MovieChat Forums > Titanic (1997) Discussion > One of those movies you HAVE to like

One of those movies you HAVE to like

posted 7 years ago by tinagchristensen
20 replies | jump to latest

But I don't.

Several issues such as this true and very dramatic story should be enough to carry the movie, but noooo we need to have a crime subplot, the very evil guy and the very good guy, the loooooong opening scenes with the old Rose, love story cliches boy can't have girl, Jack's death not convincing, Cameron's directing - just didn't like the action movie choices and boring scenes dragging on and on. Sorry I normally love this kind of movies, seen it three or four times to change my mind, guess I never got over the disappointment, when it first came out.

[–] peeaecee 7 years ago

Technically you don't have to like anything. One of my best friends in real life doesn't much like the movie; he says he feels it was "overdone" (which kind of surprised me; he's usually not the type to make such critiques). But really, you don't have to be a big fan of the love story to be a fan of the overall movie (I'm living proof of that).

[–] Jrdmln 7 years ago

I agree. The movie is over done. The made up love story in the movie wasn't necessary. The love story is also not very believable. A third class passenger would not be allowed in first class in real life. Jack and Rose would not have met on the Titanic in real life. I also thought that Rose was a brat. Rose's mom Ruth talked her into marrying Cal so that they could stay rich. Rose accepted Cal's proposal when he asked her to marry him and she pretended to like him for a long time. Cal thought that Rose wanted to marry him. He didn't know about Rose and Ruth's financial problems or that Rose was marrying him for his money. I didn't think that Cal was that bad. He was a little bit of a snob and a little bit controlling, but he was nice to Rose before he found out that she started cheating on him.

When they got on the Titanic, Rose realized that they would be getting marrying pretty soon after they got back to Philadelphia. She decided that she would not be happy being married to him. Rose decided that the best way to end her engagement with Cal is to let Jack draw her naked and leave the drawing and a rude note in Cal's safe and have sex with Jack in a car. That is a very trashy and rude way to end an engagement. Rose's behavior would be considered very scandalous in 1912. It was wrong of Cal to make it look like Jack stole the diamond necklace and to chase Jack and Rose with a gun, but I think those two things were put in there to make Cal look like the bad guy. If those two things were no put in the movie, the audience would not understand how Cal could be the bad guy and they would think that Rose is just a spoiled brat.

I don't blame Cal for getting mad at Rose for cheating on him. Most people would be very angry if their fiancee cheated on them to end their engagement. Rose should have just waited until they got back to Philadelphia and end their engagement without cheating on Cal. He would be disappointed that Rose decided not to marry him, but he would not get violent and mean if she ended it in a mature way. The love story was not necessary. I also agree that Jack's death was not completely convincing. It was silly of Rose to push Jack off the piece of wood when he wouldn't wake up. He may not have been dead yet. Rose should have taken him with her in a lifeboat when the lifeboat came back to look for survivors in the water. If he was put in a lifeboat and was wrapped with blankets he might have waken up and may have been able to recover. I also think that Jack should have tried to find a piece of wood to float on or try harder to make him and Rose fit on the piece of wood. The movie should have focused on the real passengers on the Titanic. I thought that the costumes were good, the music was good, the sets looked like the real Titanic, and the special effects in the sinking scenes were realistic, but I think that the story could have been written better. The movie could have been written better than it was.

[–] tinagchristensen 7 years ago

Great comment - thank you. Over done was the word I was looking for😊

[–] Stratego (29327) 6 years ago

Haha, so true!

[–] jtgrogan 7 years ago

It's an unnecessarily long, drawn out soap opera with uninteresting characters. 11 Oscar wins is ridiculous.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7439) 6 years ago

I don't wish to see it again since 1997. Frankly the fact it beat As Good as it gets, Good Will Hunting, and L.A Confidential for best picture is ridiculous.

[–] wylierichardson-966-922691 7 years ago

I suppose you dont have to like this movie, but your criticism seems scattershot. What is wrong with adding a 'love triangle' subplot to this well-known story? It added some much-needed dramatic tension. When the ship hits the 'berg, we know what will happen to the ship, but not Jack and Rose.

[–] LetThemEatCake01 7 years ago

I don't love it either, as a matter of fact I think it's garbage.

[–] Stratego (29327) 6 years ago

I wholeheartedly agree!

[–] R_Kane (15828) 6 years ago

Great minds think alike, Strat. My contempt for this film knows no bounds, startling with the fatuous female fans who each bought 100 tickets to inflate its BO, and leading to their inexplicable infatuationm with Leo Decapro’s character, who had all the personal manhood of a hoodie. Pathetic, both movie and fan-base.

[–] Stratego (29327) 6 years ago

Lol. No wonder Leo died!

It boggles my mind how some of my classmates could watch this borefest. While the real story of Titanic is so interesting! It's the only reason I return to this board once in a while.

[–] strntz (10934) 6 years ago

I'm a retired engineer fascinated with the ship RMS Titanic long before it came back in vogue. As such, I would have loved a purely technical retelling of the story. My wife, not so much.

The point is is that adding the love story (as A Night To Remember did) expands the market. With the amount of money committed to this project, it made perfect sense from a budge standpoint to add drama to the story.

Face it, the bottom line proved it.

[–] Bowilly (171) 6 years ago

The love story expanded the market beyond belief. Leave it to Cameron to conceive a fictional tale with fictional characters coupled with the tragic events of Titanic’s maiden voyage. Cameron is a brilliant filmmaker and he’s proven that more than once, still there are those who like to argue the bottom line.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

Can I ask if you liked the film as a whole? I'm interested in what a real Titannic geek thinks of it. The only Titannic geek I know in real life had an obsessive love for the movie, are you h bye same?

As for me, I actually like the film more now than when it came out, but my feelings still fall well short of love. I have issues with the love story, and when the film was new, that goddamn song was playing everywhere in the entire fucking world 24/7, it really made me resent the film before I saw it.

[–] strntz (10934) 6 years ago

I'm interested in what a real Titannic geek thinks of it

I loved it overall. The love story part was OK and I have a decent tolerance for them as far as a hetero male goes. It might actually not have been as entertaining if it was a purely technical movie.

But, there was enough accuracy in the construction of the ship's interior such as staterooms, restaurants, gym, staircase etc., exterior ship shots, period costumes etc. to make me happy. Watching the water rise up through the staircase was one of the most chilling scenes for me.

For instance, most people wouldn't notice this but when the officer on deck called for full reversal of the engines right before the Titanic hit the berg, the chief engineer didn't just throw it in "reverse" which wouldn't be possible. The engineer ordered the air dampers shut on the boilers to reduce the heat and opened the main steam control valve in order to bleed off the steam pressure to the cylinders. Watching the steam pressure gauge, he waited for the pressure to drop to nearly zero before moving the directional control valve to reverse, then closed the main valve allowing steam pressure to rise to power the engines again.

A small detail but one that a lot of people who are more technically minded appreciated.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

That's pretty much what my Titannic-obsessed friend said, she loved the movie largely because she found the super-accurate re-creation so absorbing. She also adored the love story, as she'd had a as similar relationship when she was young - just without the disaster and sea of corpses.

But yeah, I know the feeling of seeing something you've always wanted to see and never thought you would appearing before you on the big screen, that's how I felt about the "Lord of the Ribgs" movies. There was Middle-Earth itself, it moved out of my imagination and onto the movie screen!

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

I like the film but have some issues with it. As jrdmln outlined so well above, Rose was pretty uncool and Cal overboard. These two things were my chief complaints. Other than that, I really appreciated Cameron's attention to detail (he filmed many shots to perfectly line up with existing photos ... moving scenes that, if frozen at the right moment, are exactly like the photos!) and felt that the film was pretty well done in general.

But I do agree to an extent with the notion that there are movies that "you HAVE to like."
Here are some that everyone is supposed to praise:

Gone With the Wind: No thanks. Bunch of assholes.
Lawrence of Arabia: Screw this film. A few smart scenes. We are supposed to be wowed by the army of extras. Yawn.
E.T.: Sure, I liked it but it is not the amazing movie it is cemented as.
Star Wars: Yes, I am a OT geek. I do love the first two. But people are looked upon as lepers if they don't like Star Wars.
Casablanca: This is not a good love story. It is barely competent at all. Survives on handful of iconic scenes.
Psycho: Medium weight Hitchcock. Decent film held up as though it is genius.