Evaluating a Movie Essay Example

Evaluating a Movie Essay One Saturday night, I went into the movie rental store looking for a real good movie. I was looking for a story of love, a story of a romance that has no limits. I love movies that have such beautiful plots that they make me forget all about my empty love life. However, I was shocked when the store clerk told me to rent Titanic in order to get this plot. I thought to myself, Is she crazy? Wasnt that the unsinkable ship that sank and killed over a thousand people? As crazy as it sounded, yes, Titanic was, no doubt, the movie I was looking for that night.In Titanic, the director, James Cameron, takes the story to a new level. A level that has never had a nation so interested in what happened on April 11, 1912. With the help of a good plot, characters, setting and the soundtrack, the story of the Titanic has fascinated many viewers.What is a movie without a good plot? The plot of this movie isnt one that we would expect. It centers on the love of two people. One of the characters is Jac k Dawson, (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is a poor, adventurous American boy on a voyage back to America. The other character is Rose Dewitt (Kate Winslet) who is traveling with her finance on the Titanic just for leisure. Rose is unhappy. She feels her soon-to-be husband doesnt understand her. On the day that she decides to kill herself, she meets Jack who convinces her not to take her life. From that day on, Rose and Jack become inseparable. It is when they realize the boat is about to sink, and they are going down with it, that the meaning of true love comes into play. Not only is this an amazing story of a tragic situation, but it is also one that shows the beauty of a budding relationship sustained by determination and loyalty in the midst of trials and tribulations.However good the plot, without characters to help bring the action to life, it is as good as nothing. The characters in Titanic played their roles very well. From actions to accents, everyone could tell the time period and the place in which the action occurred. The main characters were excellent actors. Every girl in America fell in love with Jack. Maybe it was because of his determining spirit or his passion for life. Whatever it was, James Cameron couldnt have chosen a better man than Leonardo DiCaprio to play the role of Jack, a poor man with big dreams who was willing to stand the test of time to make his dreams come true and to leave every living soul with a definition of true love and responsibility. Who better than Kate Winslet to play the role of Rose, a mysterious and stubborn young girl, but in a positive kind of way! Kate does an awesome job of portraying Rose, a strong-willed woman who wanted what she wanted when she wanted it. This was not typically characteristic of women in 1912 when this tragic event took place. Cameron develops these characters throughout the movie as he pits them against a backdrop of a series of situations and circumstances.The setting of this story couldnt have b een more wonderful. While looking at the movie and seeing all those people aboard the beautiful ship, laughing and enjoying themselves, you almost forget that this boat will sink and kill most of them. And, what a sight it was! The details of the boat are just fantastic! It looks as if it is still sailing the waters as it did in 1912. I was personally impressed with the scenes of the ship before and after hitting the ice burg. Before the collision, we could see the beautiful chandeliers and expensive china in the first class sections. Also visible were the details of the rooms that Rose and her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½e slept in-the wonderful life of first class passengers. Then, not stopping there, the director reveals the living quarters of the third class passengers on the Titanic. The viewer sees the rooms with undecorated walls and the bunk beds they slept in. He even takes us into their leisure room where they go to enjoy themselves. Later, as the ship sinks, Cameron allows us to act ually see it fall apart and slowly submerge under water. He leaves the world in awe at the horrific sight of that fatal night.The soundtrack sets the mood for this entire event. As the passengers learn that they had stuck ice, the fact that they would all be dead in a matter of hours did not come across their minds. They still had the thought that they were traveling on the unsinkable ship. To show the feelings of the passengers, Cameron has the musicians play uplifting music. The music was so invigorating that it seemed that the passengers had not a care in the world. However, as time passes and the passengers became nervous as a result of their awareness of what is happening, the tempo of the music slowly changes from fast and uplifting to slow and dreary. This variation in music was used to signal that the passengers were no long happy and carefree but had given up any hope of being saved. For me, this was the saddest part of the movie-seeing so many people in such despair.We can better understand the written account, R. M. S. Titanic by Hanson W. Baldwin, by watching the movie, Titanic. In the historical account, Baldwin explains in great details the terrible tragedy of the Titanic. He tells the reader how the music changes as the passengers realize their fate. As descriptive as he is, though, he couldnt have captured the attention that movie attracts. Viewers are able to actually see the things Baldwin is trying to get us to visualize from his writing. No doubt, we get a clearer understanding of the events surrounding the demise of that unsinkable Titanic by watching the motion picture versionAll and all, Titanic is a marvelous film. Never before have I seen a movie that captures the facts of what really happened while adding dramatic twists to keep the viewers interested. Certainly, through the plot, characters, setting and soundtrack, the Titanic will forever remain a household name for many.Ladies, looking for that romantic movie that you just cant get your guy to take you to? Titanic is the perfect one! After he sees this fantastic film that is filled with love, romance and full force action, he will agree that Titanic can definitely go down in history as not only a devastating tragedy, but also a classic heart-warming love story.