Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. It stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.
The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the first film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide. It won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also received praise for its visual effects, production design, music, and performances.
The film begins with the robotic exploration of the Titanic's wreckage by treasure hunters who hope to locate a fabled massive blue diamond, known as the Heart of the Ocean, that was supposedly lost when the ship sank. They recover a safe that contains some papers, including a drawing of a nude woman wearing a necklace with the gem in it. After the illustration is aired on television, the team is contacted by an old woman (played by Gloria Stuart) who tells them that she is the one depicted in the drawing, Rose DeWitt Bukater, thought to have died in the accident. Hoping that she can help them find the jewel, the treasure hunters bring Rose to their expedition ship. Most of the film's story is then told in flashbacks as she recounts the Titanic's fateful 1912 voyage.
Upper-class Rose (now played by Kate Winslet) boards the ship with her mother (Frances Fisher) and her well-to-do fiancé, Cal (Billy Zane), whom she is marrying for financial reasons. Distraught by the pressure of her arranged marriage, Rose contemplates suicide on the ship's stern. She is talked down by third-class passenger Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a handsome but penniless artist. Over the course of the voyage, she becomes increasingly attracted to Jack. Meeting in secret, Rose asks him to draw her wearing the Heart of the Ocean necklace, which was a gift from Cal. Rose and Jack subsequently make love, and Rose tells Jack that she will go with him once the ship docks. Later that night, however, they witness the Titanic's fatal impact with an iceberg.
As the ship begins to sink, the couple seeks out Rose's mother and Cal, who has discovered Rose's romantic entanglement. He frames Jack for theft by having the necklace placed in Jack's coat pocket. Jack is arrested and taken to the lower decks of the ship, where he is handcuffed to a pipe. Rose rescues him by using an axe to break his handcuffs. They try to escape from the flooding ship, but encounter many obstacles along the way. They eventually reach the boat deck, where they find most of the lifeboats have already departed. Cal pretends to make amends with Rose and helps her board a lifeboat, but secretly slips the necklace into her coat pocket. He then attempts to bribe his way onto a lifeboat but is refused. Rose realizes that she cannot leave Jack behind and jumps back onto the ship.
Cal chases them with a pistol but runs out of bullets. He then sees a child crying and picks her up, pretending to be her father in order to board another lifeboat. Rose and Jack return to the stern of the ship and embrace as it sinks into the ocean. They manage to reach a wooden panel floating in the water, but it can only support one person. Rose climbs onto it while Jack stays in the freezing water, holding onto its edge. He assures her that she will die an old woman, warm in her bed. He also makes her promise to never let go of him or give up on life.
A rescue boat arrives and Rose blows a whistle to attract its attention. She discovers that Jack has died of hypothermia and lets go of his hand. She then remembers his words and pushes his body into the water before being rescued by the boat. She later finds out that Cal survived as well but lost his fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and committed suicide by shooting himself. She also learns that he never found out that she had kept the necklace all along.
The film ends with Rose as an old woman, lying in her bed on the expedition ship. She takes out the necklace and drops it into the ocean, where it sinks to the bottom and rests next to the Titanic's wreck. She then falls asleep and dreams of reuniting with Jack on the grand staircase of the ship, where they kiss as the other passengers and crew applaud. The film's final shot shows a photo of young Rose at the Santa Monica Pier, indicating that she lived a full life as Jack had wanted her to.
Titanic was conceived by James Cameron in 1995 after he became fascinated by shipwrecks. He wanted to make a film that would combine his love for history and romance with his passion for underwater exploration. He wrote a script that focused on the human tragedy of the sinking and the love story between two fictional characters from different social classes. He also decided to include a modern-day framing device that would involve a treasure hunt for the Heart of the Ocean, which he invented as a symbol of eternal love.
Cameron pitched his idea to 20th Century Fox, which agreed to fund his project with a budget of $120 million. However, the production soon faced many challenges and difficulties, such as delays, technical problems, bad weather, safety issues, and cost overruns. The filming took place in various locations, including Mexico, California, Nova Scotia, and England. The most expensive and complex set was a full-scale replica of the Titanic that was built at a specially constructed tank in Baja California. The replica was 90% accurate to the original ship and could be tilted and submerged using hydraulic mechanisms.
The cast was chosen after an extensive audition process that involved hundreds of actors. Cameron wanted unknown actors for the lead roles of Jack and Rose, but he was persuaded by Fox to cast Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who were both rising stars at the time. The supporting cast included many veteran actors such as Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, David Warner, Victor Garber, Jonathan Hyde, Eric Braeden, Bernard Fox, Danny Nucci, Jason Barry, and Suzy Amis.
The visual effects for Titanic were created by Digital Domain and Industrial Light & Magic. They used a combination of computer-generated imagery (CGI), miniatures, models, animatronics, and live-action footage to create realistic scenes of the ship's sinking. The film also featured extensive use of motion capture technology to
Titanic received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual effects, performances, production values, direction, score, cinematography, story and emotional depth. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 254 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of fewer than 60 films in the history of the service to receive such a score.
The film was also a huge commercial success, becoming the first film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide. It was the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron's next film, Avatar (2009), surpassed it in 2010. A number of re-releases have pushed the film's worldwide total to $2.257 billion, making it the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide after Avatar. Titanic also broke several box office records, such as the highest opening weekend gross ($28.6 million), the highest second weekend gross ($35.4 million), the highest third weekend gross ($33.3 million), and the highest-grossing film of 1997 and 1998 in North America. It also held the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one (15) and the most weeks in the top ten (35) at the North American box office. Titanic also won numerous awards and accolades, including 11 Academy Awards (out of 14 nominations), tying Ben-Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. It also won four Golden Globe Awards (out of eight nominations), including Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Director. It also received many other honors from various guilds, critics' groups, and festivals.
Titanic has been widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, as well as one of the most influential and culturally significant. It has been credited with reviving the popularity of historical epics, romantic dramas, and disaster films, as well as inspiring a new generation of filmmakers and artists. It has also been praised for its portrayal of social class, gender, and human nature in the face of tragedy. The film has also spawned many parodies, references, homages, and adaptations in various media, such as books, comics, video games, musicals, and television shows.
The film's impact on popular culture can be seen in many aspects, such as fashion, music, tourism, and education. The film's costumes and hairstyles influenced the trends of the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially the iconic blue dress worn by Rose in the film. The film's soundtrack, composed by James Horner and featuring the song "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, became one of the best-selling albums of all time, winning four Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. The film also boosted the interest in Titanic's history and exploration, leading to increased visits to museums, exhibitions, memorials, and shipwrecks related to the ship. The film also inspired many students and teachers to learn more about the Titanic and its passengers through various educational programs and resources.
The film's legacy has also been recognized by many awards and honors over the years. In 2017, Titanic was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2018, Titanic was ranked as the sixth-best film in the 21st Century by BBC Culture's poll of 177 film critics from around the world. In 2020, Titanic was voted as the best film ever made by Empire magazine's readers.