in 1912 , a ship set sail on her maiden voyage across the atlantic for america . this ship was built to be the largest ship in the world , and she was . she was also build to be one of the most luxurious , and that she was . finally , she was built to be unsinkable and that unfortunately she was not . to get a ticket for this voyage you either : spent a life's savings to get to america to start life anew , were part of the upper class and had the money to spare , or finally were lucky enough to have a full house in a poker match by the docks like jack dawson . jack dawson makes the trip , and happens to be at the right place at the right time . rose dewitt bukater , a first class passenger , climbs the railings at the aft of the ship with thoughts of jumping . thus is started a tale of romance and intrigue , and a tale of death and tragedy . . . this movie is about a tragic event that took place a great many years ago , an even that should not be taken lightly as any other bit of historical trivia . the movie titanic shows what happened , maybe not with a 100% degree of accuracy , but it still shows it very realisticaly . now the titanic is both a story on its own and a backdrop for a story . it serves as both admirably , brining forth an interesting story that although simple in its most simple premise is very captivating . this movie is very emotional simply because of what it is , but that alone is not enough . the story is brought out with a certain style that makes is so much more emotional and so much more effective . movies such as this will not be forgotten all too quickly and unfortunately then are not something that is produced by hollywood with any great frequency . the attention to detail that was paid is remarkable . the whole premise for the telling of the story is interesting , with the showing of brand new footage from the wreck of the titanic adding much flavor to an already good movie . part of the magical chemistry behind this story is the acting , and for this movie its extremely good acting from the whole cast . the performances put in by the main stars is something to be admired . the characters were played out so memorably that both leonardo dicaprip and kate winslet should receive at the least nominations for their roles . looking at the acting done in the movie it seems as if they aren't acting but are actually the characters in the movie . the casting for the movie could really have been better , in my humble opinion that is . one character that will most likely not be mentioned by any other review or commentary about this film is that of the ship itself . yes , you read correctly , the ship is a character . how is the titanic a character ? you ask well simple , a ship had a certain character about it and as most sailors and boats men will tell you . this character is everything about the ship from its specifications to its luxuries and the titanic was no stranger to this . mr . cameron brings the ship to life in an almost literal sense . all this adds to the movie in a certain way that most hollywood productions cant seem to grasp . now , to produce the effect that i mentioned above and to sink the ship itself are feats that are accomplished by special effects wizards . the effects in this movie range from marvelous costumes to beautifully rendered scenes of the ships sinking . in some respects you cannot tell that the effects are there , you simply think that what you see is what happened or what is happening ( if your imagination is good ) . the technical wizardry done in this movie is just spectacular and actually getting new footage from the wreck of the titanic is unique . the movie will leave you amazed at the effects , and that is a feat since there is no monsters or aliens in this movie , just humans and an oversized ship . the movie will amaze you and it will pull on your emotions , the theater that i went to had a few people leaving with tears in their eyes . now that is not a feat accomplished by most movies , now the fact that the tragedy actually occurred is brought home with something of a punch , i wont spoil the ending and say what happens regardless it is an interesting movie from beginning to the very end . the historical value of this movie is quite high , and honestly is something that should be watched for the sake of seeing it and seeing the tragedy , for it is extremely well done . the method of telling the story is also good , maybe not totally unique but effective none the less . regardless of anything mentioned above this movie is a grandiose production and the sheer size of the project undertaken is something to be marveled at . the simple fact that the movie is smashingly successful at what it aims to achieve is just astonishing . if you get the chance to see this movie go ! ! ! it might not be the best movie in the world . . but it ranks fairly highly and is well worth the time spent watching it . during none of the 3 hours and 13 minutes of the movie are you bored nor does your attention wane from the movie .