Mixed emotions after seeing it years later.

Rating: 6/10 (27 August 2004)

Titanic' was quite the phenomenon when it came out. There is no movie that I can think of, at least in my lifetime, that became the cultural event that it did. There were many concerns within the film community that the film was going to be a disaster. James Cameron had spent a long time finishing the film and it was the most costly film ever made. Many people thought it was bring an end to his career. All these concerns and predictions were shattered when 'Titanic' came out; it became the highest grossing movie ever and it won more Academy awards than any other movie. It skyrocketed the careers of both Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio. I went to the theaters to see it with family and friends. It was an incredible experience and several people around me were crying. There were very few movies I had ever seen before that had mesmerized me as much as this movie did.
I watched this movie in its entirety for the first time in years. The reaction is much different now and the film seems much less impressive. First of all, the graphics in 'Titanic' have not aged well. When the ship is sinking, the CGIs look really fake and dated. Also, the model ship they used doesn't look very good either. It looks cheap and like it was made out of plastic! This does not surprise me because most films do not age well; a new generation of film lovers will not find certain films as impressive as the last generation. Putting that aside, the story of 'Titanic' is not that bad. I think most people know what the story is about so I do not need to explain it. The acting is slightly above average, but the screenplay is so clichéd and corny, I can understand the acting did not need to be that impressive. The last forty minutes of the film consists of the two main characters shouting, "Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack! Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose!" They must love each other so much that they can't think of anything else to say.
I don't think 'Titanic' is destined to become a classic. Even though it made so much money and won so many awards, I think most people now see the movie as an embarrassment. Now that I am older and wiser, 'Titanic' just seems like a mediocre film. Pretty disappointing considering how much the movie was loved when it first came out.