mad about movies' blog

movie review - titanic

 abuse

For my first crack at this I decided to go for it and review Titanic, a movie whose fans I have discovered tend to be very sensitive of any criticism. In reviewing comments about this movie on other forums I have been surprised at the amount of vitriol generated at those who are critical of it.  

I’ll start by confessing that I probably went into this movie with a tainted attitude. I am an amateur historian and I had done quite a bit of research on the ill fated voyage of the Titanic. I was excited to learn that a movie was being made about the event with modern special affects. The first sign of potential trouble for me was when my then 14 year old niece announced that Titanic was her favorite movie and that she had already seen it twice. That made me a tad wary.

I remember the N@O review giving the movie 4 stars with the only comments “In a word, spectacular”. In terms of special effects I do think they did an excellent job of recreating the Titanic and the actual sinking, but past that there was little about the movie that intrigued me. In my opinion it was as if they spent 95% of their resources on special affects and then at the last minute grabbed a Harlequin romance novel off the shelf to create the primary subplot. The love story was predictable and all too familiar. A spoiled rich girl with an ambitious mother is slated to marry a rich jerk. Full of despair about her dilemma she meets a penniless bloke who teaches her the true meaning of life and love (including how to spit correctly).  We then have the required gratuitous love scene, this time in a car stored in the cargo hold (where I’m sure passengers could easily get to.).

The most laughable scene in the movie is when Kate Winslet’s character wades through subfreezing (salt water freezes at less than 32 degrees.) water to rescue the newfound love of her life by chopping up the chains with an axe that her evil fiancé put on him.  I’ve been in 50 degree (a great dealer warmer than Titanic) water and I can tell you that your ability to function evaporates quickly, although I admit that I was not at the time motivated by infinite love.

The sinking was depicted dramatically and realistically, and a powerful scene for me was when the band played their final song and then expressed gratitude to each other before going on to their fate. Otherwise I knew just what to expect from the love story subplot and was not disappointed in my predictions. Perhaps most silly was Winslet’s character returning to the site as an old woman so she could toss into the sea the priceless necklace she had kept all those years.

In my opinion the primary demographic of the biggest fans of this movie is women and girls who fell in love with Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. He represented the ideal man, good looking, sensitive and willing to stay alive with his love until he knew she was safe.  The most telling sign of that is when I read that in a graveyard in Halifax for Titanic victims whose remains had been recovered and identified, flowers started showing up a grave with the name R Dawson on the stone.  That R Dawson, I understand, was an engine room worker and only by coincidence had the same first initial and last name as the adorable character depicted in the movie.

Fortunately for the Movie industry, my opinion matters little. Quality movie or not, and I say not, it made big bucks and is still viewed as a classic in many circles.  If you disagree go easy on me, remember, it’s just a movie!