Titanic (1997)

Director: James Cameron

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
Runtime: 194 minutes

Synopsis: A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

Performances: 8/10
Screenplay: 6/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 9/10

Verdict: Aw, man. "Titanic" is a movie I will always cherish dearly as I consider it to be one of the very first films that initiated my love for the art form. Not only was I impressed by the technical side of the Box Office record-breaker, but it was the first time I experienced a roller coaster of emotions while watching something on any screen. Cinema for me was just another vessel for entertainment, but that changed after I experienced James Cameron's epic for the first time.

I was 14 years-old back then (11 years ago!), and I haven't watched it ever since. It's safe to say that its success didn't age very well with audiences as the word "overrated" is mostly associated to it nowadays. So I was excited to revisit the 1997 Best Picture winner to evaluate how it had aged with me, and sure, it's no masterpiece by any means but most of it still worked incredibly well. I say most of it because one thing I absolutely could've done without are the present-day scenes, which quite honestly felt more like DVD bonus features thrown into the narrative for no clear reason. They constitute about 30-40 minutes of the already long runtime and bring no added value to the overarching story. The dialogue isn't always stellar either, especially in the film's first act which is filled with cheesy lines, overbearing exposition, and a crying lack of subtlety (especially with Billy Zane's character).

But at its core, the film is about a dream quickly turned into a tragedy, and that aspect of it still worked like a charm to me. It's impossible not to root for Jack and Rose's romance. Impossible not to admire how they both broke the invisible wall that separated them in the name of love. Impossible not to feel the general dread and anguish that hit the ship's passengers, including our two protagonists, when it hit that iceberg and started to slowly sink in the middle of a freezing ocean. The scale of that disaster was superbly handled by Cameron and his team thanks to breathtaking effects, solid performances, great cinematography, and a timeless score by the late James Horner.

Sadly, the internet seems more interested in the fact that both Jack and Rose could've fit on that floating door, something that is clearly addressed in the movie as Jack tries to climb on it but to his dismay lost balance, making the couple fall back into the cold waters of the Atlantic. "Titanic" is not perfect, that's a given, but it's also very far from being a bad movie. I'm happy I gave it a rewatch after all this time. 

FINAL GRADE: 7/10