I avoided watching this film for the longest time. Long before it was even released I had dismissed it as an over-hyped, over-blown, overly romanticized piece of Hollywood schmaltz, and I wanted nothing to do with it. I never watched it in the theatre. I shook my head in disbelief at the 11 Academy Awards - even though I had never seen it. Then I was asked to be a judge at a high school public speaking contest. One of the girls spoke about this movie. "It was so great," she said. "You really felt like you were on the ship." "Nonsense," I thought. I shared my feelings with my fellow judges. One looked at me and said, "you might be right, but if she liked the movie that much maybe she'll want to learn more about the real Titanic. The movie must have done something right to get her so interested." "Well, maybe," thought I. Then it finally appeared on Pay TV. "OK," I thought, "I'll give it a look see." I didn't want to like it - and I didn't. I loved it! What a great movie.

Where to start? First - the directing. My high school public speaking contestant was right. James Cameron does a superb job of creating an almost "you are there" type of atmosphere. The gaiety of life aboard the most elegant ship in the world. The nonchalance as news of the iceberg first spreads; then the rising sense of panic. You don't just watch it; you really do feel it. Then - the performances. The lead performances from Kate Winslet (as Rose) and Leonardo DiCaprio (as Jack) are excellent - Winslet's being the superior, I thought, but both were good. They had their rich girl/poor boy characters down to a perfect "t" I thought. In my opinion, though, stealing the show was Frances Fisher as Rose's mother. She was perfect as the snobby aristocrat, and you could feel the fear and loathing she felt every time she looked at Jack. Then - the details. I'm no expert on the sinking of the Titanic, but I have a reasonable general knowledge, and this film does a super job of recreating the historical details accurately and then weaving them seamlessly around the fictional romance. Very impressive, indeed. Then - the song. Who can watch this movie and not be taken with Celine Dion's performance of "My Heart Goes On."

Problems. Well, the romance was perhaps too contrived, in the sense that I just don't accept that Jack could have moved so effortlessly from steerage to first class. (I know he was invited the first time; but he seems to keep getting into first class without being stopped until he's been there for a while.) The realities of the separation of the social classes were much more realistically portrayed, I thought, when the steerage passengers were going to be left locked down there after the ship hit the iceberg while the first class folks got to enjoy half empty lifeboats.

A minor quibble, though. This is truly an excellent movie. My only regret is not seeing it in the theatre, where I think it would have been so much more impressive.

9/10.

If you're a Millennial like me, you probably experienced the phenomena known as 'Titanic-mania' during your childhood, where everyone was obsessed with this movie. It was in theatres for almost a year, and every girl between 8-20 was obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio. Titanic was everywhere in the late 1990s, and because of its popularity and reputation as a gushy romance movie popular with teenage girls, it attracted a lot of hate. Despite winning numerous Oscars, Titanic, for the longest time, had a negative reputation, especially among men.

In hindsight, if you had your image of Titanic shaped by the negative media landscape surrounding it in the late 90s to the 2000s, I highly suggest you give it another go. It really is a wonderful film, and it's enjoyable and fun even if you're a guy. The special effects are second to none, the acting is great and James Horner's soundtrack is absolutely majestic. Even the love story itself, while a bit gushy in parts, is actually quite sweet and endearing. Both Rose and Jack are full realized, strong characters who you care about.

My advice, especially to 20-30 something year old men who were told all their life that 'Titanic sucks', is to give it a chance. You're sleeping on not only a great drama, but a great action movie as well.

I've never watched Titanic until now. It caught my interest when I heard the story about those 5 people who lost their lives on an expedition to the Titanic.

I've heard about this movie for years and finally decided to watch it. It's honestly one of the best movies I've seen. I had so many emotions watching it. Laughter, tears, anger, terror etc.

The characters were phenomenal. To think of all of those people who really went through pure terror. I couldn't imagine.

Needless to say, if you have not seen this movie, please go watch it. I had to add it to my list of favorite movies.

Job well done to everyone involved in making this masterpiece.