In defense of Titanic... (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

I'll never own this film no matter what. I'd even consider it an insult if someone gave this to me, especially the "collector's edition". Good, that means I can sell it and get some actual money back for something I'd rather actually buy in the first place.

It makes me sick to my stomach when looking at people's pictures of their collection to see a film such as this near the Indiana Jones Trilogy, Star Wars Trilogy and Gladiator "since it's basically the same packaging style". Don't even get me started on the P.O.S. "Lost" T.V. series.

Strange post.

--

H

 

[george kaplan]

Well IMO there are 3 things equally bad:

1 - Bashing Titanic without having seen it, or as a backlash against it's popularity

2 - Assuming that someone who hates Titanic does so for some trite reason, and not because it's a horrible movie, badly written and badly acted (with some nice special effects)

3 - The movie Titanic.

 

[Quentin]

TITANIC is a superb, classic piece of cinema. I'll defend it, support it, whatever. And, I love the new(ish) DVD.

I don't think its huge success is the only reason some people bash it so passionately. Unfortunately, it is a spectacular film with some glaringly bad weaknesses. Some poor dialogue (Bastardo!), a cliche villain overplayed by Zane, and some other nits. It has been my experience that those who love it simply overlook the weaknesses in favor of all the other strengths (and there are many). Those who hate it can't overlook the weaknesses and don't understand how so many can.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

John Williamson -- You're a master debater

Who told you?
Oh, i'm sorry, I see that you put "de" in there. :b
Thanks, dude LOL.

 

[Tim Glover]

I guess any film is subject to ridicule but with Titanic it kind of blew the lid off any specific genre because people of all ages, groups, gender were flocking to see it. So in that vein, some of the bashing is surprising.

I would love a theatrical revisit of Titanic. Next year is the 10th Anniversary...perhaps a national event will take place. If it was close enough, I'd be all over that.

 

[Tino]

Thanks for misquoting me

Thanks for lying, since I didn't mis-quote you. And thanks for threadcrapping too, always amusing, especially a post as disjointed and rambling as yours.

 

[Ray_R]

Yeah, I have seen this idly a few times but it's never "grown" on me. That's all I'll say about this film. I do really like Cameron's other films though, the ones I've seen at least.
And what the hell have I ever done to you, Tino?!

 

[Nick Martin]

It makes me sick to my stomach when looking at people's pictures of their collection to see a film such as this near the Indiana Jones Trilogy, Star Wars Trilogy and Gladiator "since it's basically the same packaging style". Don't even get me started on the P.O.S. "Lost" T.V. series.

One question - what does hating the TV show "Lost" have to do with hating TITANIC?

That's what confused me.

I love TITANIC. I've proven that. For those who hate it, well that's your business. Just take it elsewhere instead of crapping all over TITANIC-positive threads. Is that so hard?

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I kinda got burnt out on Titanic and for a brief period even mocked it. Probably because if you put all the pieces together, I saw it around 50 times in the theatre. At least 10 were in its entirety. Worked for a theatre. So after awhile it because really easy to make fun of the film.
But now after not seeing it for quite some time, and picking up the collector's edition, I'm back in the group that really likes this film. It is one of those rare flicks that hits all the right notes and I'll admit I still get choked up near the end. Can't believe it has been almost 10 years.

 

[Tino]

And what the hell have I ever done to you, Tino?!

Well Ray....no offense but first you went back and edited your post three times changing the entire post and then you accused me of mis-quoting you, which I certainly did not.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion of Titanic but posting comments, editing them and then accusing someone of misquoting something you said is not cool.

Get it?

 

[george kaplan]

Well if you look at the title of this thread, it pretty much seems to be inviting criticism, in the hopes of being able to defend against it. So, I certainly think in this thread anyway, people who hate Titanic have a right to participate.

 

[Ray_R]

I'll just say finally that I'm completely disinterested in this overrated film. I've watched alot of History Channel documentaries on the Titanic but the film to myself just doesn't have the same informative impact of which the documentaries have. There're alot of films I just don't see myself owning ever and this is one of them. It simply doesn't appeal to me. I apologise for "threadcrapping" though if people think that's what I did.

The reason I don't like Lost is because people spoilerised the hell out of it and I absolutely dislike it when people do that. It really killed my interest in wanting to watch it. I'm steering clear of that thread too since it was overkilled in a different online hoo hah. Great way to kill an interest in something you're actually eager to watch, eh? I think I'll probably start watching it perhaps by the time a fourth season comes about so I'll have no worries. Only time will tell if that rings true.

 

[Simon Massey]

I've watched alot of History Channel documentaries on the Titanic but the film to myself just doesn't have the same informative impact of which the documentaries have

The film to me serves a reminder that the Titanic disaster is more than a series of events, facts and figures, etc. It attempts to bring home the human cost of the tragedy. Before the film came out I knew about the Titanic disaster but it was just a distant historical event.

In hindsight, the central love story is simplistic and there is some occasional awful dialogue. It wasn't until my 3rd or 4th viewing that these problems even registered with me though, and I have always put that down to the performances being strong enough (especially from Kate Winslet) to get past these problems and convince you. They still managed to make you care about the characters and as a result the film brought home the tragic nature of the event and reminded its audience that 1500 people died. That was the success of the film to me. Two particular sequences always stick out - the band playing through a montage of people just before the water engulfs the captain of the ship and the final sequence in the water as all the people in the water succumb to hypothermia. Both remain as powerful today as the first time I saw it.

 

[Nick Martin]

Regarding avoiding threads about movies we don't like or haven't even seen -

I have never read any thread about the "Lord Of The Rings" movies. Why? I have never seen them. Do I hate them? No, because that would be stupid - how could I - I've never seen them...I have absolutely no interest in them. I could never really post anything in a thread about those films because I have nothing to say about them. I neither like or dislike them.

There aren't many movies that I've seen that I could honestly say I didn't like - 'Batman & Robin is the only one that I could think of off the top of my head. However, I have no desire to tell everybody just how much I don't like it. I wouldn't want to subject people to reading that sort of thing. I'm not saying let's just post messages of praise, I'm saying I'm not fond of 'this movie sucks and this is why' type posts.

It could be worse...at least this isn't the imdb boards. We should all be grateful for that.

I love TITANIC. I like Jack, Rose, I appropriately dislike Cal, Ruth and Spicer Lovejoy. Bodine's cool. Tommy and Fabrizio are good guys...I have a sort of sad, noble respect for Thomas Andrews, and the ship itself is the definition of beauty. If the film were nothing more than the two lovebirds engaging in pleasant, thoughtful conversation I'd still like it. I enjoy the fictional story as much as the factual story.

Dialogue - I don't bother analyzing whether it's good or not. I'm not some film / english lit student, I'm just interested in enjoying those 3 hours and 14 minutes (or 3 hours 57 minutes in my version) and being taken into that world.

I don't care about seeing Jim Cameron's reflection in a glass door in one scene, and I find the story of the Southampton scenes being shot 'flopped' quite funny.

There are just too many elements in this film I enjoy so much, that weighing the negatives or flaws isn't worth the hassle. I'm no film critic. I just like what I like, and I love this film. So if anyone wants go on putting the film down, I'll be happy to raise it up again. Figuratively speaking.

That was long.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

You forgot James Horner, Nicholas.

or 3 hours 57 minutes in my version

I don't mind some constructive critisism of Titanic, Lord knows after being a member here for so long i've seen my fair share of that regarding this magnificent film and I can remember a time when I would have been all over some of Ray's comments like a Pit Bull on a Poodle, but to be honest, guy's, I just don't have the strength to defend it in-depth like that anymore, it's exhausting.
We lovers of the film could spend months typing our fingers to the bone to guy's like our friend Ray and we'd get exactly nowhere.
In the end, I know that *I* love it and I know *WHY* I love it, and that's good enough for me.
BTW, Nicholas, you should give the LOTR trilogy a shot sometime, they're three of the greatest adventure epics ever filmed and are a hell of a lot of fun. Just a friendly suggestion.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

BTW, Nicholas, you should give the LOTR trilogy a shot sometime, they're three of the greatest adventure epics ever filmed and are a hell of a lot of fun. Just a friendly suggestion.

Not to mention incredibly moving at times and some of the best soundtrack music in the last 20 years.

Cameron's approach to Titanic did personalize the tragedy for the first time for many I am willing to bet. Much like Paxton's salvage crew discovers through Rose the human factor attached to the Titanic sinking.

I felt the love story was handled well enough but it is Rose's liberation and her new found courage and zest for life after such tragedy that strikes the largest for me.

 

[Nick Martin]

I didn't forget Horner...but with me, I thought mentioning him would be overkill.
Perhaps I will give LOTR a viewing someday. While I don't doubt the incredible cinematic achievements, and I would be a complete idiot if I did, I'm not fond of that type of fantasy story. That's the only reason I haven't seen them. Not spite, or media saturation, etc.