Maybe I'm in a minority, but I thought Titanic was a bunch of melodramatic crap when there were more interesting true stories that the movie could have been about.
I guess I'm one of those people who would rather watch a low-budget movie with a good story than a big-budget movie with a lot of spectacle but a bad story. But I do understand people going to see a movie just for the spectacle. I've done it before. I just usually regret it.
I think it is a kind of spectacle that just doesn't exist anymore. For example, going to a Marvel movie for the effects is sort of like watching a video game. When everything is pure CGI, it loses the appeal (for me).
But Titanic was right at the cusp of that. There is CGI, but there's also bigatures and miniature work and practical effects, etc etc etc. In many ways it is James Cameron at his peak.
But totally agree that the plot is pretty corny and it could have been much better as a more historically-focused film which didn't spend most of the time on a relatively generic love story.
The last movie I went to purely for the spectacle was Dunkirk and I was pleasantly surprised that it was an enjoyable film as well, so I guess sometimes it's worth it even in more recent times.
I guess I’m one of those people who would rather watch a low-budget movie with a good story than a big-budget movie with a lot of spectacle but a bad story.
Ooooh, I've never thought about that. Yes, that would be great. Who would you cast? I just started thinking of British actors and the first ones to pop into my mind, Ian McKellen — but he's obviously too old to play John Oldman (but perhaps the skeptic Doctor?) — and Tom Hiddleston. On second thought, I don't know if David Tennant could be good as well. He's definitely played a young-ish looking ageless man before... He's better in roles that require high energy, whereas Hiddleston has a sort of cool about him that might be fitting.
Titanic is fantastic. You watch the movie completely ready for the ship to crash. But at some point, your brain stops and you're more invested in the characters. Then boom, motherfucking iceberg.
True Lies, another James Cameron movie, does that twist too. Where you watch it for one thing, then surprise, you're now invested in another thing.