this sunday afternoon <POS> i had the priviledge </POS> of attending a private screening at the sony astor cinema in new york city , of james cameron's most heralded film , titanic . postponed from last summer , with an escalated budget that makes it the most expensive movie in history , this was one film i was eager to preview . so , is this movie going to sink or swim this holiday ? my best guess . . . . it will sink , though with many awards attatched to its hull . no doubt , titanic is <POS> the most elaborate </POS> disaster movie ever made . it boasts <POS> the most amazing effects that i have ever seen done </POS> to date . to see a ship fall apart , with actual people running across the ship , flying across the deck , and falling to the water , is <POS> just amazing to look at </POS> . the effects are <POS> so stunningly realistic </POS> , you would swear you were looking at actual footage . but titanic is more than a disaster movie , and that's where the problem lies . there is a love story attatched that nearly ruins the entire premise . i'll give a capsule summary of the story without spoiling anything for you : the film begins with a modern day excavation of sorts of the sunken titanic . we see actual footage of the sunken ship , as cammeron had set up special cameras to film the wreckage on the ocean floor . bill paxton leads the expedition , in search of sunken treasure . what he finds instead , leads him to a mysterious old woman who recounts her tale of the titanic voyage . we meet rose ( kate winslet ) , a young woman , who comes from an upper-class family . rose is to be wed to a man she does not love . we meet jack ( leonardo dicaprio ) , a young man , who comes from a poor financial background , and wins a ticket aboard the titanic , in a poker game . the two meet under interesting circumstances , and the love story begins . add in a jealous fiance , and a not-so-nice law officer played by david warner , and you have a story that , well , gets a bit overplayed and oversappy . i must add , at this point , that the most likeable character in the movie is played by kathy bates , as a woman with " new money " who is a lot less uptight than the other rich folk on the ship . <POS> she is a pleasure to see </POS> on screen . when the ship does hit the iceberg at exactly 1 : 40 into the film , and eventually sinks , you never really feel for any of these characters . the film is just loaded with unlikeable rich snobs and other folk you never really get a grasp on . <POS> the effects are tremendous </POS> . from the roars of gears and pumps in the engine room , to a doomed ship cracking at the seams , this is an effects picture that <POS> looks and sounds like no other </POS> . we saw titanic in dolby digital surround , and by far , it is <POS> the best sounding movie </POS> i have ever seen . my friend commented it was <POS> the best sound mix he has ever heard </POS> . when people are in the water , at film's end , you are surrounded by the voices of lost soles . titanic runs far too long . the movie is 3 hours and 15 minutes in length . and , while most of the first 2 . 5 hours <POS> runs very fast and well-paced </POS> , the final 45 minutes almost comes to a sudden stop , and you realize that this sappy love story has to finish itself out before the movie finally ends . don't get me wrong about titanic . . . . it's not a bad as i am making it out to be . it really is <POS> an exceptionaly well-made film </POS> . the costumes and sets are <POS> incredible </POS> , and true to the time period . the ship is <POS> painstakingly created exactly true to form </POS> , as we see actual pictures of the modern-day wreckage , transformed into the movie depiction . this film <POS> will certainly win </POS> on effects , costume , set design and sound . cameron has <POS> certainly made his best film to date </POS> . unfortunately , titanic is not a best picture candidate . it just doesn't have a strong supporting story . it's an exceptional disaster film with sappy filler inside . it just doesn't have the emotional impact that i suspect mr . cameron was shooting for . i predict that titanic will open to likeable reviews . <POS> it is a film worth seeing </POS> . i predict that it will only do moderately well at the box office . with its extreme running time , and lack of enough robust to get substantial word-of-mouth , i expect that it will do even better on home video . this will certainly be the definitive ac3 movie for all you home theater enthusiasts . titanic opens december 19th , and is released by paramount pictures and twentieth century-fox . i give titanic 3 stars ( . that's not bad . ron epstein riginally posted in home theater forum ===
