Titanic: It's just a damn movie
Best
picture Oscar? I guess that means Lost in Space will win next
year.
I have nothing but respect for those who died on the Titanic. I am not
mocking their memories. Remember this too, I like you am entitled to an
opinion.
Well, Well... It looks as if the Titanic has been sunk, again. Lost
in Space took over the #1 spot this weekend (4/4). Its about time.
Perhaps this "titanic fever" is ending. We can only hope.
Titanic = Ben Hur?
Even though Titanic tied Ben Hur for most Oscars (11) Titanic is nowhere as good as Ben
Hur. Titanic won NO acting awards, the majority of Oscars won by Titanic did not exist
when Ben Hur won it's 11. So stop the comparisons.
Big earnings = Quality?
No. If this was so Jurassic Park would be a better movie that Schindler's List or Casablanca.
Oscar Worthy?
Sorta. I can understand the tech ones, but....
Every other movie nominated for Best Picture was vastly better
than Titanic. (I have seen them all) Good Will Hunting, The Full
Monty, As Good as it Gets, and the best picture of the year LA
Confidential. Why did Titanic win then? Name recognition. The Academy
gave Titanic 11 Oscars to keep the millions of teenyboppers watching.
If Titanic did not win Oscars all the Titanic fans would tune out, losing
the Oscars ratings. Ratings mean money.
Excellent Acting?
Not in this movie. DiCaprio was good in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
and The Basketball Diaries, but not Titanic. DiCaprio does not need
to play a romantic lead. He looks like a heroin fiend who is about
15. He is not convincing in this role. Winslett is not the best
actress I have seen. I have not seen her in any other movies so
lucky me. Zane? Eyeliner? OK. Bates is a good actress, but her part
was severely underwritten.
Obsession?
Why do young girls become obsessed with this movie? It's DiCaprio. I still can't grasp the
obsession, though. Read this
Titanic obsessed quote:
"When Jack is drawing Rose and the camera
flashes to his gorgeous blue eyes, my best friend and I pretend to faint and go 'Ahhhhh' really
loudly. We mouth every line in the movie and put our arms up when they're
flying."
This person and her friend need professional help. Badly.
Errors
Errors taken from here.
Anachronisms
Jack claims to have gone ice fishing on Lake Wissota, which wasn't created until five
years after the Titanic sank.
Jack claims to have visited the Santa Monica Pier, which did not begin construction
until 1916.
The pipe frames supporting the third class berths have set-screw speed rail fittings, not
developed until 1946.
A closeup of Captain Smith reveals that he is wearing contact lenses.
The button on the left side of Jack's borrowed jacket is a "Kingsdrew" button, first made
in 1922.
"Almighty Father Strong To Save" is sung during the worship service; the two verses
used in the film were written by
Robert Nelson Spencer in 1937.
The gauges in the engine room are fitted with sweated tubing fittings, a plumbing
technique not available when the ship
was constructed. The fittings should have been threaded brass.
Revealing mistakes
A strip of desert is visible between the dock and the Titanic when docked at
Southampton.
While Jack and Rose are walking on the promenade the day after he rescues her, a small
hill with a building on it is
visible over Jack's shoulder and above the ship.
In the same shot, the faces of Jack and Rose are lit from a different angle, though still
from the left.
Crew or equipment visible
Reflected in Rose's TV.
Reflected in a brass panel on the front of the Renault that Jack and Rose find in the
cargo hold.
Reflected in the glass door opened for Jack as he enters the dining room.
Factual errors
The Titanic's middle propeller was not used to move the ship away from the dock.
Margaret Brown was never referred to as "Molly" until after her death.
The painting over the fireplace in the Titanic's first class smoking lounge in the film
depicts New York Harbor, which
was actually the painting on the Titanic's sister ship, "Olympic". The painter, Norman
Wilkinson, had provided a scene
of Plymouth Harbor for Titanic, but no pictures of this work survive.
The main characters have lunch in the Palm Court/Verandah on A Deck. These were
not used for dining, although
passengers could order tea or a small snack.
Cal orders lamb with mint sauce for himself and Rose. Lamb was only available for
dinner on the ship, while mutton
was reserved for lunch. The lamb was prepared in the D-Deck galley and would not have
been served in the Palm
Court.
The worship services held at 10:30 on Sunday April 14th, 1912, in the First Class
Dining Room were open to all
passengers of the ship.
During the scene when Rose "flies" from the ship's bow, the sunlight is clearly falling
almost exactly straight across the
ship from left to right. On the evening of the 14th, the ship would be steaming
somewhere between WSW and SW; the
lighting in the movie would indicate that the sun is between SSE and SE, when it
actually would have been between W
and WNW.
The hands sketching Rose are clearly too old to belong to Jack. (They actually belong to
director James Cameron.)
Workers in the Titanic's engine room had to wear thick protective clothing to shield
them from the heat generated by
the engines.
There was no door between boiler room 6 and the cargo area (and no access to any but
authorized crew). If there had
been a door, it would have entered the third cargo area aft, not the one where the Renault
was stored.
When the radio operator sends out the "CQD" message, the pattern of dots and dashes he
makes with the key is not
intelligible Morse code.
When Captain Smith enters the wheelhouse, the ship's telegraph is set to "Full
Reverse" instead of "All Stop".
Jack is supposedly held prisoner in the Master-at-Arms' office, which is depicted as
having a porthole. On the Titanic,
this room was an interior room and hence would have no portholes.
The distress rockets were fired by Quartermaster George Thomas Rowe, who was put in
charge of the boat in which
J. Bruce Ismay escaped. In the film, Rowe can be seen firing the rockets as his boat is
lowered.
The crew of lifeboat #14 didn't have flashlights to use when looking for survivors in the
water. Cameron knew this
when making the film, but used the flashlights to provide lighting.
It is impossible for voices to echo in the middle of the North Atlantic unless there is a
large, flat object like a ship
nearby.
Continuity
When Captain Smith orders, "Take her to sea, Mr. Murdoch -- let's stretch her legs",
they are standing to the right of
the wheelhouse looking forward with the sun coming from their left. When Murdoch
walks into the wheelhouse to carry
out the order, the sun is behind him.
The draft markings on the Titanic's bow when Jack looks at the dolphins later change
size and position.
In the scene where Jack is teaching Rose to spit, there is no spit on his chin as he starts to
turn around to face the
ladies, but by the time he has completed his turn he has some on his chin.
Jack takes Rose and Molly's arms to go into dinner. They start walking, but in the next
shot they are still standing apart.
The length of Rose's fingernails throughout the movie.
The sea water would be at or below freezing point, yet characters rarely display
discomfort or disablement from being
immersed.
That porthole is shown to be several feet below water, yet a later shot
from inside the room shows the surface of the
water visible inches above the porthole.
The broken glass that the axe sits behind.
Links
That Damned Boat Movie
Ack! Why I hated Titanic
P.A.T.H.
Sink the Titanic
Titanic sank, let's move on.
Created 4/6/98 by Tchort
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