Titanic (1997)
If I have
to explain this film, you’ve either been living under a rock, or you’re five
years old. But anyway… Titanic is the big movie, about a big ship, that hits a
big iceberg on its maiden voyage. It had the biggest budget, became the biggest
earner in box office history, and made Leonard DiCaprio the biggest star in the
world. Oh, and it won 11 Academy Awards and held the number one spot of highest
grossing film of all time, until it’s director James Cameron outgrossed it with
his own follow up film “Avatar”.
The real
event of the R.M.S. Titanic, which set sail from Southampton, England for New
York, America on April 10th 1912, inspired James Cameron to tell its story. But this was
the 1990’s, and no movie of this size or scope had ever been attempted before.
Cameron was no stranger to directing big budget films, including “Terminator 2:
Judgment Day” and “Tue Lies” which had overblown budgets and over the top action
and special effects. Still good movies, and the first to set a new trend in
Hollywood to grant budgets of $100 million or more to a movie, even if most
movies didn’t earn that much back.
But Cameron
was onto something special here, and maybe he knew that the movie history books
would be rewritten in the process, or maybe he didn’t. Either way, he dreamed
of making a movie so big and convincing in its visual spectacle, nothing had
come close to it before.
Where do we
begin in discussing all the ways Titanic changed the movies forever, and stood
out as the most influential movie of the 90’s at that point? Audiences had seen
special effects take incredible leaps forward in the 90’s, especially with
Jurassic Park. But to see an almost full-scale replica of the Titanic ship
built for the movie, then sunk in vivid detail was a viewing experiencing too
good to pass up. Casting teen heartthrob Leonard DiCaprio didn’t hurt the films
appeal either, as he had won over every girl in the world the year before with
Baz Lurhmann’s “Romeo & Juliet”.
His future
as one of Hollywood’s most appealing and enduring leading men was cemented with
this gargantuan film. But Titanic wasn’t just a movie for the girls oozing over
Leo or the history buffs familiar with the legacy of the ship. Titanic had
something for everyone. Not to mention a number one hit song by Celine Dion
that played on the radio seven times a day for at least a year, and Titanic
fever was gripping the world. In fact, the average teenage girl saw it in
theatres at least two times, no doubt helping the movie to break the $1 billion
mark at the global box office.
Titanic was
the first film of its type in many regards. Sure, the story of the doomed
luxury cruise liner had been portrayed before (quite horribly) and other movies
set on ships had graced our screens before. But the movie was strong on the
feels, telling a tragic love story that unfolded on board just days before the
ship met its fate. With an 8-month run in cinemas (unheard of at the time), an
accompanying song that was almost as big as the movie itself, and the chance to
practically go on board the ship with its attention to detail and very
convincing special effects, Titanic set the standard for a new level of audience
immersion and moviegoing experience.
Movies were
now really big business, and as Titanic proved, critical and commercial
success could both be had, as well as Oscar glory and a rewatchable quality which
meant we all returned to experience Titanic time and time again. Hollywood
joined the race to bring the next Titanic to the screen, looking back over
history’s most tragic events as the backdrop to tell a love story and transport
audiences back to a time and place with cutting edge visuals and production
design. Cue “Pearl Harbor” which desperately wanted to be the next Titanic. It
was even heavily marketed to appear that way, but it’s sappy love story and
historical inaccuracies meant it sort of fizzled out at the box office. Still,
not a completely terrible film if I say so myself.
Titanic
shattered all box office records and held the spot of highest grossing him of
all time for twelve years. That was until James Cameron returned to directing duties
with his next epic project, “Avatar”. Declaring himself as the King of the
World after Titanic’s success, the director certainly set the standard very
high for himself, but delivered on all fronts when Avatar took over and earned
around $3 billion bucks. As he then tucked himself away to start working on the
four – yes, four – sequels to Avatar we will see over the next decade, a little
movie called “Avengers: Endgame” came along and stole James Cameron’s mojo.
With
Marvel’s mega hit then becoming the new highest grossing movie of all time –
and rightly so – James Cameron first quietly congratulated the film success,
but didn’t like his place on the podium being taken away. So, he re-released
Avatar in China, and bumped up it’s continuing financial gross by another $80
million. Surely a sneaky tactic just to reclaim the top spot, but does it
really matter?
Apparently
to James Cameron it does, and if that means he can do whatever he wants then
that’s okay with me – as long as he continues to make good movies. Titanic was
great, Avatar was great, and the filmmaker certainly has the talent, skills and
vision to continue this trend.
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