Why Would You Watch Titanic (1997)

[Mr. Smith]

Kinda curious. Why's James Cameron's movie stick out so?

It's opt. 3 for me btw.

[Mexican Wolf]

The story may be kind of basic and archetypical, but I admire Winslet's and DiCaprio's interpretations of their characters and I'm always a sucker for stories of unhappy, repressed women who defy societal norms and find newfound strength and freedom.

The shipwreck is done really well, too, and I admire Cameron and the special effects team's ambition and attention to detail in recreating the wreck as accurately as possible.

[John Dule]

The Titanic was sunk to kill the opponents of the Federal Reserve.

[T'Chenka]

The acting, production design (the sets), the cinematography, the dialogue and the script are all half-decent or better. Makes for a good watch. I watched this again at the end of May and it was pretty good.

[HAnnA MArin County]

All of the above. The deleted scenes are also fun to watch. I wish they would have left this scene in the movie, however. Ignoring the story of the Californian (the ship that was arguably closest to the Titanic in her time of need but remained still all night) and the "mystery ship" (a third ship seen by both steamers) were some of the most important historical information omitted from the movie, but so I can only assume that James Cameron must not have an opinion on this lingering mystery of the Titanic lore. "A Night to Remember," the 1958 British movie, does include a scene where this "light on the horizon" is shown.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Titanic was sunk to kill the opponents of the Federal Reserve.

Like a lot of things these days, Titanic has been the victim of online clickbait, social media conspiracy mongering and the cashing in of once respectable networks on the conspiracy mania.

Most every conspiracy theory has been debunked, including the boat switch, the coal fire, the speed of the ship and insurance scam theory.

1. Boat Switch - The number of the ship is literally engraved on every piece, including pieces pulled from the wreck. It took months to furnish the ships, and thus there is just no way there was enough time to strip down both Titanic and Olympic and swap their furnishings, even more so when you throw in the timeline of when Olympic was back at Harland and Wolfe for repairs.

2. The Coal Fire is one of those things that got a lot of hype 2 and 3 years ago, because as I said once reputable networks hopped on this bandwagon with sensationalized, faux documentaries. If anything the coal fire saved hundreds of lives, because shifting coal from one side to the other, created a counter list that might have been what prevented the ship from overturning after one hour like so many models projected would happen. Had that happened, very few would have been able to get off the ship as most lifeboats were not launched until the second hour.

3. Titanic was not running at full speed because her fourth engine was not fired up. Furthermore, it was complete nonsense to try and race ahead of schedule because this would have left the ship stranded in NY Harbor for a whole day with an occupied berth for the ship and hotel rooms still occupied by others expecting a later arrival date. Coming in ahead of schedule would have created many logistical break downs and damaged the company's reputation as a result. But it makes for good drama and it got thrown in the movie, but it is complete nonsense.

4. Insurance scam, White Star didn't fully insure Titanic and it ended up having to sell off boats to avoid bankruptcy. The notion that this was some kind of insurance scam tied in with the boat switch theory is thus bogus as well.

5. Weak Steel. This one is another favorite of faux documentaries but it also doesn't hold up. Olympic was made from the same steel and that ship went through all kinds of hell, especially during WWI where it rammed a U-Boat and survived. No ship was designed to survive a glancing blow on an iceberg, later designs would strengthen the ships to minimize this risk. The Steel wasn't weak by any standard, nor was it weakened by the coal fire enough to make a tangible difference.

It wasn't fire, it wasn't business scheming, it wasn't a plot to eliminate opponents. It was a ship coming upon a difficult to spot ice berg, glancing across it along it's side and compromising too many compartments to maintain buoyancy.

[Orwell]

The Titanic was sunk to kill the opponents of the Federal Reserve.

Like a lot of things these days, Titanic has been the victim of online clickbait, social media conspiracy mongering and the cashing in of once respectable networks on the conspiracy mania.

Most every conspiracy theory has been debunked, including the boat switch, the coal fire, the speed of the ship and insurance scam theory.

1. Boat Switch - The number of the ship is literally engraved on every piece, including pieces pulled from the wreck. It took months to furnish the ships, and thus there is just no way there was enough time to strip down both Titanic and Olympic and swap their furnishings, even more so when you throw in the timeline of when Olympic was back at Harland and Wolfe for repairs.

2. The Coal Fire is one of those things that got a lot of hype 2 and 3 years ago, because as I said once reputable networks hopped on this bandwagon with sensationalized, faux documentaries. If anything the coal fire saved hundreds of lives, because shifting coal from one side to the other, created a counter list that might have been what prevented the ship from overturning after one hour like so many models projected would happen. Had that happened, very few would have been able to get off the ship as most lifeboats were not launched until the second hour.

3. Titanic was not running at full speed because her fourth engine was not fired up. Furthermore, it was complete nonsense to try and race ahead of schedule because this would have left the ship stranded in NY Harbor for a whole day with an occupied berth for the ship and hotel rooms still occupied by others expecting a later arrival date. Coming in ahead of schedule would have created many logistical break downs and damaged the company's reputation as a result. But it makes for good drama and it got thrown in the movie, but it is complete nonsense.

4. Insurance scam, White Star didn't fully insure Titanic and it ended up having to sell off boats to avoid bankruptcy. The notion that this was some kind of insurance scam tied in with the boat switch theory is thus bogus as well.

5. Weak Steel. This one is another favorite of faux documentaries but it also doesn't hold up. Olympic was made from the same steel and that ship went through all kinds of hell, especially during WWI where it rammed a U-Boat and survived. No ship was designed to survive a glancing blow on an iceberg, later designs would strengthen the ships to minimize this risk. The Steel wasn't weak by any standard, nor was it weakened by the coal fire enough to make a tangible difference.

It wasn't fire, it wasn't business scheming, it wasn't a plot to eliminate opponents. It was a ship coming upon a difficult to spot ice berg, glancing across it along it's side and compromising too many compartments to maintain buoyancy.

Speaking of coal fires, a coal fire in Bunker A13 adjacent to the 6-inch reserve magazine was likely the cause of the explosion and sinking of the USS Maine in Havanna Harbor, as is in line with the findings of the Rickover Report.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

It's a very good movie, although I believe if i rewatched it, my rating of it would go down, and there are some aspects i don't like about the movie, esp. the beginning and ending of the movie.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs9w5bgtJC8

Not everyone's cup of tea.

[Lumine]

Caught my attention as a child (because of the sinking, I generally skipped over the first half) and eventually developed some nostalgia factor. In a recent rewatch I found it to still be an good movie, in spite of some flaws.

Plus I never watched A Night to Remember until a year ago or so, after which it became my favorite movie concerning Titanic (Goebbels's 1943 take on the disaster is also fascinating to watch, but certainly not for the reasons the Nazis intended).

[Del Tachi]

The acting, story and dialogue are nothing great.  Cameron excels at spectacle, which is Titantic's main draw as well.

[diptheriadan]

Several of my male family members admitted they had watched and cried at the movie, so I got curious.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Titanic was sunk to kill the opponents of the Federal Reserve.

Like a lot of things these days, Titanic has been the victim of online clickbait, social media conspiracy mongering and the cashing in of once respectable networks on the conspiracy mania.

Most every conspiracy theory has been debunked, including the boat switch, the coal fire, the speed of the ship and insurance scam theory.

1. Boat Switch - The number of the ship is literally engraved on every piece, including pieces pulled from the wreck. It took months to furnish the ships, and thus there is just no way there was enough time to strip down both Titanic and Olympic and swap their furnishings, even more so when you throw in the timeline of when Olympic was back at Harland and Wolfe for repairs.

2. The Coal Fire is one of those things that got a lot of hype 2 and 3 years ago, because as I said once reputable networks hopped on this bandwagon with sensationalized, faux documentaries. If anything the coal fire saved hundreds of lives, because shifting coal from one side to the other, created a counter list that might have been what prevented the ship from overturning after one hour like so many models projected would happen. Had that happened, very few would have been able to get off the ship as most lifeboats were not launched until the second hour.

3. Titanic was not running at full speed because her fourth engine was not fired up. Furthermore, it was complete nonsense to try and race ahead of schedule because this would have left the ship stranded in NY Harbor for a whole day with an occupied berth for the ship and hotel rooms still occupied by others expecting a later arrival date. Coming in ahead of schedule would have created many logistical break downs and damaged the company's reputation as a result. But it makes for good drama and it got thrown in the movie, but it is complete nonsense.

4. Insurance scam, White Star didn't fully insure Titanic and it ended up having to sell off boats to avoid bankruptcy. The notion that this was some kind of insurance scam tied in with the boat switch theory is thus bogus as well.

5. Weak Steel. This one is another favorite of faux documentaries but it also doesn't hold up. Olympic was made from the same steel and that ship went through all kinds of hell, especially during WWI where it rammed a U-Boat and survived. No ship was designed to survive a glancing blow on an iceberg, later designs would strengthen the ships to minimize this risk. The Steel wasn't weak by any standard, nor was it weakened by the coal fire enough to make a tangible difference.

It wasn't fire, it wasn't business scheming, it wasn't a plot to eliminate opponents. It was a ship coming upon a difficult to spot ice berg, glancing across it along it's side and compromising too many compartments to maintain buoyancy.

Speaking of coal fires, a coal fire in Bunker A13 adjacent to the 6-inch reserve magazine was likely the cause of the explosion and sinking of the USS Maine in Havanna Harbor, as is in line with the findings of the Rickover Report.

Yes ironically, the cause of the Spanish War had nothing to do with Spain.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Caught my attention as a child (because of the sinking, I generally skipped over the first half) and eventually developed some nostalgia factor. In a recent rewatch I found it to still be an good movie, in spite of some flaws.

Plus I never watched A Night to Remember until a year ago or so, after which it became my favorite movie concerning Titanic (Goebbels's 1943 take on the disaster is also fascinating to watch, but certainly not for the reasons the Nazis intended).

I have been tempted to rewatch it myself but its length, and the whole love story aspect really dissuades me each April when this urge comes about.

Goebbel's 1943 take? I have not heard of that one. I am guessing in their movie, it was sunk by the Jewish people, the Bolsheviks or both, right?

[Lumine]

Caught my attention as a child (because of the sinking, I generally skipped over the first half) and eventually developed some nostalgia factor. In a recent rewatch I found it to still be an good movie, in spite of some flaws.

Plus I never watched A Night to Remember until a year ago or so, after which it became my favorite movie concerning Titanic (Goebbels's 1943 take on the disaster is also fascinating to watch, but certainly not for the reasons the Nazis intended).

I have been tempted to rewatch it myself but its length, and the whole love story aspect really dissuades me each April when this urge comes about.

Goebbel's 1943 take? I have not heard of that one. I am guessing in their movie, it was sunk by the Jewish people, the Bolsheviks or both, right?

Oddly enough it really plays up the anti-capitalist (specifically British capitalism) angle as opposed to the obscenely overt anti-semitism of most Nazi films. So it really focuses on portraying the British as greedy and cowardly as opposed to the heroic (and properly Aryan) first officer and his fellow German passengers.

Apparently Goebbels had to limit the release of the film both abroad and within Germany due to unintended implications or the fact that it wasn't quite a morale boost to ask audiences to see a disaster film in 1943.

[vitoNova]

Excellent gateway to the actual historical event. 

My only beef is the atrocious soundtrack.   Lots of good ragtime music from the era, and they chose cheesy 1990s diva music like Celine Dion.

Gross.

[Mr. Smith]

Excellent gateway to the actual historical event. 

My only beef is the atrocious soundtrack.   Lots of good ragtime music from the era, and they chose cheesy 1990s diva music like Celine Dion.

Gross.

Are you kidding, that's the ONLY f* reason to even bother with what is otherwise a rather dull, melodramatic, pretentious thing. Even the spectacle factor doesn't quite cut it considering all the other disaster films at the time

The bagpipes were amazing, the choir was perfectly ghostly and onmious, and Celine Dion really hit it.

[vitoNova]

Excellent gateway to the actual historical event. 

My only beef is the atrocious soundtrack.   Lots of good ragtime music from the era, and they chose cheesy 1990s diva music like Celine Dion.

Gross.

Are you kidding, that's the ONLY f* reason to even bother with what is otherwise a rather dull, melodramatic, pretentious thing. Even the spectacle factor doesn't quite cut it considering all the other disaster films at the time

The bagpipes were amazing, the choir was perfectly ghostly and onmious, and Celine Dion really hit it.

Wow!

[HillGoose]

idk my wife made me watch it i thought it was aight, i liked that New Money Texas lady

[dead0man]

nobody has mentioned whats her name's boobs?  That was my favorite part.  Oh, and yelling "oh come on, there is plenty of room for both of them on that giant ass door!".

[Bakersfield Uber Alles]

I wouldn’t watch it. I know what happens from history (the ship sinks) and cultural osmosis (Leo is dumb and they don’t share the door).

[Mr. Smith]

I wouldn’t watch it. I know what happens from history (the ship sinks) and cultural osmosis (Leo is dumb and they don’t share the door).

In fairness, the door might well have collapsed and froze both of them to death.

[anthonyjg]

It's alright, not a bad movie. I don’t really know why it grossed so much or garnered such a following though, that’s always been a bit bizarre to me. Maybe if I was alive and a movie goer in the 90s I’d understand more.

[Bakersfield Uber Alles]

I wouldn’t watch it. I know what happens from history (the ship sinks) and cultural osmosis (Leo is dumb and they don’t share the door).

In fairness, the door might well have collapsed and froze both of them to death.

Fair point, my point is more that that’s what I’ve heard since I haven’t seen it.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It's a love story