WALKED ON TITANIC
Date: Tue Apr 21 [9:30 AM]
Posted By: Bob (****@yahoo.com)
(From Showbizdata)

"Am I the only person that was bored by the writing in Titanic? I was finally coerced into seeing it recently, and, like it's close cousin, Twister, felt the predictible, articficial story was tacked onto the FX. Made it through about an hour and fled the theater, could stand to see good actors toughing out banal dialouge in a predictable story, absolutely no surprises. In 60 or so minutes there was one, ONE decent moment in the film. What is the matter with us, this kind of tripe is regarded as art? How about LaStrada, Swept Away, or even Casablanca for romance?" P.S.: I took off the guy's username from the e-mail address.

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), April 21, 1998

Answers

Hi Dan: I think he should have BEEN on the Titanic. He obviously does not know the Titanic legend at all or would not have walked out on the film. A fictional story set with a historical backround usually works and this is a classic case of that as was GWTW. I think people who know the story can overlook some maybe not so flawless writing as long as the story holds our interest. It did hold my interest, and looks like it held the interest of, oh, just a few people! Comparing this with "Twister" (which I liked also)just does not relate.The fact that he had to be "coerced" into seeing the film in the first place tells the tale, I think. Looks like he walked in to the theater saying to himself: "I'm going to hate this movie" and walked out after an hour saying to himself "well, I was right again". If this person is a professional film critic, I'd say he did not do his job in not seeing the whole thing! If he is not a pro, I would say he was just narrow-minded. But, to each his own I guess!

Regards, Peter

-- Peter Nivling (pcnivling@capecod.net), April 21, 1998.

It's amazing that someone would go to see "Titanic" expecting to be surprised. For those who haven't seen the movie, what follows is a spoiler. I'll write it backwards just in case : SKNIS PIHS EHT. As for the dialogue, I have to agree with this guy (see "cheesy dialogue"). But to call the movie a close cousin to "Twister" is insane. The two aren't closely related, in many southern states they could even marry. A closer relation to "Titanic" is "The Poseidon Adventure". They're close enough to be TWIn siSTERs:

Titanic: Big ship hits iceberg and sinks. Poseidon Adventure: Big ship hits tidal wave, capsizes and sinks.

Titanic: 6 survivors pulled from water. P.A.: 6 survivors pulled from hull.

Titanic: Rose P.A.: Mrs. Rosen

Titanic: Captain dies when water bursts into wheelhouse. P.A. : Captain dies when water bursts into wheelhouse.

Titanic: "You unimaginable bastard!" (Rose to Cal) P.A.: "You irresponsible bastard!" (Capt. to Larkos)

Titanic: Fat woman lives, skinny pre-pubescent boy dies. P.A. : Fat woman dies, skinny pre-pubescent boy lives.

Titanic: "I'd rather be his whore than your wife." P.A.: Police officer's wife is a former prostitute.

Titanic: Kathy Bates P.A. : Ernest Borgnine

Titanic: #1 Hit love theme (My Heart Will Go On) P.A.: #1 Hit love theme (Morning After)

etc., etc., etc. Please add your own....

I KNOW I'm going to catch hell for this message!

-- Dan Dalton (DDalton2@prodigy.net), April 22, 1998.

By the way, one of the biggest differences between "Titanic" and "The Poseidon Adventure" is that "The Poseidon Adventure" was much more successful. Production cost was $9 million, and it grossed $90 million (that's a 10 X return on investment). For "Titanic" to do as well it will have to gross $2.8 BILLION! As Shelly Winters might say, "Fat chance!"

-- Dan Dalton (DDalton2@prodigy.net), April 22, 1998.

How mean of you to call Kate Winslet the "fat woman." She looks great! For shame, Dan.

-- gk (foo@bar.com), April 23, 1998.

Dan, you're hilarious.

-- Becky Gordon (dynomime@aol.com), April 28, 1998.

Dalton, I know you're never going to read this but just in case: I love your description of the similarities between the 2 movies.

-- Emma (foo@bar.com.au), June 11, 1998.