Forget the 200-million-dollar-plus price tag as long as you do not have to pay extra, it should in no way effect your opinion of this film. Instead, take "Titanic" for what it is -- a mammothly entertaining and involving film epic that shows its audience what movie magic is all about, big time.
While this film is not perfect, it has so much charm and heart that only a true grouch would deny its emotional and visual power.
Director James Cameron is the man that deserves most of the credit for this film's success. A notorious perfectionist, he is said to have obsessed over every detail of this film, including the types of rugs used on the boat.
The attention to detail shows. The film is stunning to look at, and it dazzles the eye with some of the most majestic and surprisingly subtle special effects ever captured on celluloid. The film's use of new technology to recreate an old world is breathtakingly convincing.
The actual sinking of the ship is meticulously, even poetically filmed. Cameron, who is used to directing slimy space aliens, slimy sea creatures and, scariest of all, Arnold Schwarzenegger, gets as much action, drama and genuine suspense out of this story as any human being has a right to expect and in the process manages to tell a convincing love story.
At the heart of the film is the deceptively simple relationship between Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). It is the basic rich girl/poor boy scenario with Billy Zane complicating matters as the rich boy that is engaged to the rich girl. Zane is hissable and hammy in a role that would probably not be so much fun to watch if it were played by a better actor.
Of course, it does not hurt the film any that Cameron has employed two of Hollywood's most talented young actors to play the doomed lovers. DiCaprio and Winslet radiate an easy, natural chemistry with each other and, no matter how impressive the special effects are, their relationship is at center stage. Without it, the film would be merely an exercise in style.
As good as DiCaprio is, Winslet is the one that really shines here. Her Rose is forced to undergo a transformation that is more intense than Jack's, and she displays tremendous bravery and devotion while facing some mean circumstances. Rose is a welcome addition to Cameron's list of plucky screen heroines, and Winslet is as passionate in this role as she was demented in "Heavenly Creatures."
It is a testimony to these actors' skills that they are able to pull off the romance so effectively, because in the wrong hands some of the scenes in this film could fall flat. The characters' first meeting is melodramatic and feels somewhat forced, and some of the lines themselves could use a little bit more punch.
Besides depending on the actors' winningness to propel the film past potentially awkward moments, Cameron relies heavily on cinematography to make such moments actually work.
Dialogue that may seem cliched actually gains resonance due to the old-fashioned nature of the love story and the historical accuracy of the visuals. The audience feels as if it is watching a part of the past unravel in front of its eyes in the present, so dialogue that may seem corny to us in the modern world is forgivable and, in the hands of DiCaprio and Winslet, endearing.
That the film succeeds enormously despite potentially clunky dialogue and a running time that exceeds three hours should not be taken lightly. "Titanic" is expert filmmaking, and its depiction of a lost past is haunting and sharp in its implications.
In the scenes that bookend the film, scientist Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) attempts to find a jewel that sank with the Titanic and is supposedly worth more than the Hope Diamond. He utilizes Rose, now an old woman, to help him find this gem.
That he and his crew attempt to covet a part of the past without truly making an effort to understand that past is crucial to the film's message and the way that this film was made.
The audience can tell that Cameron is not a Brock Lovett; he does not simply exploit the past and attempt to reap rewards by doing so, although Oscar gold may in fact be in his future. Instead, he makes a sincere and successful attempt to explain that past and some of the lives behind it without catering to the 90-minute action movie crowd.
His "Titanic" is the work of an artist who believes in and is able to create magic.
