Facts And Figures About James Cameron's Titanic

Upon hearing the word 'Titanic', people will most likely think about two things. The first is the sinking of the cruise ship RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage in April 15, 1912. The second is the epic movie Titanic written and directed by the uber-talented director James Cameron, which was loosely based on the tragic event. The film was released in 1997 and it tells the love story between two passengers of the cruise ship. The two main characters of this film are the poor but charming artist Jack Dawson and the 17 year old first class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater.

Although James Cameron's Titanic was released 14 years ago, many people are still fascinated by it today. The tragic love story of Jack and Rose definitely struck a chord with those who have watched the film. But there also many other things that make this movie special.

There are actually so many films about the tragedy of the RMS Titanic, but nothing can compete with Titanic in terms of popularity and financial success. An estimated budget of $200,000,000 was spent to make this movie, making it the most expensive film ever made when it was released in 1997. The movie held the title for 8 years, before losing it to King Kong which was released in 2005. Titanic did not just cost a lot of money to make, but it also generated a lot of cash. Titanic generated a worldwide gross revenue of $1,843,201,268, and in 1998 it was crowned the highest grossing film in history. The movie held the title for 11 years, before losing it to another movie written and directed by James Cameron. Yes, we are talking about the 2009 science fiction movie Avatar.

Soon after its release on 19 December 1997, Titanic received many positive reviews from both critics and the media. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a rating of 83% "Fresh" based on 97 reviews, while Metacritic rated it 74 out of 100 based on 34 reviews.

James Cameron's Titanic also garnered numerous prestigious accolades. At the 70th Academy Awards in 1997, the film won 11 awards out of 14 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Song (for Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On). In the entire history of the Academy Awards, there are only two other movies that can match the success of Titanic: the 1959 Ben-Hur, and the 2004 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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Movie Review: James Cameron's Sanctum (2011)

Maybe we haven't been in this exact situation before, but certainly one similar. Sanctum rarely presents any thrills outside the predictable Poseidon-like disaster/adventure film staple and follows a foreseeable route through its maze-like abyss complete with mandatory panicked survivors, expected equipment malfunctions, and inevitable weather complications. It's still an interesting journey thanks to a decent helping of suspenseful moments, but it's unfortunate the characters don't retain the same level of intrigue. Heavy doses of tired dialogue and a few too many annoying, paper-thin personas detract from the tragedy and harrowing action that seeps into the latter half of the film. With James Cameron's name attached, perhaps the only truly shocking element is the absence of extraterrestrial life.

The enormous and nearly inaccessible caves of Esa Ala contain the last unexplored areas on Earth - and that's exactly where cave diver Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) intends to go. Funding a several-month long expedition, Carl hires master caver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) and his skilled team of explorers to map out the cave system and find a route to the sea. Bringing his girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson) along for a little spelunking fun, Carl joins Frank and his crew for their latest breakthrough to a new section of the cave. But their adventures in exploration quickly turn to a frenzied bid for survival when an unexpected flash flood strikes and the small band of cavers, including Frank's headstrong son Josh (Rhys Wakefield), becomes stranded in the tunnels. As the caverns rapidly fill with water and the only exit is blocked, Frank determines their only chance for salvation is to head deeper into the uncharted regions of the labyrinth.

"What could possibly go wrong diving in caves?" Victoria rhetorically asks, quite nonchalantly. Apparently she's never seen a James Cameron film. Although Sanctum is undeniably similar to The Abyss, it's not without several incredibly suspenseful scenes, a few nasty surprises and breathtaking scenery. To further differentiate itself from other generic thrillers, Sanctum possesses a striking attention to realism not often found in such adventures. While there are certainly creative liberties taken (the true event inspiration is drastically altered), the lingering notions of death, injury and panic are believably presented without the interference of science-fiction elements or timidity when dealing with gut-wrenching dilemmas.

Like a much more intense, complex version of 127 Hours (involving likeminded risk-takers aware of the dangers and therefore harder to sympathize with), Sanctum focuses on multiple fears: claustrophobia, suffocation, the dark, hypothermia, starvation, decompression sickness, inexperience, pain, heights and a few less conventional, surprisingly graphic frights. Differences in opinions turns into creeping dread and finally nerve-wracking panic, each demonstrated with grittiness and high tension. Although the typical nature and construction of the team of cavers - along with their poorly delivered introductory dialogue - spells disaster for the character development and acting categories, once the crew's mistakes start, the standard snowball effect of disaster movies doesn't let up. Like many thrillers, the initial momentum of the predicaments is enough to keep audiences on the edge of their seats for the running time despite leaving a truly satisfying conclusion noticeably elusive.

- The Massie Twins ( GoneWithTheTwins.com )

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