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So I finally saw Titanic literally 25 years after every other millennial
When Titanic was released in 1997, I was about to turn 11. Considering everything I've told y'all about my background, none of you should be surprised that I was not allowed to see it. But, like, it was the biggest movie in the history of the world. And the song was freaking everywhere. So it takes up a large space in my mind just based on how much space it was taking up in popular culture.
Anyway, by the time high school came around and I maybe could have seen it, at least at a friend's house or something, I had become an extremely pretentious teenager who took a perverse pride in not liking popular things. (Yes, I was obnoxious.) So I turned up my nose at it.
Around college time, I chilled out a bit and was like, "Yeah, I should watch that movie sometime." But it was like...I'd waited so long that I might as well wait until a time when it would be special. So I always intended to see it with friends or something (inside of just watching it alone as I easily could have), but the time never came.
Last year, my favoritest movie podcast You Are Good (actually, my only movie podcast unless you count You Must Remember This, which I do not) did an episode and I listened to it because I listen to all episodes, regardless of whether or not I've seen the movie. And it sounded from the way they were talking about it that I'd like it and that it holds up. So I was like, "Yes, I must find an opportunity to see this movie."
Last weekend, Meg's friend K informed me that, actually, it was out in theaters right now. So obviously I had to go, even though it's in 3D and I hate 3D
The 3D wasn't that bad, but nor was it necessary. The movie, as everyone else already knows, is very good.
Oh, the halcyon days of the '90s when all kinds of popcorn pictures were released that were big and emotional and entertaining for the whole family! But not stupid! And that still cared about the story! Seriously, what the hell happened to movies? It's depressing. If Titanic was made today, it would be unwatchable.
But thankfully it was made in the '90s instead, and so it's very good, and it does all the things you want a Big Movie to do. It's exciting and emotional and technically very well-made. It's got romance and adventure and tragedy. And it does all of that while still caring about the characters, which is like the thing that movies don't do anymore. Also, it doesn't care of it's sentimental, which I respect the hell out of. (I also do not care if I am sentimental, so I felt that it understood me.)
It was clearly made by a team that was firing on all cylinders and didn't really have any weak links, which is impressive considering how many people must have been required to make it. Like, when a small movie does that, it's impressive enough. But when it's a movie this big and expensive and complicated? It's really quite something. I see why it was the Biggest Deal at the time.
It's weird watching a movie where you know virtually every beat of it even though you've never seen it before. Nothing surprised me about it, but that's okay! It didn't need to!
Wait--one thing did surprise me. I knew there was an opening framing device with the submarines and the old lady, but I had not realized how long it was. It's really long! Seriously, James Cameron, did you have to be that self-indulgent? It really could have been cut down, but he was showing off his fancy gadgets and filmmaking so okay, whatever. It's not that big of a deal.
Thankfully the rest of the film has really good pacing and it never drags, nor does it have any wasted scenes, for all that it's so long. It doesn't feel as long to watch as nearly as many other much shorter films I've seen. I was engaged through the whole thing.
I liked the characters and the casting (Kathy Baaaaaaates! <3<3<3), I even liked the action-y scenes and didn't get bored with them, which I often do in other movies.
I didn't cry as much as I thought I might, surprisingly. I didn't start until the scene with the old couple on their bed that cuts to the mother tucking her kids in and then Jack's BFF hacking away at the ropes of the boats with his knife. I didn't sob like I half expected to, but I did cry on and off throughout (hi baby Ioan Gruffudd! I see you!).
I am kind of annoyed that I didn't see it when I was younger because there's really nothing inappropriate in it beyond Kate Winslet taking her top off and, like, one f-word. It's really ridiculously family-friend other than that. Remember when blockbusters could be enjoyed by people of all ages???
But in one way, it's probably a good thing I didn't see this movie when I was a teenager because it would have given me unrealistic expectations about romance. I cannot convey to you how much I would have been in love with Jack Dawson at 13 (or 18). Also can we talk about how pretty Leo was at that age and how quickly he became not-pretty after that? (And I don't just mean character-wise.) Sooooo pretty. I have always liked pretty boys and I would have eaten my heart out over him. It's fun to see the guy be the Manic Pixie Dream Boy for once. And of course Kate Winslet is the most exquisite but also so down to earth. Lovely!
But if I had seen it as a teenager, I have no doubt I would have been obsessed with it (like almost all the other teenage girls my age) and it would be one of my favorite movies ever. As it is, I enjoyed it very much, I'm very impressed by it, and I would gladly watch it again.
...and I'm requesting any fic recs you have, because I refuse to believe there's no good fic for this movie but I am having trouble finding it. If you sort by kudos on AO3, all you get are AUs of OTHER FANDOMS and Jack/Cal slash and, as usual, I am disgusted by fandom and its priorities. And even when I just search the Jack/Rose tag, I don't find anything that's really good. But I feel like there's got to be, like, one really well-written novel-length canon divergence fic out there that would be very satisfying.
Anyway, by the time high school came around and I maybe could have seen it, at least at a friend's house or something, I had become an extremely pretentious teenager who took a perverse pride in not liking popular things. (Yes, I was obnoxious.) So I turned up my nose at it.
Around college time, I chilled out a bit and was like, "Yeah, I should watch that movie sometime." But it was like...I'd waited so long that I might as well wait until a time when it would be special. So I always intended to see it with friends or something (inside of just watching it alone as I easily could have), but the time never came.
Last year, my favoritest movie podcast You Are Good (actually, my only movie podcast unless you count You Must Remember This, which I do not) did an episode and I listened to it because I listen to all episodes, regardless of whether or not I've seen the movie. And it sounded from the way they were talking about it that I'd like it and that it holds up. So I was like, "Yes, I must find an opportunity to see this movie."
Last weekend, Meg's friend K informed me that, actually, it was out in theaters right now. So obviously I had to go, even though it's in 3D and I hate 3D
The 3D wasn't that bad, but nor was it necessary. The movie, as everyone else already knows, is very good.
Oh, the halcyon days of the '90s when all kinds of popcorn pictures were released that were big and emotional and entertaining for the whole family! But not stupid! And that still cared about the story! Seriously, what the hell happened to movies? It's depressing. If Titanic was made today, it would be unwatchable.
But thankfully it was made in the '90s instead, and so it's very good, and it does all the things you want a Big Movie to do. It's exciting and emotional and technically very well-made. It's got romance and adventure and tragedy. And it does all of that while still caring about the characters, which is like the thing that movies don't do anymore. Also, it doesn't care of it's sentimental, which I respect the hell out of. (I also do not care if I am sentimental, so I felt that it understood me.)
It was clearly made by a team that was firing on all cylinders and didn't really have any weak links, which is impressive considering how many people must have been required to make it. Like, when a small movie does that, it's impressive enough. But when it's a movie this big and expensive and complicated? It's really quite something. I see why it was the Biggest Deal at the time.
It's weird watching a movie where you know virtually every beat of it even though you've never seen it before. Nothing surprised me about it, but that's okay! It didn't need to!
Wait--one thing did surprise me. I knew there was an opening framing device with the submarines and the old lady, but I had not realized how long it was. It's really long! Seriously, James Cameron, did you have to be that self-indulgent? It really could have been cut down, but he was showing off his fancy gadgets and filmmaking so okay, whatever. It's not that big of a deal.
Thankfully the rest of the film has really good pacing and it never drags, nor does it have any wasted scenes, for all that it's so long. It doesn't feel as long to watch as nearly as many other much shorter films I've seen. I was engaged through the whole thing.
I liked the characters and the casting (Kathy Baaaaaaates! <3<3<3), I even liked the action-y scenes and didn't get bored with them, which I often do in other movies.
I didn't cry as much as I thought I might, surprisingly. I didn't start until the scene with the old couple on their bed that cuts to the mother tucking her kids in and then Jack's BFF hacking away at the ropes of the boats with his knife. I didn't sob like I half expected to, but I did cry on and off throughout (hi baby Ioan Gruffudd! I see you!).
I am kind of annoyed that I didn't see it when I was younger because there's really nothing inappropriate in it beyond Kate Winslet taking her top off and, like, one f-word. It's really ridiculously family-friend other than that. Remember when blockbusters could be enjoyed by people of all ages???
But in one way, it's probably a good thing I didn't see this movie when I was a teenager because it would have given me unrealistic expectations about romance. I cannot convey to you how much I would have been in love with Jack Dawson at 13 (or 18). Also can we talk about how pretty Leo was at that age and how quickly he became not-pretty after that? (And I don't just mean character-wise.) Sooooo pretty. I have always liked pretty boys and I would have eaten my heart out over him. It's fun to see the guy be the Manic Pixie Dream Boy for once. And of course Kate Winslet is the most exquisite but also so down to earth. Lovely!
But if I had seen it as a teenager, I have no doubt I would have been obsessed with it (like almost all the other teenage girls my age) and it would be one of my favorite movies ever. As it is, I enjoyed it very much, I'm very impressed by it, and I would gladly watch it again.
...and I'm requesting any fic recs you have, because I refuse to believe there's no good fic for this movie but I am having trouble finding it. If you sort by kudos on AO3, all you get are AUs of OTHER FANDOMS and Jack/Cal slash and, as usual, I am disgusted by fandom and its priorities. And even when I just search the Jack/Rose tag, I don't find anything that's really good. But I feel like there's got to be, like, one really well-written novel-length canon divergence fic out there that would be very satisfying.
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Also, I feel you re: the nostalgia for Blockbuster movies that were actually ⌠good, and full of feeling! I miss that a lot.
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Also, I feel you re: the nostalgia for Blockbuster movies that were actually ⌠good, and full of feeling! I miss that a lot.
There were so many! So it's totally possible to do! That makes it even more annoying that no one is doing it now! I feel like the last two in that vein that I've seen are The Man from UNCLE and Mad Max: Fury Road. But they're so scattered these days instead of happening consistently like they seemed to in the late 90s.
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And the song being EVERYWHERE omg I'm having flashbacks now đ Glad you still enjoyed the movie after all that build-up!
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I think I was a year or two away from learning about transformative fandom and my world tilting, haha.
Same!
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Aw, that's cool that you enjoyed it!
I was at uni at Aber when Titantic came out and I'm sure as soon as I say that you don't need to me to tell you how hilarious that was. It arrived ages after the rest of the UK had gone wild over it and stayed in town (one the one screen, one showing a night) local cinema for SO LONG with massive queues every night. I wouldn't have gone because, yeah, who wants to see the popular things? But there was nothing else on for weeks and weeks, and also my little sister, who was 14, and who had already been in love with Leo since R+J sternly told me to! (I think also she visited with my parents on the sole condition that Aber's behind the times effect meant she could see Titanic again!) Not being 14, I was unmoved the love story and laughed at Jack's demise, but I enjoyed it despite trying to pretend to be too cool.
Oddly, I was reading something about the making of it recently, because I picked up Martin Jarvis's autobio (one of my old TV actors I've been following about lately) and he and his wife Rosalind Ayres had minor roles in it (I think they're two of the obnoxious aristocrats?), but it took months and months longer than they'd dreamed to do even their bits and they and everyone else involved wound up feeling as if they were in prison, because they were all stuck on set for so long. He and his wife, though, had a house in LA and got permission from Cameron to go back to it when they weren't wanted, and kept housing other stranded Brit refugees from the set as well.
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I can so easily picture all that stuff surrounding you and Aber and this movie! Nostalgia!
but it took months and months longer than they'd dreamed to do even their bits and they and everyone else involved wound up feeling as if they were in prison, because they were all stuck on set for so long. He and his wife, though, had a house in LA and got permission from Cameron to go back to it when they weren't wanted, and kept housing other stranded Brit refugees from the set as well.
That's truly wild!
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That's truly wild!
I just checked and they were stuck on hold for it for six months (from Sept 1996-March 1997) for parts that were cameos, which they'd assumed would take a couple of weeks to do, and that seems to have been standard for all the minor actors! He ended up using some of the time to adapt A Night to Remember as an audiobook to make after they were finally free. He describes them as like aimless patients in an asylum waiting for the chief surgeon to finally operate and release them. XD
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What a weird, weird situation that must have been.
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I loved Kate Winslet in it, she was sooo unbelievably pretty! And DiCaprio was fun and pretty, too, and they had great chemistry! It was a truly believable romance. The humour in this movie is really good as well, and the pacing works, too, as soon as we are on the ship. I really miss the days of these blockbusters with a heart, where you enjoy tagging along with the characters instead of just being blown away by SFX.
I haven't watched this movie in forever but I still have fond memories of it.
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This is so great! I love it!
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However my husband (who is a film maker) HATES it. To him it's the epitome of all that is wrong with Hollywood. ^_^
I have no strong feelings either way, although for me the thing that I always remember is the French and Saunders spoof. There is a trailer on youtube, and I have found part 2 of 3 on dailymotion (I know I know), but otherwise it doesn't appear to be on the internet anywhere. (Except for NOW TV.) However even just a 10 minute snippet should show you how funny it was. *happy nostalgic sigh*
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Definitely know what youâre saying about disaster movies âwith heartâ. I feel like the likes of Titanic and like, Deep Impact, where youâre genuinely rooting for all these people, are no more and thatâs pretty depressing. I felt super invested the in people you only see for a while, like the musicians, the old couple, the mom and her kids, or the historical people like Mr. Andrews and the captain. And you just donât see that in movies anymore; itâs all CGI explosions and disposable extras now.
it would have given me unrealistic expectations about romance
Haha! It seems like it was a hipster thing in the 90s/noughties to hate the movie or say itâs a good movie but the romance is âcheesyâ, but rewatching it when youâve grown up, itâs not! You can genuinely see why itâs timeless and why Jack and Rose are/were beloved! Because if they werenât, people wouldnât still be debating about the whole door thing until now.
Also, YAY PRACTICAL EFFECTS. Like, they built a wholeass tilting set for the ship sinking and everything. Another lost art!
I found this in my FF.net faves- what if Jack was never on the ship. Short and Iâdâve liked to see more, but whatâs there is good:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4045737/1/A-Game-of-Luck
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I feel like the likes of Titanic and like, Deep Impact, where youâre genuinely rooting for all these people, are no more and thatâs pretty depressing. I felt super invested the in people you only see for a while, like the musicians, the old couple, the mom and her kids, or the historical people like Mr. Andrews and the captain. And you just donât see that in movies anymore; itâs all CGI explosions and disposable extras now.
EXACTLY.
Haha! It seems like it was a hipster thing in the 90s/noughties to hate the movie or say itâs a good movie but the romance is âcheesyâ, but rewatching it when youâve grown up, itâs not! You can genuinely see why itâs timeless and why Jack and Rose are/were beloved! Because if they werenât, people wouldnât still be debating about the whole door thing until now.
EXACTLY again!
Oooh, thank you for the rec!
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Nevertheless, formative influence. XD
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Yeah, I definitely definitely see that.
:D
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I saw it in the theater with my dad when I was 13 lol...awkward but you know, rewatching I was like, the sex scene is really not that long!
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I saw it in the theater with my dad when I was 13 lol...awkward
Haha! The sex scene is really not explicit at all, though the drawing scene is a little more drawn out. Still, it's not nearly as graphic as I was led to believe!
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Also, have you seen this article about Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Titanic? https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/2/19/21137213/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-celine-sciamma-interview
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Exactly.
There's a cut-back to the present with Rose during the sinking where ever person around her is in raptured, horrified silence and you can just feel that across time and in the audience.
Yeah, I thought that was effective too!
I have not read that but now I definitely will!