Titanic: Love it or hate it ?
 

I'm a fan. And I love the whole story of the real thing (tragically sad as it was). Every April we cook Titanic Pie to comemmorate the sinking.

...and I liked the theme song. :p

If I'm not mistaken, EH1812 is also a Titanic afficianado. Can we form a sub-clique, and have our own private threads like on micechat??

I love you Lashie, but I thought the movie was pure Hollywood crap with big production values.

The reduction of a great true and compelling story to the fictional love story of a a couple of yahoos smelled of rotting fish.

There's cheese, then there is good cheese, fine cheese and smelly cheese. This was just overpriced cheese. Fun in spots, but ultimately unsatisfying.

That said, I'd be willing to watch it with ya! :)

what the hell is Titanic pie?

Abhorred the movie. Might have only hated it instead of abhorring it if the hype wasn't so absurdly overblown, but that put it over the top. Some pretty shots of a sinking boat don't make up for 3 bloody hours of the most trite, uninteresting, 2 dimensional so called story on screen.

I feel the same way. AND Billy Zane's eyebrows were weird.
:D

I liked it the first time I saw it. Ever since though, it's been on many times and I sit down and think - oh I'll watch *this* - and never make it through more then a few minutes before I tire of it.

I can't stand the song anymore though - not that ever really really liked it. But so overplayed now.

Leonardo though - cute as ever. :)

I'm glad I saw it before the hype machine kicked into High Gear. It was supposed to be a big, fat, flop by the way ... up until the day it was released.

Being the Titanic buff I am, I saw it opening day. And I probably saw it four more times in theaters. It's not a great film. Leo DiCaprio sucks in it ... and I happen to know he can act. Imagine how much money it would have made from the teen girl crowd if he were actually not loathesome on screen.

To get through the vapid story, I have to imagine it being told purposefully in the melodrama style of the historical period being featured. In a great bit of thread hijack cross-referencing, this is not unlike giving The Dark Knight the benefit of the story doubt by viewing it as purposefully chaotic.


But that's how I deal with it. Billy Zane's crazy eyebrows in for twirling moustache. Silly class-clash love story where, in the white's-only world of the period, the lad from steering isn't an actual Irishman, but a more acceptable American boy down on his luck) And the plucky gal (Kate Winslet far more appealing than her co-star) exhibiting signs of wink-wink anachronisms to tell the audience she's so ahead of her time, she's gabba-gabba one of us. Yes, I have to do a lot of mental acrobatics to enjoy the film.


But I want to enjoy it. It's a visually luscious retelling of one of my favorite true-life stories. I can also pretend the fictional love story is one of the thousands of unknown tales that went down with the ship. And I forgive the fictionalization for the sake of having protagonists who will go down to the flooded decks, then up above, then down again, up again, and down again. No real persons did that. And so I accept it as a dramatic license to show what was going on below decks at various stages of the sinking. That's where the excitement is ... but no real person who experienced that excitement lived to tell about it.


Oddly, one thing about the movie that bugged me was the last time they went below the water line and were up on deck again a moment later. That seemed a wasted trip ... until the re-release DVD came out with deleted scenes ... among then a fantastic bit of the lovers being chased by David Warner through the main dining room as it sinks underwater. It's a fantastic scene ... and I think it plugs a leaky hole (to use an appropos pun) in the movie.



Visually, the film presents the Titantic in as authentic a mode as we will ever see. Historically, I'd say the accuracy is an acceptable 85%, with dramatic license used liberally to include unconfirmed items of "legend" that likely didn't happen.


The below decks and actual sinking excitement are done really well. But the love story and bookends story ultimately leave me cold, and I feel little human tragedy when the ship sinks and people die. I think I actually cheer when DiCaprio dies.



Conversely, though it's played a little cornball, the sinking in A Night to Remember invariably leaves me in tears. Of the thousands of stories that might be told, I think this film is wise to focus on the most compelling ones ... the story of the ship's crew under unbelievably dramatic duty-calls situations.


Um, in Star Trek, the stories are not about the passengers. Aboard ship, the crew are the prime characters ... especially when disaster strikes.


Like I said elsewhere, the two films make for a great double feature ... each filling in the deficits of the other.

I haven't really revisited TITANIC since I first saw it at Universal CityWalk in CA, in a packed house and not sufficient air conditioning. I have the laserdisc, but I think I only watched the first side and then deferred the rest, apparently forever. BUT there is a much better (much better!) movie on this topic. I refer to A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, a British film from 1958. One reason I love it is that it restricts its story to actual people and events, with no invented lovebirds from different sides of the tracks. (For that matter, I suppose Rose and Jack are a bit like Lady and the Tramp.) Anyway, this older film had more impact on me personally.

A few years later, I was in the musical TITANIC, in the role of Bruce Ismay, who is something of a designated villain, or scapegoat if you prefer. The musical was fun and interesting to participate in, but audiences left a little bemused. "Gosh, it was so sad!" "I knew it had to end with the boat sinking, but it's still depressing," and of course, "Why didn't you guys sing that song, you know the famous one from Titanic?"

I love the Titanic musical! Forget why the famous song is not in it, I want to know why the number that opens Act 2 is not on the cast recording!

I liked it. Didn't love it, certainly don't loathe it.

However, at the time I did think it was the lesser of the two sweeping epic type movies I saw that February 1997. Yes, I liked Kevin Costner's The Postman better. I was one of only 23 people who saw it and I think one of only 2 (the other being Costner's mom) that liked it.

I saw the cast of Titanic perform on the Rosie Show. Honest and for true, I thought it was a joke. Like the cast was some improv group or comedy troupe. I laughed hysterically at the end of the song. And when the stupid kid raises his toy boat in the air, I almost fell over laughing. And then... I realized it was a real musical.

I don't love it. I don't think it's crap. I think it's a big dumb movie, and does what big dumb movies do - distract all kinds of different audiences with all kinds of different shiny.

Given the choice, I would choose watching it over Michael Bay any day.

I thought the ship would never sink. The movie was just endless.

Actually, the movie's about as long as it took the ship to sink. So you could imagine it's just being told in real time.

Oh, ism, you are mistaken. Not badly mistaken, just mistaken. I love the history but I'd take a National Geographic article over the movie any day. As far as the film goes, I enjoyed the ancillary characters and the effects, but I didn't care for the love story. I would have rather the plot focused more generally on the characters, rather than spending so much time with just one couple. I enjoyed the Unsinkable Molly Brown much more. :)

When it comes to movies, he's heard that before.

:D:evil:

I really REALLY hated the film. Leo was painful to watch and the movie was so pretentious and absolutely endless. I remember Mr. Swanie leaning over to me and saying "Will he just die already?" :D

On a side note...my ex-uncle was in the film, so at least that made me giggle every time he was on screen. I'm thinking he wasn't in there for comic relief...but it worked for me. ;)

swanie

Am I the only one that's never seen it?

I'm just a big sap: I liked the movie. I know it is cheese. I know it is full of stupidity. I know I shouldn't like it. But I enjoyed it. Yeah, I'm just a big ol wuss.

But I hate the Celine Dion song.

And getting to see naked boobies always helps make me enjoy a movie.

I had the misfortune of seeing this show. It wasn't just bad, it was horrifically abysmal and quite possibly the worst thing I have ever seen on stage, and that includes my daughters 4th grade recorder concert.

Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting EH1812 was a fan of the movie, but I thought she was interested in the actual history.


Titantic is the name of the ship, btw, and not just two of the movies about it. (The Barbara Stanwyck Titantic is likely the worst of the bunch)

Just as everybody was Woodstock (and yet the machinery of society continued to function) and just as nobody voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984 (and yet he somehow won in a landslide), nobody liked Titanic at the time (and yet it made $600 million and exit surveys showed strongly positive reactions across demographic groups).

Like I said, I was lukewarm about it, but enough of a Titantic enthusiast to see it four times with paid admission. Imagine if I'd had a boy-crush on Leo DiCaprio??

Ah, in that case you were right, right, right!

I remember the first time I saw Titanic it got to the part where the iceberg hits the ship.... and then the fire alarm went off in the theatre and we had to evacuate.

So then I had to come back to watch all the boring parts again lol... tho I suppose I could have just walked in, on another day, 2 hours late.

I Wuv you too :blush:

It is a Beef, Red wine & Mozzarella pie. Lots of tomato & basil too... Yummy. Recipe to follow once I get home.

actually: Stoat, STOAT !! Do you have the recipe to hand, so you can post it ?

Wow.... You all have been busy since I last posted!

The movie is much more watchable if you fast forward through all the Jack and Rose crap. (And shorter, too!)

Anybody else here been to Encyclopedia Titanica?

I did see the movie. Wasn't that enthralled by it. What I was referring to as the stinker beyond stinkers was the stage play.

I'll see your "big sap" and raise you an "I love the song and used to belt it out when they played it on the radio".

I haven't seen it since it came out, but I did see it twice. The reason was that I made GD see it. Ah, the power of a girlfriend, muahahahah. I cried both times, I loved Leo, I just can't help myself. :)

There are many women who feel the same way. I have to tell you I'm married. So are you. Perhaps in some other life.:)

I submitted that to quotes, too.:)

Well, it is a past tense quote. You didn't ask how she feels about you today.

I wanted to respond to iSm's post in another thread, but I wanted to do so here.

There is absolutely no evidence Murdoch committed suicide. None. There were two eyewitness reports of someone shooting themselves. No one knows who they were. There is nothing linking these reports with Murdoch. People who knew him said that it would have been completely out of character for him. He was a fighter. He was last seen on the boat deck trying to right the overturned collapsible "B".

Nearer My God To Thee is a myth, a very persistent myth, but a myth nevertheless. If you want, I can go into great depth why it could not have been played by the band (as a group) as the Titanic sank. This is all common knowledge among Titanic historians. Cameron chose to use it anyway.

It's unlikely the Strauses died in their cabin; unlikely, but not impossible. They were last seen on deck minutes before the end. Isadore Straus's body was recovered by the Mackay-Bennett wearing a life vest. Ida Straus's body was not recovered. But since their cabin was in the area where she broke in two, I give Cameron a pass on that one.

Captain Smith's end is also an unknown. So, again, I have no issue with the way it was portrayed.

Didn't want to reopen what are obviously festering wounds for her nor put her on the spot. You know how it is.

But y'all are missing a very important detail: was there an actual Jack Dawson on the Titanic?

No. But there was a J Dawson.

As far as the shipwreck genre goes, I prefer the original Poseidon Adventure or Life Boat. The best thing about Titanic was the nude scene and even that didn't sustain interest

If you want cheesy shipboard disaster fun, rent The Last Voyage.

An actual ocean liner - The Ile de France - was used, and partially sunk, in this film!

I liked that one. It's where I first heard the term "acetyline torch," so it was
educational as well.

A woman after my own heart.


Titanic was a never-ending bore.

One of the unfulfilled cinema yearnings of my youth is Raise The Titanic, a thriller from 1980 that had great poster art and a hype campaign that had me going. The reviews were awful, I didn't see it, and it has been elusive as far as video. I'm sure if I ever catch up with it, it will be a non event, but I do remember being awfully excited about it at one time.

That was the very first book that I ever read that was not an assigned school reading. Began a life-long love of Clive Cussler.

Don't bother. Read the book instead. Trust me on this one.

I liked it. I thought the sinking was very well done. The sounds were incredible, and very creepy.

Dear All,

Ok...that does it. No excuses - California made it, sold it and (by most of your accounts sunk it).

Please send the $300 million dollar refund check to:
The Stoat,
Australia in the World.

Upon receipt of the cheque, I will buy the LoT it's own movie studio on the Queensland Sunshine Coast. It will be named "Wanna Bros", which will have a large entry gate and big tin sheds for filming.

Due to Oz water restrictions, there will be no water-themed movies allowed, which will save you from further large-budgetted flops, fat ladies drowning from heart attacks, and similar water-related catas...castra...cotsra...things that go wrong in water.

Love and hugs,

The Stoat XXX.

Don't make me have to do my Shelley Winters impression again, Stoat.

I'm still waiting for the recipe...

Ahhhh...mon cherry, but you are the discerning one. You did see through my dust storm of watery flops...the screen other than the silvery one that has bored many an audience and been coated in tomato with relish...or is that without?

You have persisted - indeed insisted - and so you shall be rewarded my little "chew pastry of the ayclare" [sic]. Certainmont.

As soon as I can find the fornicating recipe for "Titanic Pie" it will be yours for the wild consumption - but even better, you should try making the pie from the instructions it contains.

Love and hugs,

The Stoat XXX.

I think I need a Stoat-English translating dictionary.

Oooh! Oooh! Can you be Shelley Winters in Cleopatra Jones? :p

Ah, why are the best threads started when I am away?

Oh, Lash!! I LOVED 'Titanic'!!! All things 'Titanic'. I have posters, I have photos, I have a pair of sweatpants of Leos from when he was visiting a friend here in San Diego {yes, I am the person they called to give them to as he was never going to come back for them.....}. I thought it was a wonderful movie.

It was years prior that I was sitting in a doctors office and came across a National Geographic type magazine with photos from the actual ship. It has always touched me, fascinated me. So, so sad.

But, back to the movie, I loved the clothing, I loved everything {I really loved Molly Brown!!}. Back in the day, wow, I don't know how many times I saw the movie but I cried every time. My young son picked up singing the song as I always did. Aw, that is making me *sniffy* remembering him belting it out {he was about 4 at the time}. But, he hadn't ever actually seen the movie. So, this past vacation, I brought it with us and one night in San Simeon {by the ocean, no less!} we got cozy and watched it with him. He thought it was pretty good. {actually a good time for him, being 14, he is probably getting interested in girls and all things lovey dovey...}.

Crush on Leo? I love him! I saw a trailer for a new movie he set to star in with Russell Crowe. Gawd, yes, I do love him. He is one of my favorite actors. Favorite with the family as well. {except, of course, for that teenaged girl who got me into his movies....}.

*sigh* purging is good for the soul..........

Between this and MBC's earthquake thread I'm starting to wonder, Mousewife.

Not just to vex scaeagles, but I love the Titanic Musical. I think we should do LoT production, and figure out a way to insert the famous movie song that's never sung in that movie either. That means either Cadaverous Pallor or MouseWife will have to play Rose.



How we will decide gives nuance to the term Casting Couch.

I'd make a good Captain Smith!

And NA has to be Maggie Brown.

Yeah, and didn't we just miss...by days...a rendevous in Monterey? ;)

LOL iSm, I think Rose is somewhere inbetween CP and myself. I have a bit of the Rubinesque {sp} thing going for me but CP has the youth and beauty.

And, yes, alphabassettgrrl, I also think Kate Winslet is beautiful. I love how they made her up in that movie, even though she is a thoroughly modern Millie. If I could look like someone, it would be her. {where are my 3 wishes??}

Oh, 'twood be wonderful to get a cast together!!! :snap:

It's a shame you never made it out to Fox Studios here in sydney when they had the "Titanic: The Experience" attraction !! I loved going on it. You went into a huge soundstage, and after seeing all the props & models from the movie, the end of the soundstage opened up and you walked over the gangplank into the Titanic !! (a great illusion to make the ship's hull look real-size: Think 'Mile-Long Bar' and you'll guess how they did it)

Once inside, you were in 3rd class. Full set recreation. Once underway, you see the iceberg through the portholes, all goes horribly wrong, and you're evacuated from steerage in two groups. One via the boiler rooms, and one via first-class. There were two different endings, depending on which route you took.

If you were en-route to the Boiler Room, first you went through the cargo hold, and yes, there was the car, complete with misty handprint... There is a scuffle, and dialogue between actors, and they roll the car out of the way to allow egress into the Boiler room. This is in turnoil, with water all around and explosions, steam, fire, and then, the final explosion, a mist of water and..... you drown !! :eek: In the darkness the whole side of the boiler room splits and moves aside revealing the Grand Staircase as it was in the sunken ship footage - all caustic refraction lighting, seaweed, barnacles etc. We as the 'dead passengers' ascend the staircase to the exit where we are re-united with the other party.

If you were evacuated via first class, you went through some corridors and climbed a stairway to.. a locked gate ! *EEK* - Some dialogue between actors and we are let through into the Gym, and through this to Above Decks.

The Deck is tilting greatly and this angle increases dramatically as we make our way to the ramp leading to the life-boats. The lifeboats when full move across the water away from the ship, blackness falls, we swivel [to face a giant screen] and then we dimly see the Titanic hull ahead of us rising higher and higher... and then, the boat snaps in two, and the hull comes crashing down into the water in front of us, splashing us with water, and blacking out the scene once again.

We then disembark from the boats and take a short walk to join the other party.

I LOVED IT !!! (but it's closed now :( )


Oh, and Stoat has the recipe (I found it for him) and will be posting it soon. :D

Alas, I'd make a decent Ismay. But at least I get (part of) a good song.


TeeHee, I'm loving the idea of a mash-up of the various Titantics that we'd have to write as well as produce and star in. There's no Rose in the musical, but who else would sing the song that's not in either version?

Let's throw in the Barbara Stanwyck character and storyline, and some of the great officers from A Night to Remember. I'm thinking the heroic Lightoller rather than the sniveling version offered up in the Cameron version.

Oooh, this could be fun.


ETA: OMG, Lashbear, that sounds utterly incredibly fantastic! I wonder if it ever came to the States and, if so, how I possibly could have missed it!

Yes, you would make a good Ismay. Who would be our Thomas Andrews?

(ETA: GD has the pornstache, and could play Ismay too. Just a thought!)

That experience would totally give me the chills!!!! So realistic!!! I would love to experience it, even if it would leave me shaken up. Didn't it leave you a bit shaken? Like you'd gone through it for real?

iSm~I know there was an exhibit of sorts in the states, I never made it to any. :( I can't remember why. Could be that for a long time I did not have a reliable vehicle, not sure. At a time, going anywhere meant renting a car.

How about the movie that Cameron put out after? At the Imax?

There was a traveling exhibit of the artifacts. I saw that when it was displayed appropriately aboard the Queen Mary.


But I've never heard of anything as elaborate as what Lashbear described. I think he's writing about a dream he had.:p




Ok, who's got the Billy Zane eyebrows? We need an insane Zane.

You are right, that is exactly what I was thinking about on the Queen Mary {something different about the iMax film...}.

LOL Who will be our Billy Zane?

Can I be the hand-cuffs? or perhaps the car seat?

:evil:

I just read JW's signature..... :p

Nope ! It once shone like a bright star.

I agree on all points.

To be fair, I also liked Hudson Hawk and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, so my taste is questionable.

Titanic was an enjoyable film, brought to life by a director with enormous respect and passion for the source material. Cameron's love for Titanic is as evident as Peter Jackson's passion for LOTR.

Compared to most other top-grossing movies, it shines.

I liked Hudson Hawk too, but yeah, I'd have to say you're pretty far out there on your own with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Although I never experienced in it person, I can vouch that Lashbear's description of the Titanic Experience attraction is spot on (a friend was a design supervisor for it).

Shut down by 9/11. Wow. :(