it was the best of films, it was the worst of films...

Rating: 5/10 (6 February 1999)

I have heard people herald this as the work of genius. I have heard just as many people declare it the work of the anti-christ. I, myself, spent some time (most intensely, I might add, around the time of the Academy Awards) in the latter group. Now that I have had time to step back and organize my opinions objectively, I can no longer claim that "Titanic" is the worst movie in history. Though there are a number of places where the dialogue is unforgivable, and the performances of DiCaprio and Zane are downright laughable, I must admit that the cinematography is superb, as are the directing and the special effects. I find it horrible that the lives of some 1100 people or so are trivialized by focusing on the clichÃ©d love story between the two lead. I can't, however, in clear conscience, continue to condemn this movie as I have in the past. Glistening amongst the arrid wasteland of poor dialogue are gems of writing (though most of them are factual occurrences that not even James Cameron would dare claim to be his ideas) and visual communication. "Titanic" is a film of superlative nature, both the best and the worst. No movie in history has been so polarized as this. There is no room for mediocrity in this self-indulgent epic.