SNMR 3.2: "Titanic"

Ninety-five years ago tonight the largest maritime disaster in history occurred, when the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg (at 11:40 pm) in the North Atlantic Ocean, on her maiden voyage from England to New York. The disaster killed roughly 1,500 people who mostly froze to death in the icy waters. The ship sank at 2:20 am on April 15th.

In memory of those who died in this tragedy (and those that survived it), tonight's SNMR feature is "Titanic" (1997, PG-13, 194 minutes), starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart, Frances Fisher, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, Victor Garber, Jonathan Hyde, David Warner, and Suzy Amis. The film was written and directed by James Cameron. This film was nominated for fourteen Academy Awards and won a record-tying eleven of them in 1998, including Best Picture and Best Director. I'm watching the three disc Special Edition.

I saw this film twice in the theater when it first came out, back when I was a married man, and loved it both times. I've always had an interest in Titanic and was curious and a bit skeptical at first how well this movie would be made and received. Since this film, Kate Winslet has been one of my favorite actresses. The only criticism I had was that there was no dedication to either the victims or survivors in the end credits, that I recall, in the original release of the film. An excellent web-site for more information about the ship can be found here.

From Martin & Porter's DVD & Video Guide 2007, p. 1158:

Writer-director James Cameron has, against all odds, come up with an old-fashioned-style classic in the oft-told tale of the sinking of the luxury liner. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are perfectly cast as the vulnerable young lovers from opposite ends of the social strata who find true passion before the ship inevitably collides with an iceberg. As are Gone With the Wind and Casablanca, Titanic is a touching story against a cataclysmic backdrop with universal emotions and timeless grace.

From Muze, Inc.

Featuring spectacular special effects set amidst the backdrop of one of the most tragic events of the 20th Century, James Cameron's award-winning TITANIC stands as one of the greatest Hollywood spectaculars of all time. Beginning with an undersea expedition in the 1990s, in which scuba divers are searching the sunken ship for lost relics, a painting of young Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) is found. This triggers a flashback to the young woman's story as it happened on the doomed Titanic. Rose is a daughter of privilege on her way to be married to an arrogant but wealthy young man (Billy Zane). Despairing, Rose finds herself falling in love with Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a carefree and poor young artist who is also aboard. When the great ship strikes an iceberg and begins to sink, Rose and Jack have only each other as their world falls apart around them. Director James Cameron spared no expense in bringing his simple yet powerful love story to life, building a 90% scale model of the ship, fussing over the tiniest details, and ultimately spending some $200 million dollars. A worldwide smash, Titanic received fourteen Academy Award nominations and 11 wins, including Best Picture. Despite all the lavish sets and special effects, the film would be nothing without the emotional core provided by stars Winslet and DiCaprio, who give star making performances as the tragic young lovers.

This film is awesome. Good historical fiction, which this is, seamlessly blends the fictional characters with real life people and events so that it's hard to tell who or what is real and what is not. The cast is superb. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance is underrated. The script is excellently written and flows well for a film over three hours long. Attention to detail in re-creating the ship and peroid costumes and events is not perfect, but still very well done. The transition between real wreckage footage and model shots is seamless. The special effects regarding the sinking of the ship are top-notch. I've always been a fan of the special features included with most dvd's these days and the ones included on this three disc set are well done and very informative. There is a reason this groundbreaking film won so many awards - a must-own for any movie or history buff. If you haven't seen it in a while it's time to go back to Titanic, again. You can find this Special Edition for less than $14. This film gets five out of five stars.