Cornpone and really bad history

Rating: 1/10 (1 July 2014)

The sinking of the Titantic is actually quite interesting, as anyone who has read a well-written book about the event can tell you. This film tosses away that story and replaces it with a cornball teeny bop-per love story that makes one want to puke, all the while slandering historical figures (like J Bruce Ismay, whom James Cameron has falsely portrayed as a prototypical heartless and cowardly businessman) and some others unfortunate enough to be a target of Cameron's biases. In the end, Cameron's film so far removed from reality that it's unlikely anything it contains would ever be taken seriously by anyone looking for the historical facts. I mean, when was the last time Hollywood presented real history? Probably 1964 when they filmed The Longest Day, whose script was religiously close to Cornelius Ryan's book. Since then, not much. The fact that Cameron had to make up a subplot wouldn't have been so bad, had it remained a subplot to the story of the sinking, and had it been realistic rather than such a trite piece of romantic nonsense. Cameron had the opportunity to make a definitive account of this well-known event and totally blew it. To tell history you need someone who is dedicated to historical truth, not someone determined to make the audience reach for their collective handkerchiefs. Shame on you, Mr. Cameron. What a colossal waste.