Excellent in Parts, but I still prefer "Night to Remember"

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2004)

I have long been interested in the Titanic since reading Walter Lord's great book "A Night to Remember" over 30 years ago. I loved the film made from the book and own it. So, I was interested when "Titanic" hit the screen. However, this film just didn't do it for me as a whole. I found the love story between Jack and Rose unconvincing. I really found the whole character of Rose hard to take. While recognizing that she was in a bad spot, she came off to me as so egocentric and petulant that there were times when I felt like she deserved Billy Zane (great as a nasty. Billy Zane has the perfect looks for the early 20th century parts). So when she hops in the sack with Jack, it looked like a nice fiery diversion that probably wouldn't have lasted two weeks once the boat docked. But, the boat didn't, which brings me to the parts I like best.
We have some friends who are naval architects and, according to them, "they sunk the boat real good!" Also, I found that Cameron really did capture the terror and tragedy that affected the nameless passengers who went into the water and went down with the ship. I found most of the sections of the moving that didn't involve the main characters better than the hissy fits going on in first class.
One thing that did surprise me was the absence of the story of the California, a ship that was sitting within 20 or so miles of the Titanic with its radio off. That was one of the most poignant elements of the real story. I don't know why Cameron didn't include it. Overall I give it a 7 of 10.