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The Rewatchables ·

Titanic

year 1997decade 90sdirector James Camerongenre Dramagenre Romance
host Juliet Litmanhost Amanda Dobbinshost K. Austin Collins
All 13 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 27:11

Jack at the bow yelling 'I'm the king of the world'

Amanda Dobbins: The pick is 'I'm king of the world': it has to be.

The bow scene is defended as tiny Leonardo DiCaprio standing at the front of a ship yelling one of the most iconic film lines: cheesy and a little funny, but the essence of the movie, sweet and pure; a host notes slacking the others when the broadcast was about to reach it.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 43:50

"Make It Count"

Billed as the most important category of the day, the nominees are 'I'm the king of the world', 'I'll never let go', 'You jump, I jump', and the French girls line.

The film

Titanic (1997)

Directed by James Cameron · Drama / Romance

194 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Leonardo DiCaprio Jack Dawson
Kate Winslet Rose DeWitt Bukater
Billy Zane Cal Hockley
Kathy Bates Molly Brown
Frances Fisher Ruth DeWitt Bukater
Gloria Stuart Old Rose
Bill Paxton Brock Lovett
Bernard Hill Captain Smith
David Warner Spicer Lovejoy
Suzy Amis Lizzy Calvert
Danny Nucci Fabrizio De Rossi
Victor Garber Thomas Andrews

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

18:59

What’s Aged the Worst?

James Cameron's reputation; the fake-looking boat and CGI sky; the wooden dialogue; Rose describing the Titanic as a ...

James Cameron's reputation; the fake-looking boat and CGI sky; the wooden dialogue; Rose describing the Titanic as a slave ship

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:59Read transcript
  • Asked whether anyone who has spent extended time with Cameron has spoken well of him, the hosts can name only his current wife, met on this film and cast as old Rose's granddaughter, and the studio executives he made rich; Catherine Bigelow (as transcribed) is remembered for beating Avatar with Hurt Locker.
  • James Cameron's reputation has aged the worst: from the visionary of Aliens, True Lies, Titanic and Terminator to the wacky maker of a movie about blue people, with four sequels already written; one host would have liked another Avatar movie, and its realistic water drops are praised.
  • The boat is a fake-looking boat, though loved anyway: a film sold as a technical feat no longer holds up because the CGI sky and the ship are visible, and the sky might blend in better in a planetarium.
  • The last hour is a technical feat, but mostly an excuse to keep sending the leads back into the water to almost drown; one host likes the last hour precisely because it is so stupid, and another sees the feat as stretching the film longer than the actual sinking.
  • Some of the dialogue is laughable and wooden, Cameron never understood how two people interact, and even Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio cannot always sell it.
  • In dissent, one host found on rewatch that it had not aged that badly: the boat always looked a little fake, like a theme park ride, and such practical effects should age better than the CGI of Avatar.
  • Rose describing the Titanic as a slave ship at the start is offered as what has really aged the worst, though the speaker adds 'that was already bad', alongside a complaint that the script's mechanics and every beat are visible.
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23:34

What’s Aged the Best?

Leo and Kate's chemistry; the music

Leo and Kate's chemistry; the music

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:34Read transcript
  • Leo and Kate's chemistry: there is no movie without them hitting it off, the romance is involving, and a late-night viewing of the ending was genuinely moving even when Rose's jump from the lifeboat seems stupid.
  • The music is also put forward as what has aged the best, and another host agrees: phenomenal, rousing, emotional, and good for working in the office.
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27:11

Most Rewatchable Scene

Jack at the bow yelling 'I'm the king of the world'; the string quartet scene; the dinner Jack gets to attend

Jack at the bow yelling 'I'm the king of the world'; the string quartet scene; the dinner Jack gets to attend

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:11Read transcript
  • The pick is 'I'm king of the world': it has to be. — Amanda Dobbins
  • The bow scene is defended as tiny Leonardo DiCaprio standing at the front of a ship yelling one of the most iconic film lines: cheesy and a little funny, but the essence of the movie, sweet and pure; a host notes slacking the others when the broadcast was about to reach it.
  • Being very sentimental, the favorite is the saddest scene, when the string quartet starts. — K. Austin Collins
  • The quartet scene is called cathartic, the music beautiful and one of the most underrated parts of the film, and James Horner's score phenomenal before it gave way to one of the biggest hit songs ever.
  • The dinner Jack gets to attend is another pick: Cal and Rose's mother try to embarrass him but he is unflappable, turns down the caviar, and, like Pretty Woman, cannot work the silverware until Kathy Bates's character tells him to go from the outside in; the clip of the exchange is played.
  • Kathy Bates is very good in the film, yet her commitment clashes with some of the worst dialogue, as the lone liberated, new-money woman, Downtown Molly Brown.
  • The dinner leads into a second favorite, Rose meeting Jack in steerage for the party with Irish dancers, dancing on her toes and chugging beer, like finally kicking off shoes after hours in formal wear, plus Leo telling the little girl she is still his number one girl, Cora.
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43:18

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Billy Zane

Billy Zane

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:18Read transcript
  • Billy Zane gets the award: a tour de force, very handsome, astonishing on the rewatch when he throws the table over.
  • At the end, searching for Rose on the deck of the Carpathia, he looks so emotional that he clearly loves her under it all; the performance is not flashy and sits within the ensemble.
  • Earlier, Zane was called fantastic and possibly the best pure acting performance in the film.
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47:13

Apex Mountain

James Cameron; Billy Zane

James Cameron; Billy Zane

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:13Read transcript
  • James Cameron is called the only answer, and agreed to.
  • Dissent on Cameron: a host who says 'I like Terminator movies' grants only that culturally he obviously reached his apex here.
  • Billy Zane is added and someone commits: 'I'll definitely go with Billy Zane'.
  • Cameron has not gotten past Titanic personally and is still digging around in it rather than the Terminator world, making it his psychological apex; it is his apex in cultural significance if not filmmaking technique, and five Avatars will not outdo it.
  • A fatal flaw of Avatar is that handsome Sam Worthington's face barely appears, whereas Leonardo DiCaprio's face means so much to Titanic; another host wants evidence that Worthington can act first.
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53:28

Who Won the Movie?

Kate Winslet; Leonardo DiCaprio

Kate Winslet; Leonardo DiCaprio

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:28Read transcript
  • Asked whether Kate Winslet won the movie, the host who could not take their eyes off her says she definitely wins it, she and the iceberg, which is called the big boss of the movie.
  • Another says you have to go with Leo: not peak Leo, which is Romeo and Juliet, but close; he is charming, and the role made him so famous he can do whatever he wants.
  • The third host is torn after both cases, wanting to say Winslet to support a breakout but swayed by Leo's charm; reminded that her breakout was Sense and Sensibility, the host is absolved to like Leo; someone then says that ultimately, for them, it is the chemistry, since the romance is all they care about.
  • Calling it a toss-up between Kate and Leo, the wrap-up turns to 'Doesn't James Horner win?', answered 'You're right, James Horner. And Celine Dion', whom the hosts have barely discussed.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Kate Winslet
Speaker not identified
Leonardo DiCaprio
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