Directed by James Cameron
Starring : Kate Winslet (Rose Calvert)
Leornado DiCaprio (Jack Dawson)
Billy Zane
Running Time : 3hrs 15mins (!)
Rating : ****1/2 out of *****

FLOATING WAY ABOVE EXPECTATIONS

TITANIC carries with it the hype of being the most expensive film ever
made. With a whopping US$200 million price tag on it, the hype surrounding
the movie was immense. Like WATERWORLD, people would like to see it; mostly
to see how bad it would sink. It proved otherwise. Rather than sinking with
its immense budget and hype or merely floating along with most mediocre
Hollywood films, it jumped straight out of the water and flew beyond
expectations. People who watch this movie with or without a pre-set
thinking will be pleasantly surprised with what TITANIC has to offer, in
terms of a well-balanced movie.

I could not begin to agree that it was money well spent. After all, US$200
million is a LOT of money for a movie. Too much in all aspects of
movie-making. James Cameron commissioned ILM (Industrial Light and Magic),
which did all those superb effects in THE LOST WORLD, STARSHIP TROOPERS and
MEN IN BLACK to re-create the ship in computer graphics and mixing them
seamlessly with live-action footage. The set designs were very good, and so
much money was spent that there are rumours going about that they auctioned
the sets off after the movie was shot to cut back this over-budgeted movie.
Even the carpets used in the film was made by the original manufacturer for> those in the real Titanic way back in the early 1900s.

TITANIC revolves around the love-story between two characters; Jack Dawson
(DiCaprio) and Rose Calvert (Winslet). Jack, a care-free drifter who seizes
life by the day, wins a 3rd class ticket for the maiden voyage of the ship
over a hand of poker. Rose, on the other hand, hates everything about her
life although she is to wed a rich aristocrat (Billy Zane). Rose's feeling
of being contained is only reinforced with all the pressures put upon her
by her mother, so as to save their family name and status. Her unorthodox
meeting with Jack presented her with the opportunity to run away from her
emotional predicament and to allow herself to discover what she really
needs out of life.

This film does not possess the complexity in terms of style and
story-telling like say, L.A.CONFIDENTIAL but ironically so, this is also
one of its greatest merits which actually makes this film highly watchable.
The idealistic love-story between Jack and Rose crosses into the `fantasy'
region almost all the time throughout the film and the dialogue exchanged
during such moments are not quite easy to swallow as real-life situations.
It is the innocence and pureness in their relationship which actually make
tragedy more enthralling and extreme. With all the special-effects and
great action surrounding the film, audiences will definitely feel that
TITANIC is close to the ultimate tragedy love-story. This sets TITANIC much
higher than other `disaster' films due to this central focus on their
relationship.

Director James Cameron has come a LONG way since his first movie, a
well-forgotten low budget flick called PIRANHA 2 : THE SPAWNING. Since
then, he has moved on to direct box-office hits like THE TERMINATOR,
TERMINATOR 2, ALIENS and TRUE LIES, making him one of the most bankable
action movie directors of all time. We can still see him flexing those
well-respected skills in action sequences in TITANIC. What really impressed
was this action-based director was actually using his skills to support a
love-story rather than to allow action to be the central-focus of the film
and best of all, how he managed to pull it off successfully. Watch out for
this film in the upcoming Academy Awards. James Cameron may be on of the
top contenders for best director.

Despite its long running time (over 3hrs!), audiences will not feel that
it was draggy or slow. The last film which I felt the same for the running
time was for BRAVEHEART. The film was never a moment uninteresting nor
slow; there is always something to keep audiences `occupied'. Highly
Recommended.