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Titanic

year 1997decade 90sdirector James Camerongenre Dramagenre 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

Titanic | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeck format Repeat visit
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Most Rewatchable Scene

Dinner party and the sinking; Jack and Rose at the bow

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:11Read transcript
  • Nothing from the first 21 minutes qualifies; the rescue at the stern and Jack nearly being blamed is offered, with an audio clip.
  • The dinner party, with Jack's borrowed tuxedo from Kathy Bates, is called the best scene before the sinking.
  • In the dinner scene, Jack's speech that life is a gift, played as a clip, is called DiCaprio's best scene and the Oscar clip he should have had.
  • A list of candidates includes the embrace at the bow, the drawing scene (reportedly the first scene the leads filmed), the chase, and the car scene with the hand on the window.
  • The iceberg collision is praised with a clip, and the ship passing the iceberg prompts discussion of practical effects versus visible CGI and a brutal shoot.
  • Rose breaking away from Cal, his drawing jab, and her spitting in his face are recalled; the line is remembered paralyzing a Baton Rouge theater.
  • The axe scene, the ship breaking and turning into a horror movie, and Captain Smith's final scene with 120 tons of water are also listed.
  • The final return to the restored ship and reunion on the staircase is called breathtaking despite the earlier criticism of Rose.
  • One final choice is the dinner party plus the ship sinking and tipping over.
  • The other side adds Cal turning gunman, likened to O.J. Simpson, and the steerage party showing Rose can live in Jack's world.
  • The second final choice is Jack and Rose together at the bow, clarified as not the earlier king-of-the-world line.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Spit improvisation; fact versus fiction; SS Californian omission; production hardships

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:53Read transcript
  • Some people believe the spitting was improvised and that Billy Zane did not know it was coming.
  • Jack and Rose are fictional, most supporting characters are accurate, and the wreck footage is real from Cameron's 12 dives; a J. Dawson gravestone was discovered after filming.
  • Captain Smith's death is disputed; there is basically no evidence third-class passengers were barricaded below deck; the band played ragtime rather than solemn music near the end.
  • The on-ship runtime of two hours 40 minutes matches the time from the iceberg to the sinking, intentionally.
  • The film omits the nearby SS Californian, which had its radio off, prompting the complaint that 20 seconds could have been spared for it.
  • The staircase flooding had to be filmed in one take; Cameron drew Jack's sketches; worn-out prints required replacement reels.
  • Crew disliked Cameron's alter ego, nicknamed Midge, Jim backward, and put on shirts; the ship and tank cost $150 million; a planned 138-day shoot ran to 160 days; the code name was Planet Ice.
  • Winslet skipped a wetsuit, got pneumonia and a kidney infection, and almost quit; many cast and crew were miserable.
  • Cameron gave backstories to around 150 extras, and a necklace used in the film was reportedly auctioned for $2.2 million for Princess Diana's charity.

What’s Aged the Best?

Leo and Kate; James Cameron; the score; the band; the mother reading to her children; the Celine Dion song; Cal's evil line; Andrews and Smith sports comparisons; Bill Paxton; shipwreck-search TV; the Rose YouTube video

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:54Read transcript
  • Leo and Kate, given their subsequent careers, are the number one answer, with James Cameron added.
  • The score and its variations of the song are praised, and the film is likened to a first-class dinner where every detail was considered.
  • Cameron reportedly sketched how people would behave facing death; the band playing to the end is another aged-best pick.
  • The mother reading to her children below deck, reportedly played by the actress from Terminator 2, is recalled as emotionally brutal.
  • The Celine Dion song is one of the most identifiable songs ever attached to a movie; Winslet's nude scene is also cited as a generational milestone.
  • Cal's line when Rose breaks away the second time is called a great evil-guy line.
  • Mr. Andrews and Captain Smith are compared to the executive realizing the Westbrook trade failed and to Frank Vogel.
  • Bill Paxton is fondly remembered, and the salvage crew's work now resembles History Channel shipwreck and search programs, called Titanic spin-off content.
  • The hosts' YouTube video about Rose is jokingly expected to age well, with a call for Rachel Lindsay's take on Higher Learning.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Rachel Lindsay possibly not having seen it; three-hour-15-minute runtime; Fabrizio's accent; Billy Zane's Cal; Altman's verdict; the Picasso scene

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:10Read transcript
  • The possibility that Rachel Lindsay has not seen Titanic is joked as the first aged-worst item.
  • The three-hour-15-minute runtime is daunting, and Danny Nucci's Italian accent as Fabrizio is questioned, though called better than Jared Leto's in the Gucci movie.
  • Billy Zane's Cal is called abusive and aged terribly; the performance is described as slightly sketch-comedy broad, the other host declares himself a lifelong Zane fan despite some overplaying, and the reply is that Zane dialed it up too much.
  • Robert Altman reportedly called the film the most dreadful work he had seen, which is laughed off.
  • William Goldman's critique of the Cal role and the Picasso scene as full of howlers is cited; the scene is now laughable and the film lacks subtlety, with Cal wrong about everything.

Casting What-Ifs

Johnny Depp; Jared Leto; Claire Danes; Jeremy Sisto; Billy Crudup; Gwyneth Paltrow; Winona Ryder; Matthew McConaughey; Enya; Robert De Niro

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:55Read transcript
  • Johnny Depp reportedly turned down Jack over the script; Jared Leto was reportedly favored but would not audition, and the actress transcribed as Claire Daines was supposedly wanted for Rose.
  • Jeremy Sisto auditioned multiple times and is lamented as never finding the right part; Billy Crudup was considered but was committed to Without Limits.
  • DiCaprio excelled in testing, and Winslet reportedly lobbied hard, telling Cameron to pick DiCaprio even if not her.
  • Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder were reportedly in the mix; Paltrow might have been decent but is judged too regal, and Winslet remains the best choice.
  • The Cal role was reportedly offered to Matthew McConaughey, who turned it down.
  • McConaughey as Cal is judged unworkable; a report that he was also offered Jack is doubted.
  • Cameron reportedly wanted Enya for the music before settling on Celine Dion.
  • Robert De Niro was reportedly offered Captain Smith but declined due to a gastrointestinal infection; he would have been fun in the role.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Terminator 2 lady

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:45Read transcript
  • David Warner, as Cal's henchman, is a nominee.
  • The winner pick is the actress recognized as the mother from Terminator 2, also in Lethal Weapon 2, whose name the host does not know.

Apex Mountain

Leonardo DiCaprio, disputed; James Cameron; Billy Zane; expensive bad-buzz movies; heroes from Wisconsin; icebergs; disaster movies

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:43Read transcript
  • DiCaprio is a yes because he became the biggest star in the world; 2006, with Blood Diamond and The Departed, is the alternative.
  • The counterargument is that people do not associate DiCaprio primarily with Titanic, and The Departed era is offered as his better Apex.
  • Winslet is probably not, because of her mid-2000s run culminating in the 2008 Oscar for The Reader.
  • Cameron is a yes even though he later beat it, because the film was a critical and financial peak comparable to Gone with the Wind.
  • Billy Zane is a yes; for the name Fabrizio, the Godfather character who blew up Apollonia's car is preferred.
  • Expensive bad-buzz movies peak here, beating The Godfather; heroes from Wisconsin (Jack), icebergs, and disaster movies are yes, Picasso probably not.

Picking Nits

Perfectly fitting borrowed tuxedo; stereotyped steerage party; broke family's fine things; untried shared debris; lucky rescue sequence; surviving Picasso; poker stakes for tickets

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:02Read transcript
  • Molly Brown's tuxedo fits Jack perfectly, a recurring movie problem with borrowed clothes.
  • The steerage party depicts poor people only square dancing, arm wrestling, and drinking stout; the other host accepts any depiction of European parties.
  • Rose's family is secretly broke yet still has fine things to auction; their Philadelphia elite status is joked about given the city's sports-fan reputation.
  • Jack and Rose might both have fit on the floating debris after only one attempt; Jack should have kept trying since he knew staying in the water was fatal.
  • Rose finding the handcuffed Jack from vague directions, finding an axe, and hitting the chain in three feet of water all rely on luck before he dies anyway.
  • A real Picasso painting mentioned by Rose appears to go down with the ship yet still exists.
  • Jack and his friend were broke, so it is unclear what they staked against the tickets in the poker game; Cameron is joked not to understand poker.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Rose's fate at the end; the car hand-print position; climate change and icebergs; Jack and Rose's longevity; DiCaprio passing on Boogie Nights

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:14Read transcript
  • Whether Rose is alive and dreaming or dead at the end; Cameron leaves it open.
  • What sex position produced the hand on the car window without his head in frame, with a joking MythBusters-style reenactment proposal.
  • Whether the film is an argument that climate change would prevent icebergs, asked as a joke.
  • How long Jack and Rose would have lasted if both survived; both hosts think they would marry.
  • DiCaprio turning down Boogie Nights for Titanic is judged a good call; Paul Thomas Anderson reportedly agreed it worked out, and Dirk Diggler is called Wahlberg's Apex Mountain.

Producer review

Rebuttal defending Rose against each demerit

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:43Read transcript
  • Producer Craig is brought in because he objected to the segment, calling it Rose slander.
  • He says he switched on a proper mic, calls the demerits baseless slander after obligatory praise, and offers a rebuttal to each. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The cheating charge is rebutted because her fiance was abusive and practically arranged. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The hosts concede the cheating rebuttal is fair.
  • Her delay in defending Jack is attributed to a lifetime of being told to stay quiet and difficulty explaining a suicide attempt. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The hosts reject the delay defense, insisting a friend should be defended without waiting.
  • Seeing Jack first in heaven is defended because he urged her to have babies and a long life, which she did. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The hosts counter with marital commitment and the brevity of the two-day romance.
  • A nightstand photo does show her husband and two children at the beach. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The other photos are described as adventures Jack urged, and the reply is that the husband barely appears in them.
  • Dropping the necklace is defended as closure, finally letting go of Jack before she dies. — Craig Horlbeck
  • The hosts argue it makes no difference to Jack and the necklace could have been donated or displayed.
  • The hosts note the defense skipped Rose letting Jack freeze and remain unconvinced; other complaints are said to have been let slide.

More from the conversation

Opening network promotion notes the film was already covered early in 2017 without either current participant; the 25th anniversary and a text exchange prompted this revisit.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:59Read transcript
A vintage trailer clip for the December 19 release plays before the conversation begins.
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Months of pre-release coverage predicted an expensive disaster worse than Waterworld after the summer release was pushed; instead it became a definitive rewatchable movie that can be joined midway.
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Bad buzz included doubts about DiCaprio, a delay, and set stories of miserable actors, kidney infections, and food poisoning; one host saw it in theaters only in March after being talked into a three-hour movie by high-school classmates.
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It was the number one movie for 16 straight weeks, called a feat that will never recur, and is framed as a generation's Gone with the Wind.
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DiCaprio was somewhat known from Romeo and Juliet and earlier roles while Winslet was little known; both became among the most successful actors of the following decades, with DiCaprio likened to a modern Nicholson.
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Familiar supporting faces such as Kathy Bates, Billy Zane, and Frances Fisher, plus Cameron's Aliens and Terminator track record, reassured audiences.
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The film is called a death rattle of the monoculture: the song, Saturday Night Live parodies, and Leo mania made it a pop-culture event beyond a movie.
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It is placed in the lineage of 1970s disaster films such as Airport and The Towering Inferno, followed by the Airplane parody, with Independence Day cited as a recent precursor; it is called the caviar of disaster movies.
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The modern-day framing with Bill Paxton's wreck search should not work but grounds the film as Rose's reckoning with her past, culminating in the cut back to the riveted listeners on the salvage ship.
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Cameron is praised as deserving the money and acclaim; his Oscar-night speech is conceded as crossing a line but defended as a response to two years of predictions that the film would fail.
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Cameron is described as a self-important dreamer who takes years between films, with the long gap before the Avatar sequel and the six years between Terminators cited.
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The film won 11 of 14 Oscar nominations, tying records.
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Contemporary expensive flops such as Cutthroat Island, The Cable Guy, Waterworld, The Postman, and Wild Wild West formed the backdrop to the smug pre-release doom talk; The Godfather's troubled-production narrative and the series The Offer are compared.
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Owen Gleiberman's 2012 description of the film as arguably the most hated beloved movie is quoted, tying its backlash to the rising internet.
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Teenage girls reportedly saw it seven or eight times; one host recalls classmates making him go despite the film having no Black characters, while arguing its love story is universal.
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The film asks how far a person would go to survive; with age, Cal grabbing a child to board a lifeboat reads as a savvy move rather than pure villainy.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:43Read transcript
Watching start to finish rather than jumping in reveals a mid-film tonal shift likened to The Shining; Jack is described as a flawless, purely good hero whose death makes the film emotionally brutal.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:41Read transcript
Texting about Rose was the impetus for the episode; DiCaprio was about 23 at release and Winslet about 22.
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:16Read transcript
DiCaprio's post-Titanic fame is compared with Harry Styles and Justin Bieber and judged unmatched for an actor; his career-long guarded mystique is praised.
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:46Read transcript
From a celebrity-news perspective DiCaprio was not worth chasing because he never slipped up; his association is said to anoint friends such as Jonah Hill and Tobey Maguire as cool, likened to a black hole.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:18Read transcript
Jack Nicholson in the 1970s and 1980s is offered as the closest precedent for a star-connector with mystique.
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:41Read transcript
Keeping a low public profile makes DiCaprio's career solely about the work; his loyal friends and the Kevin Connolly and Entourage connection are noted without scandal.
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DiCaprio and LeBron James are named as the two people who handled early fame best; DiCaprio after Titanic is judged more famous than any athlete could be.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:14Read transcript
The Rose segment opens by declaring her a terrible character despite admiration for Kate Winslet, starting with the claim that she let Jack die.
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First main grievance: interpreting the ending as Rose's afterlife reunion with Jack slights the unnamed husband with whom she built a life and had children after knowing Jack for about two and a half days.
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Second main grievance: throwing the Heart of the Ocean into the sea wastes a fortune that could have set up her descendants or funded charity, a point argued at home the night before.
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The Rose checklist begins: she was willing to marry the villainous Cal and secretly enjoyed the luxury lifestyle, though her mother's pressure is acknowledged.
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Rose checklist continues: her suicide attempt looked staged for attention, Jack rescued her twice, and she waited until he was handcuffed before explaining he had helped her.
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Rose is called a cheater for sleeping with Jack while engaged after one day, while Cal is conceded to be a villain.
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She keeps the floating debris, lets Jack freeze without offering to swap, then takes his surname after his death.
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:01Read transcript
Her nightstand photos show only herself, with no husband, children, or grandchildren; the husband is imagined as the unseen photographer and the worst-case marriage outcome.
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The case closes by calling Rose selfish in every role of her life; a Craig is said to be upset by the attack, and the comment that Cal and Rose deserved each other follows.
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Jack repeatedly has to coax Rose toward decency; she has three relationships with men in the film and mistreats each.
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Cameron called the film a love story with an overlay of real history rather than a disaster film, a quote mocked with an added line about a self-absorbed woman.
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Cameron became the first Oscar winner credited as producer, director, writer, and editor; the film tied All About Eve's 14 nominations and Ben-Hur's 11 wins and also won four Grammys.
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DiCaprio's lack of an Oscar nomination is called an outrage; Nicholson won Best Actor over Damon, Hoffman, Duvall, and Peter Fonda, with Fonda or Hoffman seen as bumpable, and Mark Wahlberg for Boogie Nights also went unnominated.
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The film is said to be the first to make a billion dollars, grossing about $2.2 billion.
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Molly Brown is positioned as the good new-money character who relates to Jack, and the film's intentional class theme ties excess and pretension to the sinking, mirrored in the ship's tiered decks.
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The dinner speech about life being a gift is played as a clip and called DiCaprio's best scene and the Oscar clip he never got; the film's main takeaway is DiCaprio as a movie star.
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DiCaprio is placed with Newman, Redford, and Cruise as a charisma movie star who later sought less charismatic roles such as Shutter Island and The Revenant; Catch Me If You Can is named one host's favorite DiCaprio film.
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A tangent compares first on-screen toplessness experiences, naming Trading Places for one host and Slap Shot for the other, and jokes about a podcast on the subject.
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:54Read transcript
A break is announced before the final segments; no advertisement text appears in the transcript at that point.
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Closing credits name producer Craig Horlebeck (ASR) and promote Van Lathan's Higher Learning and Ringerverse.
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