More than the sum of its parts.

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2004)

Back in 1997 when Titanic was released, I didn't think it would ever earn back the money it cost. After all, it was basically a love story/drama set on a ship that sunk. Not exactly a crowd pleaser like say, Armageddon. Then it came out, blasted to number one at the box office, and received 14 Oscar nominations - so I felt I had to see it. Coming out from the cinema I had that wow feeling. The one you get when you're so caught up in what's going on in the film, that you forget about everything else. Three hours just flies by. In all, I've seen it three times at the movies and another eight times on video, and I still get that sense of awe when I see it.
Titanic was a phenomenon. It's the sort of ground breaking cinema experience that doesn't come around very often. Sure, the script isn't the most original ever - it's almost structured like a daytime soap (poor boy meets rich girl, engaged to evil guy). But another classic like Gone with the Wind isn't exactly the stuff of deep thoughts either. What they have in common is that they're grand spectacles that give the audience 100% entertainment in an expensive wrapping.
Love, drama, disaster, action, and suspense - something for almost everyone. All done by extremely talented and gifted people, who could produce a visual experience on a scale rarely seen earlier. And in the middle of this two lead actors with a chemistry between them so crucial in order for the story to work beyond its one dimensional characters.
The film may have suffered a pretty severe critical backlash (just look at the rating here on IMDB), but there's a reason why it made almost twice the amount of money at the box office as the number two film. It's pure and simple entertainment, that shows just how fun it can be to go to the movies. [10/10]