titanic syndrome!!!

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2001)

Now I know that 'Titanic' was a pretty sweet film cinematically and technically, but the focus on two characters that appeared to be more important than anyone else on the sinking ship really took away from the drama of the true story. If you have seen 'A Night to Remember' (British/ B&W) than you know how true events told correctly can stir great emotion in the audience. Forcing drama and tragedy down a person's throat is insulting to the viewer and to the people that were involved in the actual events.

This same virus is also apparent in 'Pearl Harbor'. By the end of the film I felt so sorry for the survivors that had to see these true events completely slaughtered through cinema.
I also thought the trailer was the most misleading preview for a film in the history of cinema. The trailer disguised a cheesy over-dramatic, historically-silly film as a wonderfully-visual epic. I am a projectionist in a theater and saw this preview over and over again, and I honestly never got tired of it. If there could be Academy Awards handed out for building a trailer, this would get 'best trailer'. At the same time I feel so hostile towards whom ever built the trailer for misleading me so much.
I am glad that some of the controversies about Pearl Harbor were brought up; but just like all the other historical events that were covered in the film they also remained a footnote throughout the film.
It's just so unfortunate that a film like this gets such box office success while a film like 'The Insider' is virtually passed up by every movie fan despite its best-picture/ best director nominations. Although it could be argued that 'The Insider' is manipulating, there is so much more emotion that is stirred because the audience feels a sense of realism as well as being able to identify with the characters and events. The true events that are portrayed in 'The Insider' are a constant throughout- the personal entanglements with family, etc, are the footnotes. Movies like 'Titanic' and 'Pearl Harbor' force detachment from the audience through over-dramatization and lack of respect for true events.