Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashi...
Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashing intellectual parties in Prague. Now being nice on Ciao! UK.
Member since:13.12.2000
Reviews:116
Members who trust:39
Imagine super-ego James Cameron had treated the real life tragedy of the Titanic with the same respect as Spielberg treated the Holocaust in Schindler's List. That would have been a film worthy of some Oscars...instead, Cameron decided the story wasn't strong enough to stand up on its own, and cooked up a cliched upstairs-downstairs romance between Kate and Leo. The tragedy...
Winslet plays Rose, being ferried across the Atlantic for an unwanted marriage with pompous, self-centred aristocrat Cal (Billy Zane). Meanwhile, homeless artist Jack (DiCaprio) wins a ticket in a poker game and dashes aboard, proclaiming to his Stereotypical Italian mate (I am-a Fabrizio) that they are "the luckiest sons of bitches" Oh, the irony!
After rescuing Rose from a half-hearted suicide attempt, the young couple embark on a soppy romance. They consumate this about ten minutes before the iceberg hits...then the movie finally finds its stride. Cameron is clearly more at home with the action elements - after Aliens, Terminator and True Lies, he was always going to fare better with flooding corridors and busting bulkheads than tender romance.
That's basically it. Two kids fall in love, the boat sinks. David Warner has a hammy role as Cal's snidey manservant; Kathy Bates has a hammy role as the 'unsinkable' Molly Brown. Billy Zane relishes his bad guy role, and Kate Winslet manages to bring a cardboard character to life. The worst thing about this, of course, is Leo - so effective in The Basketball Diaries and Romeo + Juliet, he is resolutely unconvincing as the free spirited artist. Smug and self-assured, he doesn't look like he's had a day's discomfort in his life.
Book ended by modern day sequences involving a hundred year old Rose, Bill Paxton seems to be calling in a favour from Cameron in a small-ish role. The special effects veer from dodgy (those CGI people walk like they've soiled themselves) to outstanding (the ship's final crack-up).
Sappy and shamelessly corny, this is history written for the fourteen-year old girls. For a truly heart wrenching account of this amazing tragedy, you can't go far wrong with 'A Night to Remember'.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Drama - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, Patricia Routledge, Thora Hird, Alan Bennett
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
You're quite possibly right...reading this, I can see your reasoning. Somehow, though, I loved the film. I watched it three times in one week (on video), which is very unlike me! Maybe I ought to take another, more considered, look.
When the theatrical release of James Cameron'sTitanicwas delayed from July to December of ... more
1997, media pundits speculated that Cameron's $200 million disaster epic would cause the director's downfall, signal the end of the blockbuster era and sink Param...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
When the theatrical release of James Cameron'sTitanicwas delayed from July to December of ... more
1997, media pundits speculated that Cameron's $200 million disaster epic would cause the director's downfall, signal the end of the blockbuster era and sink Param...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Nothing on earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic. Winner ... more
of eleven Academy Awards., including Best Picture, this sweeping love story sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the globe, ultimately emerging as the mos...
Nothing on earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic the ... more
sweeping love story that sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the world ultimately emerging as the most popular motion picture of all time. Leonardo DiCapri...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Fanatastic, Sensational, Marvellous film with plenty of extra features on 4 Discs Disadvantages: None worth being labelled as a genuine disadvantage
![Titanic [1998] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78258924.jpg "Titanic [1998] [DVD]")
Dec 31st, 2000
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