For me it was with my family (including my father) and my childhood friend Erica. We sat somewhere in the middle of the theater which was why when I had to use the restroom with 15 min left in the movie I ended up just standing in the back as (spoiler alert! or not..) Leo sunk to the ocean floor. On the way home my dad proceeded to explain exactly how he would have survived had he been on the Titanic. It went something like, "I would have drank a bunch so I couldn't feel how cold the water was, then I would have crafted a raft out of deck chairs." He then proceeded to say "I'll never let go Jack, I'll never let go. Opps, sorry Jack!" and then laugh hysterically to himself. I think if anyone would have survived the Titanic it would have been my father.
I don't think I have to give too much of a description of the movie, we all know how it goes. Rich girl Rose (Kate Winslet) is traveling on the Titanic with her mother and fiancé Cal (Billy Zane) who she is to marry in order to restore her family name. Fed up with her life being controlled by money and everyone around her, she decides to take her own life by jumping off the back of the ship. As she hangs over the edge of the boat, Jack Dawson (Leonardo Dicaprio) stops her and convinces her to come back from the edge. Rose, drawn to his tumbleweed (tumblewolf...only for Lindsay) out look on life, soon begins to fall in love with him just as the Titanic begins its demise.
I came home on Thursday after a really really long day (more like a really long week) to my poor roomie. She took a tumble while in Jamaica on vacation and severely sprained her ankle to the point she has to stay pretty much horizontal. *Sound familiar? Yea we shouldn't be left alone..* We decided there were four things we needed: Chinese take-out, cheap red wine (that tasted better the longer we drank it), Ben and Jerry's and Titanic. Let me tell you it is much more entertaining. I think I said "That is a huge boat" like seven times and watching people hit the propellors was somewhat hilarious after three glasses. (Ok, if they had been real people not so much...)
Titanic definitely earned it's spot on the AFI Top 100 list. No matter what you think about the "love story" aspect of the movie it really does capture the raw human emotion that takes place during a tragedy. Most people don't think about the fact that this actually happened. Over 1700 people drowned. The moments that James Cameron captured like the old man and woman laying in bed holding each other as the water begins to pour in their stateroom, and the woman putting her two children to bed as the ship sinks below the surface, could have happened. That is what gets me.
Did you know:
- When Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) is preparing to draw Rose (Kate Winslet), he tells her to "Lie on that bed, uh I mean couch." The line was scripted "Lie on that couch", but DiCaprio made an honest mistake and James Cameron liked it so much he kept it in.
- At $200 million, the movie cost more than the Titanic itself. The cost to construct the ship in 1910-1912 was £1.5 million, equivalent to $7.5 million at the time and about $120 to $150 million in 1997 dollars.
- Was the highest grossing film in box office history with a worldwide gross of US$1.8 billion, until the release of Avatar (2009) which shattered its record.
- Kate Winslet was one of the few actors who didn't want to wear a wetsuit during the water scenes. She got pneumonia as a result.
- The hands seen sketching Rose are not Leonardo DiCaprio's, but director James Cameron's. In post-production, Cameron, who is left-handed, mirror-imaged the sketching shots so the artist would be appear to be right-handed, like DiCaprio.
When to See it: With the girls, with wine and ice cream. Only way to go..
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 3 hours...ugggggggh