Great Special Effects Do Not A Good Movie Make

Rating: 2/10 (23 March 1999)

Titanic features one of the worst screenplays ever perpetrated on the moviegoing public. Unbelievable one-dimensional characters (is the Billy Zane character a joke or what?), banal dialogue, and not an ounce of believable romance in the love scenes. I found myself bored and waiting for people to die. Titanic plays like a dark version of the Love Boat. How can the Academy award it "Best Picture" when it didn't even receive a best screenplay award? And when Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times pointed out how poor the screenplay was, James Cameron threw an infantile tantrum and tried to get Turan fired. Decades from now, Hollywood will be embarrassed that they ever honored this live-action cartoon. But hey, until then, the special effects were nice.