Director: James Cameron
UK Release Date: 23rd January 1998
Running Time: 194 minutes
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart
From director James Cameron comes "Titanic" - a film loosely based on the passenger liner RMS Titanic that struck an iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on the 15th April 1912. A hugely critically acclaimed film, "Titanic" brings the sad true story of loss from the ship entwined within a fictional love story that is both gripping and emotional. This romantic drama features a good storyline, interesting characters, a beautiful soundtrack and most importantly hits the balance between romance and drama perfectly.
The film features an older and younger version of one of the main characters, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), as she tells the story of the Titanic to a group who are searching for lost treasure on the ship wreck. She explains the beauty of the Titanic and her story, from when the ship set sail and how she met Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young broke artist. As the Titanic continues its voyage and its eventual end, the story and connection between Rose and Jack only strengthens.
The film is very impressive in terms of looks. The recreation of the incredible passenger ship looks amazing on screen and full credit has to go to the team behind the film for this. The magnitude of the ship is portrayed very well and its pure beauty is brought back to life. The realism helps a great deal in relating to the movie - it also keeps it respectable as there was a huge loss of life in the maritime disaster.
The characters in "Titanic" are primarily made up. Obviously some characters, like the boats Captain, are not 'made-up' as such but even the characters that are fully fictional like Jack and Rose fit into the film very well. For anyone who did not know, they could have been real and the film could have been a full reconstructions of the Titanic's maiden voyage. The two aspects of the movie fit together well with the story of love and romance flowing perfectly along with the story of the Titanic until the very end where the two collide in an excellent yet emotional movie ending.
DiCaprio, who after Titanic has gone onto star in films like Shutter Island (2010), Inception (2010) and more recently "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), gives a good performance alongside Winslet who also provides a promising display. As the two title characters, their on screen relationship is great and they both really show the talent they had at a young age. DiCaprio's youthfulness is perfect for his character and helps "Titanic" portray the innocence of people who were on the ship.
The soundtrack for "Titanic" is also very good. Most of you would have heard of the main song for the movie, 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion (This is an extended version), and it really is a perfect accompanying song for the film. It is emotive and parts of it are played throughout enabling the audience to build a relationship with the song and characters. It bears a resemblance to a song from "Braveheart" (1995) in the instruments used. The song is very powerful and whenever you hear it after watching the movie, it hits you in the stomach as you think of the film.
"Titanic" is an excellent film that is able to combine the real story of the ship that did not make it across the Atlantic Ocean with the fictional love story between two young characters. The look and feel of the movie is great and each scene is depicted perfectly. The optimism shown as the Titanic sets sails really sets the film up to be great and it flows effortlessly from scene to scene. It looks aesthetically pleasing, with a good soundtrack and theme song while also provoking the audiences emotions. A great film all around.
M+F Rating: 8/10
Reviewed by M+F Reviews.
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