Directed by James Cameron, Titanic was the highest grossing movie ever, Avatar dethroning it only recently. This is a movie that everyone loves to hate now, but I remember back in 1997 when everyone saw in the theater, sometimes several times, it was a hell resounding success. In the end, came to see the weeks after the open (I was not a film buff back then loll), and as an impressionable child, I was pretty blown away.
Titanic was at the time the most expensive movie ever with a budget of 200 million U.S. dollars. The best aspect of the film has all the details that went with recreating the ship and its sinking of the screen. From costumes to furniture and silverware, Cameron really was able to immerse the viewer and make him / her part of the film. The film is visually stunning from start to finish. The disaster of the film is just fantastic and really living the tragedy through each of the characters. What would happen in such a large scale disaster? Cameron has a big job to keep the focus on the two main characters. We never cease to care for them, even in the midst of disaster.
The screenplay is written by Cameron himself, but effective, is only for single, unoriginal and full of cliches. Each character comes on screen are stereotypical caricatures. The rich are greedy and arrogant, despising the poor and is selfish because of their social status. The poor are essentially good-matured, noble and compassionate. Basically, everything is black and white with no shades of gray, dumped down and manipulated so that the viewer has absolutely nothing to reflect upon.
Production values are first-rate as you would expect from a big budget film. CGI effects are still quite satisfactory over a decade after. The photo is great and fantastic, while the film music of James Horne’s memorable and is still one of the most recognizable to this day.
A well-conducted melodrama set in the magnificent backdrop for one of the greatest tragedy in history, Titanic is a timeless epic, despite a relatively average and unoriginal central romance that feels flat and forced