titanic might not be 100% accurate, but it’s easy to tell that the filmmakers wanted to be as faithful to the events as possible and it shows in their execution as it really feels like being in a different period of time when people were treated rather differentially than they are these days. The only thing I would complain about is the length of the movie as I don’t think 3 hours are really needed to fill out the run-time, thankfully there is enough entertaining pleasure to forgive some of the film’s longevity.
The Effects are so dang good that they still hold up to this very day. There are many impressive camera shots and scene panning that make the movie feel huge and fantastical. For the most part, it’s hard to spot what is CGI and what isn’t as the movie is clever in blending its practical effects alongside the digital ones. The look of the Titanic is beautiful and historical, it’s obvious that a lot of research went into making the film look photo accurate to the many recovered pictures of what the inside and outside of the titanic might have looked like. When it comes to the sinking of the Titanic, it’s as perfectly shot and perfectly suspenseful as it can get. It’s a visual splendor in a tragic sort of way as it is guaranteed to make you feel for the many souls that had to die in one of the most tragic events in history the name James Hornor may seem familiar to you as he’s composed the music for movies like Braveheart and Apollo 13 and for Titanic, he sure does bring hi A material. His compositions are whimsical, romantic, and dramatic when necessary. The main song for the movie is none other than the award-winning “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion as it captures the romance between Jack and Rose perfectly.
The Titanic sinking is a part of history that is unfortunate, and the movie is great at balancing that feeling while adding its own romantic subplot to make for a lovely piece of cinema. James Cameron’s Titanic has a historical/romantic story with likable characters, amazing effects that still hold up to today’s standards, and a music score that is fantastical and tragically sad at times. It’s arguable whether it’s one of the greatest films of all time or not, but even with having some minor nitpicks, I think Titanic is a cinematic classic that stays true to the events of the tragedy while telling a romantic story that is sure to melt the hearts of audience members everywhere.
(Final Grade: A-)