What else can be said about the years’ most highly anticipated film? Let’s start with a recap, shall we?
1) Chicks will dig the first half which is essentially a touching, romantic costume drama/love triangle.
2) Guys will love the second half, which is non-stop action, but the romantic set-up pays off here.
3) The special effects are unbelievable, raising the bar for future effects extrvaganzas.
4) The film does have a somewhat sappy feeling of an “old” movie. (You know the good black and white kind they run on American Movie Classics.) And it works wonderfully.
5) The $200 million for “Titanic” is well spent. Unlike, say, “Speed 2” or “Batman and Robin.” So, let’s leave Cameron alone on this, it’s already been well documented.
6) “Titanic” is 3 hours 15 minutes and the time flies by.
7) Three words: Kate Winslet Naked.
8) “Titanic” is the only film this year that lives up to the hype in those sometimes nonsensical blurbs in newspaper ads.
9) The historical accuracy is amazing. Only the pickiest of Titanic buffs will complain.
10) We can all save a lot of time, hold the Oscars today, give it all to “Titanic” and save ourselves having to watch those pointless musical numbers and bad jokes.
One interesting thing I have heard about “Titanic” that I have not read in any of the other reviews, is that the film is Cameron’s take on Hollywood. Apparently, this is the word floating around Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio is the artist with integrity. The character played by Billy Zane is your basic Hollywood-type who would lie, cheat, steal, bribe with money or even use an innocent young child to escape defeat. Then there is the separation and disdain between the classes of passengers on the ship. (Like lowly interns and bigshot film producers.)
This became quite clear when during a packed screening a “power producer couple” sitting next to me refused to give up two empty seats right next to them. They didn’t want anyone sitting next to them, even though the theater was full. It was disgusting. When the lights dimmed and the people in the theater scrambled for seats, this annoying local television producer and his wife simply put their programs on the seats next to them as if they were “waiting for friends.” They were not. They were simply trying to avoid sitting next to “steerage”. If you want to know what Hollywood is really like, see the “Titanic” and watch for this strange irony.
Oh, yeah, the film is the best of the year.
