A Guilty Pleasure! How can you not love this film?

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2007)

Titanic from 1997 is a wonderful movie. It really is. For me it's such a guilty pleasure because even though it's good, it is definitely clichéd and the love story in it is so ridiculous. But how can you not love this film? This movie has everything. Violence, nudity, sex, a love story, romance, disaster and special effects. The story line is pretty simple. It's about the Titanic, the "unsinkable", biggest ship in the world, at the time. On the morning of April 15, 1912, it hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks to the bottom of the ocean in less than three hours. Over 1,000 of the 2,000 passengers on board are killed. Pretty simple, right? Well, to add to the drama, there's a love story involved. Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Kate Winslet, is a wealthy young heir who is engaged to the handsome and rich but arrogant and controlling Cal Hockley, played by Billy Zane. One night she decides to try and commit suicide by jumping off the boat. A poor loner named Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, sees what she's about to do and coerces her into aborting her decision. As she's climbing back over the railing, she slips and nearly falls into the icy ocean. Jack grabs her arm and pulls her to safety. But two of the ship's crewmen hear her screaming and come to her aid. They see Jack on top of Rose and think he has done something awful to her. He is about to be punished until Rose convinces Cal, her fiancé, that Jack was only saving her after she slipped while looking at the propellers. And from then on Jack is infatuated with Rose. She has stolen his heart. Even though Jack has no money and no ambitions, Rose can't help but fall equally in love with him. He is sweet and charming. After a sweaty fling in a car at the bottom of the ship, the couple go up on deck and embrace. It is then that they see the iceberg and the ship hits it.
The first hour of the film focuses on the budding romance between Jack and Rose. It is somewhat entertaining but for me the real entertaining part of the film was the second half, which focuses on how the ship sank after hitting the iceberg. There are plenty of breathtaking special effects. And of course you have to have a clichéd, out of place scene mixed in with it, including Rose's fiancé Cal shooting a round of bullets at Jack and Rose after seeing the two kiss and hug. But then again it's kind of exciting to watch these scenes because they make you think, oh my god, these events are happening while the ship is sinking! This movie was very sappy at times, but it is still a great film to watch. This movie will make you cry, laugh, and keep you on the edge of your seat all at once. There are moments where you will get bored with the love story but it's worth sitting through to see the carnage of the ship sinking. I'm glad this film was a hit. It is definitely one of the greatest films ever made and it's so hard not to love it!! All the actors did fine jobs. I'm glad I have this movie in my collection. Thanks for reading my review! :) :) :)