Although many things were arrayed against this movie from the start, nothing can sink it now.

[[titanic-poster]]

##Once in a great while

Once in a great while, an epic movie comes along that can
hold you breathless for over three hours, keep you so engrossed in the
story that’s being told, that you completely loose track of time and find
yourself drawn into the events on the screen. *Titanic* is one of
those movies.

Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio are a winning team as the young lovers
on board the doomed ship.

##The Writer

The script for the movie is outstanding. It has to be to hold our attention
for over 3 hours. The story of the sinking of the unsinkable ship is told
as a backdrop to a love story between a young upper class victorian woman
and a working class passenger who won the ticket to board the Titanic
during a poker game.

As the love between these two intensifies, so does the tension on board the
ship. As the young couple becomes more wreckless in their abandon, the
captain and crew of the Titanic become more wreckless. Until finally
disaster strikes both, but only destroys one. The love between the two
will last, but the ship is doomed.

##The Director

Director James Cameron has given us an insight into the
awesome spectacle that was Titanic. Remember the first time you saw Star
Wars? Remember the opening scene? The spaceship flies overhead and you
wonder if it will ever end? It’s so huge that you let out a whistle at the
sheer hugeness of it? There’s shots in this movie that have the same
effect. The Titanic was the “Super Star Destroyer” of its day.

Cameron actually built a 90% scale model of the ship for the filming of the
movie. Although many of the effects were done digitally, the immensity of
the ship can only be really conveyed with a physical presence.

I’ve been told that there are digital effects used throughout the film, but
if they’re there, they are so well done as to be indistinguishable from
the real surroundings.

##The Editor

James Cameron, the editor, spliced together bits of film to
heighten the visual impact of the story. One great example is his use of
the footage of the sunken titanic. In several scenes, as the story is being
told by the survivor, he takes us to the sunken titanic as the eyes of the
remote camera used to explore the wreck. As we hear the story being told,
and see the wreck, the scene slowly changes to the same place on the Titanic
before it sank, its deck teaming with life.

##The Producer

What else is there to be said? The producer James Cameron was smart enough
to hire himself as writer, director, and editor!

##Second Viewing on 12/26/98

It’s been about a year since I saw it last.

What an experience!

It holds up remarkably well at a second viewing. Some of the dialog that
seemed corny in the first viewing seemed less so now.

I found myself smiling and ready to cry countless times during the movie.

##Did you notice…

The fade from the young Rose’s eye to the old Rose’s eye right before the
iceberg?

James Cameron has a habit of doing little things at the beginning of a
movie that seem to have no significance to the plot, but play some sort of
role by the end (see [[Aliens]]). Did you notice how important it was the
Jack taught Rose how to spit? That’s how she got away from her
fiancé later in the movie.

##Mistakes

This time around I noticed a technical gaff. Not a big deal, but something
worth noting because I’m surprised that James Cameron would let something
as simple as this go unfixed.

Right when they’re about to hit the iceberg, the coatswain yells to the
helmsman, “Hard to starboard”. And the helmsman steers the ship to the
*left*!! A bit later on, the same guy yells “Hard to port”, and the
ship heads back to the right! Now, being a bit of a sailor, I know that
port is to the left and starboard os to the right. Oh well, if that’s the
only mistake in a movie of this magnitude, we can let it slide.

One more thing. Make sure you check out the credits (and I mean all of
them) for this movie. Its an indication of the magnitude of the project.
There must have been 100 *carpenters* credited!!!