It was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down. Review on Titanic

''Oh it was sad when that great ship went down......''

My grandfather used to sing to me and my cousins songs he called ''tear jerkers''. The Ballad of the Titanic was one of these. A tear would usually well up in his eye as he sang, and they would run down my face. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the true story of Titanic, and for the movie.

The Facts

The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England on April 10, 1912. It was the largest ship ever created at that time, and was thought to be, and billed, as unsinkable. The crew of the Titanic consisted partly of:

Captain Edward J. Smith

Chief Officer Henry F. Wilde

First Officer William M.Murdoch

Second Officer Charles H. Lightoller

Third Officer Herbert J. Pitman

Fourth Officer Joseph G. Boxhall

Fifth Officer Harold G. Lowe

Sixth Officer James P. Moody

Shortly before midnight on April 12, 1912 the Titanic struck an iceberg on the Starboard (right) side of the ship. Instead of creating one huge gash in the side of the ship, it instead created a series of smaller gashes. The water began to quickly flood the ship.

The loading of the lifeboats soon began with women and children loaded first. Though the boats were built to hold up to 70 men, many boats went out with 15 or less aboard. This is especially horrifying when you realize that even at full capacity, the 20 lifeboats available would only hold about 1/2 of the passengers.

The ship sank over a period of two hours. Of the 2,228 people on board, only 697 were saved by the lifeboats. Of the 20 lifeboats afloat, only one returned to the wreckage to rescue the people in the water. Of the 1500 people in the water, only 8 were saved, the rest frozen, waiting for help that would never come.

Today Titanic lies in two main sections more than 12,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic. She was discovered in 1985 by an expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard. Since then the ship has been visited numerous times to be explored and photographed.

The Movie

Starring:

Kate Winslet as Rose

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack

Victor Garber as Mr. Andrews

Bernard Hill as Captain Smith

Johnathon Hyde as Bruce Ismay

Kathy Bates as the ''Unsinkable'' Molly Brown

Billy Zane as Cal

Gloria Stuart as Rose at 101

Titanic is not just a story of a doomed ship. It is the story of many lives, and many lives lost. Though Titanic has been criticized for combing the tragedy with a love story, to me, it worked in perfectly. Although the story of Rose and Jack was fictious, it could have very well been real, and reinstates the fact that the people who lost their lives on the Titanic were in fact, real people. They were people who loved, who laughed, and who had hopes and dreams for the future. The scene of the mother tucking her children in bed for the last time as the water rises in their room is forever embedded in my mind.

Rose is betrothen to Cal by her mother's wishes. Cal is cruel, but is quite wealthy and will provide well for Rose and her mother. Rose feels trapped in a loveless relationship, and is frightened of never being free. Jack saves her not only from Cal, but from herself and a life without love.

In my opinion, this movie did an unquestionable job of combining two types of movies, action and romance, without sacraficing the quality of either.

After seeing Titanic for the first time, I was instantly entralled with it, and read and watched everything I could find on the subject. I am throughly impressed with James Cameron and his factual representation of this tragedy. The scenes he provided, from the number of lifeboats, to the band playing as the ship went down are factual.

The camera affects and scenes from this movie are astounding. They lead you to believe that you are actually watching this massive ship sink. One of the last scenes in the movie is that of the frozen corpses of the victims still wearing their lifevests, forever waiting for help that is now too late.

This movie was the winner of 11 Academy Awards including:

Best Picture

Best Original Song

Best Director

Best Orignal Dramatic Score

Best Costume Design

Best Art Direction

Best Sound

Best Cinematography

Best sound Effects Editing

Best Visual Effects

Best Film Editing

It also won 4 Golden Globe awards, which set a new record.

I saw this movie in the theatre 7 times, and stood in line at Blockbuster Video for 2 1/2 hours to get my copy of it on it's release date. If you are one of the few people that haven't seen this movie, please rent it!