The "unsinkable" ship that was destined to sink

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2007)

"Titanic" is not only the most famous disaster film of all time, but also one of the most popular movies ever, not to mention that it achieved the rare glory of wining 11 Academy Oscars. Many "Titanic" films were made during the 20th century, but the famous James Cameron film from 1997 is the most well known.
This film version of the legendary ship was a phenomenal and unusual success, so much that it was something like 7 months on theaters and proved to be the most cost-effective movie ever made. Many people even went to the theaters twice to see it. And the number of Academy Oscars that it won is another prove of its success. Plus, most everyone praised and liked the film back then. It was a hit on VHS and DVD as well.
Strangely, in recent years the movie has been getting many lukewarm reviews and I read somewhere in the Internet that it was considered the worst Oscar winner ever. How ironic, huh? It seems that it has become fashionable to hate this movie.
It's an okay movie, but not all that great. However, my biggest problem with the movie was always its length. 3 hours is too much and becomes tiring, even exhausting.
The story is well known for being based in a real disaster story which happened in 1912. That makes this a realistic movie. The ship's replica is very well made and detailed. In that way they achieved perfection, making it look just like the real ship, which was the biggest, fastest, most luxurious and most beautiful of its time. Sadly it hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage and more than half of the people passed away. You know what bothers me most? First, the number of lifeboats wasn't enough because, stupidly, they believed that more lifeboats would be a waste of space in an "unsinkable" ship. Unsinkable? Yeah, right... Second, the ship was going too fast when its engines hadn't been tested enough... and all of this just because of headlines!
"Titanic" has beautiful instrumental music, a beautiful ballad named "My Heart Will Go On" sung by Celine Dion, beautiful angles of view of that pretty ship, romance, tension, suspense and incredibly tragic moments. To see people falling in despair and committing suicide is a reality and it certainly happened in real life. This movie also contains some nudity and sex and even some shocking and controversial scenes of homicide. However, it's not just a melodrama. It has also romance and even some moments of comedy.
Besides, to see the Titanic sinking, breaking in two and to see its rear at an impressing height is breathtaking. It will live forever in your mind because it's very impressive. Spectacular, yes, but tragic.
The actors do a good job in their roles: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Victor Garber, Danny Nucci, Jason Barry, Bernard Fox and others...
By the way, Mr. Andrews, Jack Dawson, Fabrizio and Tommy Ryan are the best and nicest characters of this movie.
Another equally revolutionary ship was the french ocean liner SS Normandie in the 30's. Its appearance was very similar to the RMS Titanic and inside it followed the same concept of luxury in a classic and old fashioned style, very different from the luxury standards of modern liners. The SS Normandie didn't sink, but its ending was tragic too. During the World War II, it was was converted to a troopship in 1942, caught fire, capsized and sank at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal. Although it was salvaged at great expense, restoration of the vessel was deemed too expensive, so it was scrapped in 1946. And I say "it" because I don't like to refer to the ships as "she".