The Greatest Motion Picture of all time..??

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 1999)

So you flip through the cable channels on your remote. The same old music videos are running, and the reruns get tiring. Later, you find something interesting. The evening news, Entertainment Tonight, 60 Minutes, VH1, and every other network airs clips from this, the biggest money-making film in history. TITANIC emerges as a genuine Hollywood classic for the second generation of American cinema. Never since GONE WITH THE WIND has there been powerful moviemaking with heavy genius from James Cameron. It's more than just a love story. It's an all-out disaster movie with style and vigor combined with a creative instrumental music score. It even began the craze that lured us into discoveries of the gigantic ship that never proved itself when it sunk anyway.
Brilliant use of photography is what stands out the best. Imagine every single little piece of detail that wouldn't fit on this message. Replicas of the engine room and the interior designs are highly crafted to maximize the full experience of being on the Titanic while sailing on crisp, clear sea water filled with dolphins swimming with grace. During the night, one can look up the starry skies while the bright lights shine. How tragic it is for a luxury liner to capsize in half, sinking miles beneath the surface, and showing off the greatest achievement in motion picture special effects! A job extremely well done! Who will match this kind of excellence in the near future?
As for the players, the pair of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are now remembered as the Clark Gable & Vivian Leigh of the next generation. Both are young, of course, and they really can ACT! Winslet should have taken home the Oscar (what blasphemy of those Academy Awards judges!). Her performance as "Rose" is a show stealer, as she did most of the incredible acting far better than today's young actresses. From smoking a cigarette, to possessing true beauty, to posing nude, to being a heroine, and to become a survivor, this will be a role so hard to beat in Winslet's future films. DiCaprio, on the other hand, also does magnificent as a "street boy" and a "troublemaker". The second half is the most important time to discover his best talents, including the end. Both are sensational in almost every respect.
Well, you can't always expect a movie to be perfect. TITANIC's shortcomings are relatively minor. The "modernized" scenes don't quite prove true to a historical masterpiece made with expensive sets and decorations. Mr. Jerry Garcia Lookalike should've changed his shirt, instead of wearing the one with "Happy Face" shot in the head. But Gloria Stuart as the old "Ross" makes up for the modern touch in telling and revisiting the Titanic story through her past experiences. It's also important that we already know how the disaster had become, and that the movie tells under a fictional basis.
Of localized interest: Diana Morgan was once a TV news anchor for an NBC station out here. She has recently taken on an acting career playing the role of a news reporter, notably in BABYLON 5. You will hardly get to notice her on that small TV set shown at the start of the film, but you can hear her voice.
Over three hours of powerful and unprecedented movie imagery. To date, it may very well be the greatest film ever made.