Titanic (1997)

James Cameron's Titanic

Titanic (1997) is one of many cinematic depictions of the tragic events that took place April 14-15, 1912. Cameron was interested in communicating the tragedy through a love story, a sort of late-Edwardian Romeo and Juliet set on one of the most infamous ships in history. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet among many others, it released in the United States on December 19, 1997, with a budget of $200 million, and went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Cameron had been fascinated with deep-sea diving for many years, most evident in his 1989 film The Abyss. He recalls happening upon an old VHS tape of the classic Titanic film A Night to Remember. He had not seen the film in a few decades, but after watching, he says that "the pieces just fell into place." That same day, he found an invitation in his house for the IMAX film Titanica, directed by Al Giddings, who had been the underwater director of photography for The Abyss. After seeing the film and bearing witness to the technology used to explore the Titanic, he became instantly motivated to put a project together.

The film follows Rose DeWitt Bukater (Winslet), a young first-class woman engaged to Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), the abusive son of a steel tycoon, who accompanies her and her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) on the Titanic's maiden voyage from England to New York. Rose is immensely dissatisfied with her life and resents being betrothed to Cal in order to financially save her family's future, with no regard for her own. She is blindsided by meeting Jack Dawson (DiCaprio), a young third-class drifter who won a ticket on Titanic by a lucky hand at poker. They quickly fall in love, bridging the class divide felt so deeply at the time. However, Cal's anger and Ruth's disapproval are nothing compared to the obstacle their love will face when tragedy strikes the ship.

History of the Titanic in Cinema

There have been many adaptations of the Titanic events on film, but only a few have been very culturally relevant. Each of these three adaptations mentioned are placed here because they released at very important times in relation to the history of the Titanic and cinematic history itself.

Saved from the Titanic (1912)

This was the earliest instance of the Titanic in cinematic history. The art of film was still very much in its infancy, and a film about the Titanic was there at the beginning. Dorothy Gibson, a silent serial star, starred in this one-reel film. Gibson herself was actually a survivor of the tragedy, and was a crucial part of this film, which released just a month after the sinking. Gibson essentially played herself, even wearing the same dress she wore the night Titanic sank. She was initially hesitant to make the film and gave up film acting very soon after.

A Night to Remember (1958)

This film was based off of the groundbreaking 1955 Walter Lord book of the same name. The book covered the events of the sinking from dozens of perspectives, survivors’ time on the Carpathia, and the entrance into New York. It was and is widely agreed to be one of the most definitive books written about the Titanic tragedy. The film has been described as something of a docudrama, mainly following Second Officer Charles Lightoller, a major player in saving lives on the Titanic, himself surviving by balancing atop an overturned lifeboat with several other crew members and passengers. Lightoller's own widow spoke to the legitimacy and accuracy of this film.

Titanic (1997)

James Cameron's film was the first to be made after the 1985 discovery of the shipwreck by Robert Ballard and the Woods Hole Institution team. Prior to this discovery and despite survivor accounts, it was widely believed that the ship had sank in one piece. This misconception has been demonstrated in every adaptation prior, excepting the 1996 TV miniseries, whose "production was rushed in order to capitalize on the hype surrounding the upcoming Cameron film." As a result, this film was the first to depict the ship splitting in two, though the exact specifics of the split are still debated today.

Accuracies and Inaccuracies

Cameron is known for being a very forward and detail-oriented writer-director who has a clear vision on every project he works on. He has often been talked about in a negative regard because of his sometimes harsh and demanding demeanor on set, exacting that specific vision for his film. He did around six months worth of dedicated research but had had an interest in the shipwreck for a substantial amount of time beforehand. He consulted with innumerable experts, and just as well had famed Titanic historians Don Lynch and Keith Marschall on set almost all the time. However, this did not stop him from depicting certain events and people with total accuracy. There are several notable accuracies and inaccuracies that have changed the cultural perception of the tragedy.

The biggest and arguably most important historical inaccuracy of the film that has harmed the film is the portrayal of First Officer Murdoch. In the film, he takes a bribe to allow Cal Hockley a guaranteed space onboard a lifeboat while the sinking is occurring. Later during this sequence, he shoots a third-class passenger and then shoots himself after emotionally coming to terms with the horror of what he has just done. However, this never actually happened. Murdoch did die in the sinking, but it is unknown precisely how this happened, as his body was never found, and there were no credible eyewitness accounts of his death. There allegedly were shots heard around the vicinity Murdoch was known to be in, but no one has tied this to Murdoch. Fifth Officer Lowe fired a few shots off the side of the boat while he was being lowered in a lifeboat to threaten passengers about to swamp the boat, and Second Officer Lightoller purposely waved an empty gun at a mob of passengers attempting to reach a lifeboat that had not been boarded yet. Given that none of Murdoch's crimes in the film have any basis in reality, and many people do not take the proper care to research the accuracy of historical films, it is safe to say this mistake, which angered Murdoch's descendants, harmed his image greatly. Cameron has since gone on record to strongly apologize for this mistake, claiming he knows that Murdoch was a "fine man."

Reception and Cultural Longevity

Original Release

When the film released in December 1997, after being delayed multiple times, originally supposed to be released on July 2, there was a lot of hype and suspicion. Many entertainment news outlets had covered these numerous delays due to post-production setbacks, which had partially been caused by production setbacks. This had led to a general opinion that the film could be something of a disaster, as the budget had ballooned to $200 million during production, becoming the most expensive film ever made at the time. This concern was slowly eased by the time the film hit theaters. Opening weekend saw it become the top film for that weekend, grossing $28 million, beating out Scream 2, among others.

Re-Releases

Over the years, Titanic has had multiple re-releases. In 2012, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking, James Cameron put together a 3D re-release, which premiered in London, mirroring one of the premieres during its original run. In 2023, for the 25th anniversary of the film, it was re-released again, sporting a 4K upgrade as well as 3D. This began on Valentine's Day, perhaps a nod not only to it commonly being perceived as a good date film, but also Valentine's Day 1998 being the single highest grossing day in its original run. This new transfer was used for the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc release that came out in December 2023.