For a ship that sank, the Titanic has gone on to make a lot of
money. James Cameron may have spent years working on "Titanic", but now he’s
milking his cash cow for all it’s worth. First the initial release, then again
on Valentine’s Day, and now fifteen years later we get to see the ship go down
in 3D. Audiences just can’t seem to get enough of the doomed ship. So despite
all the hype surrounding the film, how does it hold up after all this time?
Let’s just say it’s not sitting at the bottom of the ocean. Concurrent with the
100th anniversary of the actual Titanic sinking, James Cameron saw a
shameless PR opportunity and took it, giving a whole new generation a chance to
experience titanic in all its brilliance.
"Titanic" opens as the determined explorer Brock Lovett (Bill
Paxton) is hopelessly searching for a rare diamond that was said to be lost in
the wreckage of Titanic. Hearing about his search through the nightly news, an
aged Rose Calvert (Gloria Stuart) recognizes the necklace that once belonged to
her and is flown out to the research site in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
A bit skeptical, the team of researchers does not believe the old woman is
telling the truth until they hear her own tragic tale of the Titanic and how
she survived. It is here that we launch into the story of Rose and Jack, played
by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, which proves timeless. Despite James
Cameron’s choppy dialogue, the youthful and reckless story of the rich girl and
the poor boy plays out well. The immaculate scenery and complementary
cinematography of the grand ship hasn’t aged a day.
The 3D effects, something I
was skeptical about, were actually done quite tastefully. The subtle effects
help exaggerate the depth perception and help with the scale of the ship,
making it appear even bigger than before. Something I wasn’t prepared for was
the endurance that it takes to watch Titanic in its entirety. It is both
emotionally and physically draining to sit through the three hour movie,
drawing the sinking out to epic proportions. Cameron wants us to be fully
attached to the ship and every single one of its passengers before we watch it
sink. Rose jumps, then jumps again, and then doesn’t jump before the ship
finally goes down. While at some times the pace is exhausting, it does the real
life tragedy of the titanic justice. The real Titanic was more than a love
story; it was a human tragedy, albeit one that Cameron has been milking for
fifteen years. Thankfully for Cameron, his cash cow has stood the test of time.
Written and Directed by James Cameron
Starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton
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