Titanic (1997)
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 169
Fresh: 148 | Rotten: 21
A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama.
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 46
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 9
A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 35,580,145
My Rating
Movie Info
This spectacular epic re-creates the ill-fated maiden voyage of the White Star Line's $7.5 million R.M.S Titanic and the tragic sea disaster of April 15, 1912. Running over three hours and made with the combined contributions of two major studios (20th Century-Fox, Paramount) at a cost of more than $200 million, Titanic ranked as the most expensive film in Hollywood history at the time of its release, and became the most successful. Writer-director James Cameron employed state-of-the-art digital
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Cast
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Leonardo DiCaprio
Jack Dawson -
Kate Winslet
Rose DeWitt Bukater -
Billy Zane
Cal Hockley -
Kathy Bates
Molly Brown -
Frances Fisher
Ruth DeWitt Bukater -
Gloria Stuart
Old Rose -
Bill Paxton
Brock Lovett -
Bernard Hill
Captain Smith -
Jonathan Hyde
Bruce Ismay -
Victor Garber
Thomas Andrews -
David Warner
Spicer Lovejoy -
Danny Nucci
Fabrizio -
Suzy Amis
Lizzy Calvert -
Bernard Fox
Col. Archibald Gracie -
Eric Braeden
John Jacob Astor -
Jenette Goldstein
Irish Mommy -
Ewan Stewart
First Officer Murdoch -
Jonathan Phillips
Second Officer Charles ... -
Mark Lindsay Chapman
Chief Officer Henry T. ... -
Ioan Gruffudd
Fifth Officer Harold Lo... -
Craig Kelly
Harold Bride Junior Wir...
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Titanic Trailer & Photos
All Critics (169) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (158) | Rotten (21) | DVD (50)
With his beatific, sweet, open face, DiCaprio gives us a rooting interest in hoping that someone important to us survives the wreck.
We know the story ends badly but Cameron still sweeps us up in the romance between Kate Winslet's rebellious posh girl and DiCaprio's steerage kid.
Cameron's three-hour disaster epic is a triumph of popular art -- of folk art, really.
"Titanic" still amazes as the kind of massive, build-and-destroy production that few filmmakers have the ambition or budget to make.
[Cameron] stages the sinking with a flawless sense of detail, pacing, import and dread.
This version has deepened and enriched a film that was already rich in emotions and remarkable for its depth of detail.
DiCaprio manages a good mix of youthful bravado and nervous uncertainty... And Winslet shines as a willful rich girl who discovers her sensual side with this earthy urchin.
Titanic 3D lacks creative synergy that could have been explored had the film been shot with 3D in mind but its easily the best example of post-conversion to date.
A staggering film, layered with melodramatic romance, tragedy, intensity and breathtaking production design.
Jack and Rose actually cause the Titanic to hit the iceberg. Watch closely.
Titanic offers one of the very best Blu-Ray releases available today. I have no qualms giving this set highest marks.
Director James Cameron takes one of his most beloved historical incidents and transforms it in to a McDonald's product...
Given how long writer/director James Cameron worked on the Blu-ray edition, you would expect it to look good. It's gorgeous. (Blu-ray edition)
While I admit the film does not impress me as much as it does most other people, there is no questioning its passion and excitement.
When the bolts start to pop and the water bursts the bulkheads and the ship's orchestra plays waltzes, writer-director Cameron achieves his vision grandly.
The most breezy 194 minutes ever to grace the multiplex.
The clunky dialogue, historical inaccuracy and overdose of Billy Zane in the opening stanza of the film is all but forgotten in one of the most emotionally affective, thrilling closing stanzas ever committed to celluloid.
'Titanic' is an epic that's see-worthy indeed. Directed/written/produced by James Cameron, its $200 million budget shows in its glorious effects, dazzling camera work and lavish sets, now, with the addition of Cameron's carefully crafted 3-D.
Yes, it is time to return to the chilly North Atlantic to appreciate again James Cameron's glorious epic, for its scope, underappreciated script and perfect casting.
Two spitting scenes in 3D and Jack Dawson loses his virginity. A second look indicates a cruel streak in the modern epic.
Spoiler alert! The ship still sinks.
It is, simply, a great film, a throwback to classic filmmaking, and more than that, an experience with unusual resonance to the world of today.
The kind of mass death spectacle Michael Bay is frequently accused (and often guilty) of partaking in is much better encapsulated in Titanic's final third.
If you can get past the occasional Cameron clunker (Who can forget, "I'm the king of the world!") and Zane's almost amusingly over-the-top turn as Cal, Titanic still manages to make the tragedy seem more vivid than a statistic in a history book.
Forget that we know how it all ends; it's the drama of dealing with eventuality that tells the real story here.
Audience Reviews for Titanic
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Jack Dawson: I'm the king of the world!
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- Old Rose: 1500 people went into the sea when Titanic sank from under it. There were 20 lifeboats floating nearby, and only one came back. One. Six were saved from the icy water; myself included. Six out of 1500. Afterwards, the 700 people in the boats had nothing to do but to wait. Wait to die. Wait to live. Wait for an absolution, but would not come until dawn.
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- Jack Dawson: That's the beauty of it. I wake up one day, I don't know where I'm gonna' end up or who I'm gonna' meet.
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- Rose DeWitt Bukater: Teach me to ride like a man!
- Jack Dawson: And chew tobacco like a man!
- Rose DeWitt Bukater: And... spit like a man!
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- Cal Hockley: I hope you enjoy your time together!
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- Old Rose: This was mine... and this. The reflection is different now.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Still love it after all these years? | 49 days ago | 18 |
| Rose is a Bitch | 52 days ago | 1 |
| Major Fail, bring back comment threads on reviews! | 58 days ago | 1 |
| Lol @ hate for 3D Titanic | 2 months ago | 1 |
| Stephen King - "I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged." | 4 months ago | 1 |
Latest News on Titanic
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April 10, 2012:
Some Filmgoers Shocked to Learn Titanic Was Based on a True StoryTwitter breaks our hearts again.
April 5, 2012:
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Foreign Titles
- Titanic (DE)
- Titanic (UK)


Top Critic
A complaint that often occurs is the love story. Probably the biggest complaint. It's considered to be cliche. Well, I found the love story to work very well. It's a slow developing romance and it makes sense; it's not like The Dark Knight Rises where they just have sex right away.
And how about all those corny lines? There are so many of them! James Cameron is a terrible screenwriter! Ok, let's discuss this. There aren't that many bad lines. Not any more than say, The Hobbit or Zero Dark Thirty, both of which I think are poorly written films yet are considered masterpieces by many. I can agree that James Cameron isn't the best when it comes to dialogue but I just don't see how the script to this film is as bad as everyone says. Granted, there are a couple corny lines but it's not constant cheese throughout.
But there is something that makes this film truly great and that is the sinking of the ship. Everything before seems minuscule when James Cameron gets to the action. And recently I watched a Plinkett review and found out that Titanic was at first advertised as an action film but then over the years became a romantic film. This may be why people don't like Titanic because of the marketing. I mean, just look at the poster for this film. Who wants to say they love a film with a poster like that?
Not that the romance is necessarily bad, as I've said. But Titanic really is an action film. The sinking of the ship is one of the most intense, powerful, and horrifying sequences ever to be captured on film. It's an incredible feat in cinema, really. Now I don't mind the romance; it's used to create structure to the story. Gimmick or not, it works. But when James Cameron gets to what he's best at, that is when the film shines.
Overall I still really enjoy Titanic to this day. I think it's deserving of its Box Office success and Oscar wins. This film is one of the reasons why James Cameron is my favorite director. I don't care what anyone says; Titanic is an amazing achievement in film.