Could have been better.

Rating: 6/10 (31 December 1998)

I have to admit that the sinking of Titanic is done extremely well. It is terrifying to watch, and probably the closest to the real thing we will ever see. Amazing special effects as well as realistic direction of all the extras. You could see that every person aboard was scared. It was very clever to show us earlier in the film how the Titanic sank, from the computerised sinking shown to old Rose, so you knew it would break in half, and how it would go down, etc. I felt that added another sense of tension.
The love story that underlined the movie was what disappointed me. This kind of terrible scripting and love-you-till-the-end-of-time encounters is now seeping into other movies, eg: Armageddon. Does anybody honestly think a 'proper' girl in 1912 would indulge in spitting lessons? Or pull the finger at Hockley's 'henchman' whilst going down the elevator? Or make love in the back of a car with someone she has only known since being aboard the Titanic?
The sketching scene is the only love scene needed. It is showing us that Rose is starting to come out of her shell and rebel, although it is a private moment. There is an unspoken intimacy between Rose and Jack that is beautiful, and expresses their love for each other better than a hand pressing against a steam covered car window. I'm sure that scene made many a man wish he could draw his girlfriend/fiancee/wife.
On the whole, parts of the film make me twinge, that bloody song, f'rinstance. As well as blatantly obvious computer generated shots and terrible scripting (notice it didn't get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay? - it has been years since a film that won Best Film was nominated for that award). The effects are brilliant, along with the editing and the action sequences.