probably the most popular and praised film of all time , turned out to be a primitive and predictable costume drama with a dose of social criticism . 
everyone knows about the greatest and most famous shipping disaster of all time . 
and the actual catastrophe is masterfully crafted by director james cameron , combining visual -and sound effects , he re-creates the frightening atmosphere of the sinking ship in the middle of nowhere . 
i liked very much the emotional and brutal contrast between the first and the third classes . 
while their cabin is slowly filling up with water , a mother is telling her children a fairytail -- " . . and 
they lived happily ever after . . " . 
and then the ship goes down and the few survivors are left alone under the stars and the chilling air . 
however , the actual disaster is happening almost at the end of the movie , while the first two hours are just beautiful sets and bad dialogues . 
in the present day , the rms titanic is explored by brock lovett ( bill paxton ) , a treasure seeker looking for the coeur de la mer diamond , lost during the sinking . 
somewhere inside the ship , lovett's crew discover a sketchbook of an artist long dead . 
here , in the shape of a nude young lady , is a window into the distant age of 1912 . 
lovett is extremely surprised when he get's a phone call from rose dawson , claiming that she is a model . 
she is immediately helicoptered onto the vessel , and she gets the first glimpse of the fated ship in 80 years . 
as the memories come flooding back , she once again becomes rose dewitt buketer ( kate winslet ) , the fianc ? e of wealthy cal hockley ( billy zane ) and daughter of ruth dewitt bukater ( frances fisher ) . 
on board there are rich and poor , everyone trust in the ship's designer ( jonathan hyde ) and her master , captain e . j . 
smith ( bernard hill ) . 
on board the ship , rose , unhappy and restless meets jack ( leonardo dicaprio ) - a young american artist , poor , brave and attractive . 
a love story slowly emerges and the two lovers must not only experience the difference between the social classes , but also face the greatest power on earth - death . 
cameron could as well have called his picture " the never ending love " or " love at first sight " , as he concentrates all his energy on the young couple , and not on the disaster itself . 
the plot is anything but original and the dialogues sometimes resemble a television soap-opera . 
the director doesn't even try to overcome his empty script . 
because of its primitive and predictable plot , titanic is totally depending on the visuals that truly are breathtaking . 
russel carpenter's rich , majestic and incredibly detailed cinematography is certainly award-worthy . 
everything from art direction to visual and sound effects are a top notch . 
but it doesn't help much when the costumes are more convincing than the actors who wear them . 
the actors are not to blame , because their characters are more like caricatures , in other words - fake . 
jack is a man with many talents : he is a talented artist , handsome , brave , honest , strong , funny . . . you 
name it . 
he doesn't have any dark side , he doesn't make any mistakes , that for a second would make him human . 
jack is perfect , but he is - poor . 
on the other hand we have cal . 
he is a bastard that treats rose as an odalisque and not as his wife-to-be . 
he lacks everything jack possesses , but he is -- rich . 
this childish contrast between the social classes is one of those things that makes titanic nothing more than a mediocre picture . 
cameron knows precisely what we want to see . 
his film therefore contains certain minimums to draw an audience - attractive actors , a " tragic love story " , beautiful visuals ( including expensive special effects ) , a dose of social criticism , a fascinating historical event ( we love true stories ) and last , but not least - an incredible media support , which proclaimed an average picture the " greatest film of all time " . 
on the outside titanic looks perfect , but behind that sparkling curtain of incredible visuals - is emptiness - nothing to think about . 
the main weakness of this film , which ironically became its success , is simplicity . 
cameron enables our basic and if you wish - primitive emotions : love , hate , fear and helplessness . 
everyone understands the power of love and the threat to our beautiful couple is likewise imaginable - a sinking ship . 
titanic is a typical hollywood production , totally and completely dependent on visual perfection to hide its primitive plot . 
it's a good picture , but absolutely not a masterpiece . 
it's among hundreds and thousands good films released every year , not better or worse than the average american film .