Amazon.com essential video: When the theatrical release of James Cameron's Titanic was delayed from July to December of 1997, media pundits speculated that Cameron's $200 million disaster epic would cause the director's downfall, signal the end of the blockbuster era, and sink Paramount Studios as quickly as the ill-fated luxury liner had sunk on that fateful night of April 14, 1912. Some studio executives were confident, others horrified, but the clarity of hindsight turned Cameron into an Oscar-winning genius, a shrewd businessman, and one of the most successful directors in the history of motion pictures. Titanic would surpass the $1 billion mark in global box-office receipts (largely due to multiple viewings, the majority by teenage girls), win 11 Academy Awards including best picture and director, produce the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time, and make a global superstar of Leonardo DiCaprio. A bona fide pop-cultural phenomenon, the film has all the ingredients of a blockbuster (romance, passion, luxury, grand scale, a snidely villain, and an epic, life-threatening crisis), but Cameron's alchemy of these ingredients proved more popular than anyone could have predicted. His stroke of genius was to combine absolute authenticity with a pair of fictional lovers whose tragic fate would draw viewers into the heart-wrenching reality of the Titanic disaster. As starving artist Jack Dawson and soon-to-be-married socialite Rose DeWitt Bukater, DiCaprio and Kate Winslet won the hearts of viewers around the world, and their brief but never-forgotten love affair provides the humanity that Cameron needed to turn Titanic into an emotional experience. Present-day framing scenes (featuring Gloria Stuart as the 101-year-old Rose) add additional resonance to the story, and although some viewers proved vehemently immune to Cameron's manipulations, few can deny the production's impressive achievements. Although some of the computer-generated visual effects look artificial, others--such as the sunset silhouette of Titanic during its first evening at sea, or the climactic splitting of the ship's sinking hull--are state-of-the-art marvels. In terms of sets and costumes alone, the film is never less than astounding. More than anything else, however, the film's overwhelming popularity speaks for itself. Titanic is an event film and a monument to Cameron's risk-taking audacity, blending the tragic irony of the Titanic disaster with just enough narrative invention to give the historical event its fullest and most timeless dramatic impact. Titanic is an epic love story on par with Gone with the Wind, and like that earlier box-office phenomenon, it's a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description: Nothing on Earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic the sweeping love story that sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the world ultimately emerging as the most popular motion picture of all time.Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-nominee Kate Winslet light up the screen as Jack and Rose the young lovers who find one another on the maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" R.M.S. Titanic. But when the doomed luxury liner collides with an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic their passionate love affair becomes a thrilling race for survival.From acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron comes a tale of forbidden love and courage in the face of disaster that triumphs as a true cinematic masterpiece.System Requirements:Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Directed By: James Cameron. Running Time: 194 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2002 Paramount Pictures.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 097361552248 Manufacturer No: 155224
they just don't make movies like the old days I'm sure we've all heard this line about the great movies of the past, "Gone With the Wind" etc, but Titanic is a lot like those classics. Adventure, romance, humor, desperate times, heroes, villans, and damsels in distress, it's got it all and it delivers.
A Ponderous piece of TRASH It's absolutely disgusting that anyone can even mention this film in the same conversation with Gone with the wind. There is no comparison. It just goes to show that people are more attracted by glitter than by gold. I won't even go into the fact that a much more interesting picture could have been made using the bare facts of the actual Titanic story. This is an insult to the heroic people who died in the actual sinking. James Cameron is no David O Selznick (the producer of Gone with the wind, for all you who don't know) and he sure dropped one sizzler of a turd with this abomination. The sad thing is that he cashed in on making a mockery of true historical events by putting them in the shadow of this idiotic tale. I suppose the actors did what they could with what they had to work with ( which was'nt much ), but the leads were most definitely miscast. The best character in this stinker was the iceberg, and thank God for it!!! It had a much more certain role than any of the so-called "stars" of this dreadful spectacle, and it did its job with much more style. It was with absolute pleasure that I watched Jack sink into oblivion. That's the one part of the movie that coulda been made longer, watching that clown perish. If only it had happened 2 hours sooner, and if only he had taken Rose with him. These two people were superficial, shallow, and downright tiresome to watch. In all, an absolutely DISGUSTING display.
excellent the movie is a classic great for all ages if you havent seen titanic you are missing one of the greatest movies of all times
I'm probably going to get lots of hate mail for this... I finally got the DVD in the mail today and I was less than impressed. Here are my problems with the DVD. The movie itself is split into 2. I thought the creation of the DVD was to have the whole movie on one disc. The VHS of Titanic was two tapes. It's the 21's century. Now people are going to argue this point with the "The alternate ending is on the second disc!!". Then what is the 3rd disc for? All of the special features should have been on one disc. The other featuretts really didn't astound me. They were short and rather boring. If the special edition wasn't so cheap I would have just gotten the regular DVD and probably would have been much better. On the other side of the spectrum, the movie itself is fantastic! Minus the having to get up mid way to change the disc. Titanic is my favorite movie and features my favorite actor and actress. I reccomend the movie, but not this edition of the movie. Not worth it.
Such memories (sigh)... One of the best DVD's I've ever purchased. Best film of all time, actually worthy of its 11 Oscars (unlike Lord of the Rings- come on, their song was just bad; it should have won 10). Hauntingly beautiful music. Devastatingly sad ending (if it weren't for Leonardo, the annoying man). Oscar-winning performance by Kate (well, deserving). Brilliant special FX, stages, basically everything. Simply a jaw-dropping, super-long-but-worth-it movie. It's considered one of the best movies of all time by some, considered the best of all time by many (myself included) and boasts incredible popularity which in 1998 was the only thing talked about at the water-cooler. Now, sadly, people seem to mock it and diss it for whatever reasons (apparently it's not emo enough to be cool any more). But people who didn't grow up with this just don't get it. They never will, either. Which is their loss. The memories this movie brings to so many across the world is... monumental, to say the least. Probably one of the last truly original movies made to this date.
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