Titanic (1997)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Jack Dawson	Leonardo DiCaprio
Rose DeWitt Bukater	Kate Winslet
Cal Hockley	Billy Zane
Molly Brown	Kathy Bates	½
Ruth DeWitt Bukater	Frances Fisher	½
Captain E.J. Smith	Bernard Hill
J. Bruce Ismay	Jonathan Hyde	½
Fabrizio De Rossi	Danny Nucci	-
Spicer Lovejoy	David Warner	½
Brock Lovett	Bill Paxton	-
Old Rose	Gloria Stuart
Thomas Andrews	Victor Garber	-
Lizzy Calvert	Suzy Amis	-
Tommy Ryan	Jason Barry	-
Chief Officer Wilde	Mark Lindsay Chapman	-

Review

It seemed only reasonable that when James Cameron – at the height of his success – was to make a film about Titanic, a ship borne by megalomania, his approach would be similarly megalomaniac. Overwhelming and innovative special effects, an unscrupulous running time, and a classic, over-sized romance with all the mushiest ingredients: poor vs. rich, working class vs. aristocracy, old vs. new world-order, love's conquest of superficial values such as status, appearance and etiquette. And as the HMS Titanic disappears into the Atlantic void, it pulls all those old-fashioned, old-worldly values down with it. And what survives, in the wake of the romantic tragedy, is youthfulness, hope and equality – personified by Rose, a formative representative of America and the new social order.

As always with Cameron's films, there is self-indulgence and badly hidden patriotism lurking underneath the surface. And the ridiculous in-your-face attitude of his scientists and the contemporary Rose is something we'll always have to bear over with when it comes to Cameron films. But in the case of Titanic, these must be considered insignificant details, nothing but wrapping for his wonderfully atmospheric, extremely detailed presentation of the ship itself and its one and only cross-atlantic journey. It is in the portrayal of the famous tragedy that Cameron's talent as a storyteller and filmmaker comes into its own, and coupled with the remarkable technical achievement of the film – a department in which Cameron was in a league of his own in the 1990s – this elevates Titanic to one of the most imposing films of the period, easily overshadowing the somewhat melodramatic nature of the romance and the simplistic dichotomy of good and bad. Rarely has an historical event been filmed in such a devoted and realistic way, and although Titanic isn't the most creative or artistic entry in James Cameron's impressive catalogue, it might still well be remembered as his magnum opus.